Josh Shapiro's vice presidential prospects spark debate over Israel policy, antisemitism
WASHINGTON – Each of Kamala Harris' potential vice president picks says Israel has a right to exist, defend itself and support a two-state solution. But only one, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, is being singled out and called "Genocide Josh."
Shapiro is one of the leading contenders to serve as Harris' 2024 running mate. He is also Jewish.
As Harris nears a decision, some Democratic voters and organizers are urging her not to choose Shapiro because of concerns about his Israel stance and how he has handled the fallout from the Israel-Hamas war in the United States.
That scrutiny has been met with frustration from Jewish lawmakers and advocacy groups who argue Shapiro is being unfairly singled out because he is Jewish, as all the leading Democratic candidates for vice president have expressed support for Israel.
It comes as Shapiro is increasingly considered Harris’ likely choice for vice president over other contenders like Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly or Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, at least according to betting markets and chatter over last-minute scheduling changes. It also marks another turn in a political drama over the Middle East conflict that has divided the Democratic party in the lead up to a closely-contested presidential race against Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Shapiro would be the second practicing Jew to run for vice president behind the late Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who was Al Gore's running mate in 2000. But voters have never elected a Jewish president or vice president in the nation's nearly 250-year history.
The focus on Shapiro is raising red flags for some advocates. Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said she finds the conversation about Shapiro to be "concerning" and said he has "positions on Israel that largely align with the vast majority of other potential VP candidates."
“There's a lot of important and constructive debate and criticism that should happen around his policies or anyone else's policies” when it comes to Israel or campus protests, she said. But “if it's only the Jewish candidate that is being singled out with terms like ‘Genocide Josh,’ then that is deeply problematic.”
Critics make a case against Shapiro
Like most Democratic public officials, Shapiro has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but has supported Israel’s war against Hamas, which invaded Israel last October, killing around 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Israel’s bombing campaign in pursuit of Hamas has devastated Palestinian communities in the Gaza strip, which the Gaza Health Ministry says has led to the death of more than 39,000 people. Leaders from around the world have dubbed the Middle East conflict as a widespread man-made humanitarian crisis.
"We can’t forget the genesis of this, but we also can’t ignore the death and the destruction that’s occurred in Gaza," Shapiro told the Washington Post in March.
But Shapiro’s critics argue he has gone further than the other potential vice presidential picks – including another Jewish contender for the spot, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker – and has other public policy stances that alienate the party's left flank.
They point to his support for the dismissal of University of Pennsylvania president Elizabeth Magill amid campus protests earlier this year; his comments suggesting that people wouldn’t tolerate “people dressed up in KKK outfits” and therefore shouldn’t tolerate campus antisemitism; his support as Pennsylvania attorney general for using an anti-BDS law to end state contracts with Ben & Jerry's for refusing to sell ice cream to Israeli settlements in the West Bank; and an update to the code of conduct for state employees earlier this year that barred “scandalous or disgraceful” behavior, which raised concerns among First Amendment advocates and pro-Palestinian protesters.
One group has posted a website entitled "No Genocide Josh" that circulates a petition urging Harris to choose a vice presidential candidate who wants "social and economic justice for workers and an immediate ceasefire in Palestine," arguing a different choice is necessary to "win back the trust of disaffected voters" who have felt betrayed by the Biden Administration's support for Israel.
In a statement to USA TODAY, the group said it is a group of Democratic organizers and voters from more than a dozen states, and that its petition gathered almost 1,500 signatures in the first week.
"Many of our organizers, including myself, are Jewish. There was more than one Jewish person under consideration when we launched this effort, and this remains true to this day," a spokesperson for the group said in an email. "However, Shapiro is the only candidate who poses a unique risk to party unity in his willingness to crack down on peaceful protest," support for private school vouchers and alleged connection to scandals.
Shapiro's stance on Israel and pro-Palestinian protests have also been a central focus of multiple essays arguing he would be a poor pick to be the Democratic party's second-in-command.
Defenders say Shapiro faces a double standard
The criticisms don't sit well with some Democratic lawmakers and advocates, who say Shapiro is facing a double standard in a group of other leading contenders who have also expressed support for Israel.
Former Rep. Adam Schiff, running for U.S Senate in California, called it "antisemitic and wrong." Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-N.Y., wrote that those "on the extreme left only attack the Jewish candidate." Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., said "every potential nominee for Vice President is pro-Israel. Yet only one, Josh Shapiro, has been singled out by a far-left smear campaign calling him ‘Genocide Josh.’ The reason he is treated differently from the rest? Antisemitism.” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt praised Torres' message.
"I think there is that sense that somehow we're not objective [on Israel] because we're Jewish, which is just not true or fair," Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, told Axios. "There are a lot of members who are pro-Israel who have been protested against – I think as Jews it feels particularly intense and personal."
Jewish Voice for Peace, a pro-Palestinian advocacy organization, said on X that the criticism of Shapiro "isn't about his identity, it's about his policies and rhetoric over the years."
Hatem Abudayyeh – chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, which is not advocating for or against any particular vice presidential candidate – said he thinks the focus on Shapiro is because he increasingly appears to be Harris' choice, not because he is Jewish. He argued it's inaccurate to imply that pushing for Palestinian rights is antisemitic.
"There's real antisemitism in this world, and our organization and the vast majority of Palestinian Arab organizations in the United States and around the world condemn that. What we won't allow is for the weaponization of antisemitism accusations," he said.
Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder said in a statement that he has been "forceful in speaking out against hate in whatever form – including antisemitism and Islamophobia – and showing that it has no place here in Pennsylvania." He added that Shapiro "supports Israel and its right to defend itself" and "has also been clear many times that Benjamin Netanyahu is a deeply flawed leader who failed to protect his country on October 7."
Vice presidential pick coming soon
If he's picked as Harris' VP, Shapiro would be only the second Jewish person to be on a major party presidential ticket. His Jewish faith has been central to his identity and to his politics: He met his future wife at a Jewish day school in Philadelphia and proposed to her in Jerusalem, and made his faith a central part of his successful campaign for governor in 2022.
A White House victory in November, should he get picked, means Shapiro also would be the highest ranking Jewish public official in American history. That's a status currently held by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has supported the Biden administration's approach to the Israel-Hamas War but publicly urged Israelis to replace Netanyahu.
Harris is expected to name her VP pick by early next week, with interviews planned for this weekend with finalists for the job. Harris' vetting team has already met in private with Shapiro, Walz, Kelly, Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, according to reports in POLITICO, Bloomberg and NBC News.
Her campaign plans to tour swing states with their newly-named running mate beginning Tuesday. While Harris' campaign aides caution against reading into location choices, the first stop of that tour will be in Shapiro's backyard of Philadelphia, which is also home to one of the largest and oldest Jewish populations in the U.S.
Contributing: Matthew Rink and Chris Ullery.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shapiro's VP prospects spark debate over Israel policy, antisemitism
