Though there’s a long history here, it’s easiest to say simply Ben Shapiro is pro-Israel. On the scale, we would say he is very far to the right on the pro-Israel spectrum but let’s table that until we first say his actual opinions on this unbelievably complex subject. In his own words, here’s the following comments on the most recent Israeli-Palestine engagement.
Israel goes through a decades-long legal process to adjudicate whether families who have been illegally squatting in Jewish-owned homes ought to be evicted. Fatah and Hamas proceed to riot, actively aid terror attacks, and fire rockets. The international community blames Israel.
Ben Shapiro Twitter May 10th, 2021
Then again on May 19, 2021 as the situation continued to appeared destined for escalation.
If you have trouble taking sides with Israel against Hamas -- a terrorist group that subjects 2 million Palestinians to tyranny, hundreds of thousands of civilians to rocket fire, and children to treatment as human shields -- you should not be taken seriously as a human being.
Ben Shapiro Twitter May 19th, 2021
In the next section we're going to broaden the scope a little and look at his opinions on the long running issues within the debate and his opinions on them.
Ben Shapiro Supports Recognizing Jerusalem as Israeli Capital and other Permanent Status Issues
In 2017, Ben said that if then President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel it would be, as he put it, “political bravery.” The issue of Jerusalem, is among the seven issues regarded as the “Permanent Issues” in the Israeli Palestine Debate, those issues at primary contention. Within that, there are four that are known as the Final Status Issues. Named so because they, in theory, are issues that are tabled to the end of peace talks.
The later, the final status issues, are named so because if introduced at the beginning of peace talks they are simply too divisive and will lead the peace talks straight to nowhere. Depending on the year, some issues come in and out of fashion but these are fairly consistent.
Settlements: The settlements that Israel has consistently been building in the West Bank, formerly Palestinian territory. Ben’s position: Ben Shapiro did send the extremely inflammatory tweet in Sept 27, 2010 on his opinions on the settlements. Though he would delete and recant the language of the tweet in his running “list of the stupid things I’ve said”—it does betray his feelings about the settlements issue.
Jerusalem: For those that believe that the issue is primarily about religion, the issue of Jerusalem is thought to be the proximate cause. It is the center for most of the key holy sites in both the Jewish and Muslim faiths (and Christian for that matter).
Ben’s position: Ben supports the U.S. recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Borders: Conversely, for those that do not believe that the disagreement is primarily one about religion but land, borders then become the most common point of disagreement. The question is whether Israel should have to revert their borders back to pre-1967 levels.
Ben’s Position: We need your help. If any reader is able to find evidence of where Ben Shapiro proposed border changes as a resolution please let us know because we are unable to find it as of June 4, 2021.
Right of Return: Though this now seems to be falling out of the mainstream debate as the discussion shifts to the question of refugees, it was a mainstay in the Israeli-Palestine debate for decades. Following the Israeli border expansion, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to leave their homes and flee in what many call an ethnic cleansing.
If by this @marclamonthill means the so-called Palestinian "right of return," he's talking about the end of Israel. https://t.co/fOPAs3KlhU
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 15, 2015
Additionally as this is a particularly sensitive subject and one we may (or may not) be spending more time on in the future we ask for added understanding. It's very difficult to summarize any one person's views in only a thousand words and we leave the door open to making improvements as we uncover them.
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Should we become aware that a thinker has changed their position, or if new evidence shows we have misconstrued their views, we will make the correction, note it here, and explain how we missed it. Report an error →