Josh Shapiro abandoned a 31-year-old claim that he “volunteered” for the Israeli military shortly after it resurfaced Friday.
The Pennsylvania governor, who is the favorite to be named Kamala Harris’ running mate as early as this weekend, wrote a newspaper column as a student in 1993 in which he made the claim about helping the Israel Defense Forces.
In the article, entitled “Peace Not Possible,” a 20-year-old Shapiro wrote about the Palestine Liberation Organization’s agreement with Israel at the Oslo accords: “Despite my skepticism as a Jew and a past volunteer in the Israeli army, I strongly hope and pray that this ‘peace plan’ will be successful.”
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At the end of the article, his short bio states that he “spent five months studying in Israel and volunteered in the Israeli army.”
The op-ed was dug up by The Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday—and Shapiro quickly disavowed the claim.
The comment drew interest from the Jewish National Syndicate on Friday, which pressed Manuel Bonder, a Shapiro spokesperson, for clarification on “the extent and nature of his (Shapiro’s) service in Israel.”
“While he was in high school, Josh Shapiro was required to do a service project, which he and several classmates completed through a program that took them to a kibbutz in Israel where he worked on a farm and at a fishery,” Bonder told the outlet, and later confirmed with The Daily Beast.
“The program also included volunteering on service projects on an Israeli army base. At no time was he engaged in any military activities,” Bonder added.
The comments come after Shapiro canceled his gubernatorial campaign fundraisers this weekend, with Vice President Kamala Harris expected to announce her VP pick in Philadelphia next Tuesday. A group of Pennsylvania lawmakers came out in support of Shapiro as VP on Friday.
Bonder added that Shapiro has also disavowed his other comments in the student op-ed, including one sentence where he says Palestinians are “too battle-minded to be able to establish a peaceful homeland of their own.”
“Governor Shapiro has built close, meaningful, informative relationships with many Muslim-American, Arab-American, Palestinian Christian and Jewish community leaders all across Pennsylvania,” Bonder told JNS.
Shapiro added in a press conference on Friday that he “was 20,” adding “I have said for years, years before Oct. 7, that I favor a two-state solution—Israelis and Palestinians living peacefully side-by-side, being able to determine their own futures and their own destiny.”
Bonder had no further comment for The Daily Beast.
