In 1993, a bright-eyed 20-year-old Josh Shapiro wrote in his college newspaper that peace “will never come” to the Middle East, and claimed he was a "past volunteer in the Israeli army."
But the now-51-year-old Pennsylvania governor — and top contender to become presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' running mate — has seemingly abandoned those statements.
“Palestinians will not coexist peacefully,” Shapiro wrote in the opinion piece for the university newspaper, which was titled “Peace not possible."
“They do not have the capabilities to establish their own homeland and make it successful even with the aid of Israel and the United States. They are too battle-minded to be able to establish a peaceful homeland of their own," he said, according to reporting from The Philadelphia Inquirer.
On Friday, Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for Shapiro, told the newspaper in a statement that Shapiro's views have evolved since then. He now supports a two-state solution.
“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 the Inquirer.
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“The governor greatly values their perspectives and the experiences he has learned from over the years—and as a result, as with many issues, his views on the Middle East have evolved into the position he holds today,” the spokesman said.
At a news conference Friday, Shapiro told reporters: "I was 20."
“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," he said, according to Jewish News Syndicate.
Additionally, Bonder said, Shapiro didn't participate in any military activities in Israel and did not volunteer in the Israeli army.
As a high-schooler, he completed service projects in the country including on an army base. He also worked on a farm and at a fishery in a kibbutz, a type of collective community settlement.
Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Josh Shapiro's age. The article has been updated.
