Jewish leaders in New York fumed that Josh Shapiro was “vilified” in an “ugly, antisemitic campaign” as Vice President Kamala Harris whittled down her veep contenders — ultimately passing over the Pennsylvania governor in favor of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Shapiro, who is Jewish, faced more scrutiny and criticism than other contenders because he’s pro-Israel, they claimed.
“No one should dismiss that Gov. Shapiro was subjected to an ugly, antisemitic campaign to delegitimize him,” said Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and a former Brooklyn councilman.
“No one should take the Jewish community’s vote for granted.”
Treyger, the son of Ukrainian Jewish refugees and grandson of Holocaust survivors, said Shapiro was unfairly targeted because of his stance.
“There was not much daylight between Josh Shapiro and the other contenders on policy. But he was singled out, he was vilified,” Treyger said.
Maury Litwack, the founder and CEO of the Teach Coalition, a group that works with Jewish voters, noted, “You can be excited about the Walz pick but also be sad that an outright antisemitic campaign was waged against Shapiro.”
Leftist Democrats and Israel critics labeled Shapiro “genocide Josh” for his support of Israel amid the war with Hamas in Gaza. The left-leaning magazine Jacobin even railed in a headline, “Josh Shapiro’s Palestine Record Should Disqualify Him as VP.”
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, said the chatter about Shapiro’s viability as a vice presidential candidate was “poor commentary.”
“The fact that some people are talking about whether a proud Jewish, pro-Israel candidate can be on the ticket is very disheartening,” he said.
The Harris campaign said her selection of Walz was not a knock on Shapiro and denied that his Jewish identity was a factor in the decision. Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) slammed “the public antisemitic campaign from some within the Democratic Party” against Shapiro as “unacceptable and regrettable” — but was persuaded by Harris’ campaign that it did not influence her VP pick.
Pro-Israel Republicans, including Jewish politicians, sought to turn Shapiro’s rejection into a campaign issue.
“Antisemitism is un-American. Not picking Gov Shapiro because he is observant Jewish is wrong,” said Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is also Jewish.
“If Harris’ boycott of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address before Congress left doubts about Harris’ contempt for Jews and Israel, the dismissal of Governor Shapiro from Vice Presidential consideration should eviscerate those doubts. Shame on Kamala Harris for bending to the extreme anti-Semitic forces in her Party,” he said.
But New York State Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs accused Republicans of engaging in “gutter politics.”
“That the Vice President did not select a qualified, excellent Governor from the state of Pennsylvania, who is an observant Jew, but chose someone else who is not, does not justify the conclusion that it was BECAUSE of his religion,” said Jacobs, who is Jewish.
“Does Donald Trump’s decision to skip over Tim Scott, a black Republican when selecting J.D. Vance as his VP nominee mean that Trump is a bigot or that he was ‘caving in’ to the growing bigotry in the Republican Party? Nonsense!”
