Ben Shapiro in Tel Aviv: Evangelicals are better Israel allies than American Jews
Conservative pundit and chief editor of the Daily Wire chief Ben Shapiro landed in Israel and delivered a speech to a sold-out crowd of 2,500 Israelis in Tel Aviv’s Hangar 11.
Shapiro received a standing ovation upon entering the auditorium. Ben gave a 25-minute speech followed by an interview by Israeli journalist Amit Segal interviewed him on various topics. During his address, Shapiro was asked if he agreed with former Israeli ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer who said that Israel should rely on Evangelical support more than Reform Jews to which Shapiro responded saying: “just as a matter of blunt fact it’s true.”
Segal however misquoted Dermer who spoke of American Jews and not specifically Reforem Jews. But Shapiro seemed to know that when he began critiquing American Jews as a whole saying: “If I’m looking at who’s more likely to back Israel, by polling data, Jews are the single most aetheistic group of “religious people anywhere.”
In 2021, Dermer said the key to having a pro-Israel influence in the White House was the evangelical Christian community, even more than the Jewish community in the US. Dermer described the evangelical support for Israel as “passionate and unequivocal” whereas the US Jews were “disproportionately among our critics.”
When asked why the orthodox, pro-Israel Jew doesn’t make Aliyah to Israel, Shapiro explained that he has a massive audience in America and that he is better off affecting change in the most powerful country in the world invoking Isaiah 49 saying:: “Jews should live where they can be a light to the nations and for me as a person with millions and millions of followers in the United States promoting what I think are values that are eternally good living in the United States is I think- a point of morality for me.”
Shapiro only fielded an uncharacteristically low five questions from audience members.
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