Hassan-Nahoum to Newsmax: Being Jewish, Pro-Israel Cost Shapiro

It is worrying that a large part of the discussion leading up to Vice President Kamala Harris' choice for her running mate in the November presidential election centered around the fact that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is Jewish and pro-Israel, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, deputy mayor of Jerusalem, told Newsmax on Tuesday.

Hassan-Nahoum made the comment on "Newsline" after she was asked about Harris picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday as her running mate over Shapiro after the two had been considered by pundits as the finalists for the position.

"It was a little sad the way that a few days ago in order for Josh Shapiro to become palatable to the Democratic Party, he had to kind of disavow his support for Israel, which has always been there, and even that didn't work," she said.

"The fact that people are even talking in the news and talking in discussions about whether she should pick him or not because he was Jewish, things are in a bad place.

"There is a big problem in progressive America, essentially saying that they are coming out in favor of terrorists as opposed to America's ally and the only democracy in the Middle East," Hassan-Nahoum said of Israel, adding that progressives "may have bullied the system into pushing out Josh Shapiro, but I don't know."

When asked if Harris' choice as her vice presidential candidate would hurt her chances of winning the election, Hassan-Nahoum said, "I can't really comment on internal American politics ... But what I can say is that once upon a time, in America, being Jewish was not the reason to or not to pick someone, and it is very sad that this is what it has come to."

As for what exactly will happen with threats from Tehran to hit Israel hard, Hassan-Nahoum said that she hoped that the U.S. sending warships to the region serves as a "warning and deterrent" to Iran so that the situation "doesn't escalate into a regional war and maybe even into a world war."

But she stressed that "everything is possible with Iran. Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism. They have created all of the problem in the Middle East. Everything comes back to Iran."

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