Ben Shapiro defends Donald Trump's social media post threatening American Jews, says it “happens to be somewhat accurate, actually”
Published
Citation From the October 19, 2022, edition of The Daily Wire's The Ben Shapiro Show
BEN SHAPIRO (HOST): The media have been focusing on, yes, Ye's antisemitism but they've also been focusing in, supposedly, on Donald Trump's antisemitism. And this one, I gotta question in pretty serious ways.
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I'm confused by the suggestion there is a dual loyalty trope suggesting that American Jews should care about the fate of Israel. They should care about the fate of Israel. I mean, Jews have always cared about the fate of Israel. I mean, the nation of Israel, like Bene Israel cares about Eretz Yisrael - the land of Israel and the state of Israel. They all have the same name. So, frankly, I'm a little confused by people who are wildly off put by the notion that American Jews should be supportive of people who are pro-Israel.
I mean, it depends. Are we talking about ethnic Jews or are we talking about people who actually take Judaism seriously in any way, shape, or form? Ethnic Jews, probably not. I mean, they're just ethnically Jewish. They have a mom who's Jewish or if they're half Jewish they have a dad who's Jewish, whatever it is. But that doesn't mean you care about Judaism in any serious way. If you do care about Judaism in any serious way, of course you should care about Israel.
So, Donald Trump saying, I don't understand why more American Jews don't care about how pro-Israel I was - this, too, puzzles me except for the fact that there are so many American Jews who aren't observant in any way and don't care about Judaism in any way. Just because your name ends in Green or Stein or Blatt or Gold does not actually mean that you practice Judaism in any way or take Judaism seriously in any way. That's the answer to Trump's question. However, the notion that Jews should not be pro-Israel is bizarre to me. Of course, if you care about Judaism you should be pro-Israel. I'm not going to be shy about that. Zionism is deeply rooted in biblical belief.
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Trump saying I don’t understand why more American Jews don’t care about Israel is not antisemitism, that is just an observation about American Jews that happens to be somewhat accurate actually.