PA Gov. Shapiro on defensive after college paper skeptical of Mid East peace resurfaces

Pennsylvania Gov. and Democratic vice president short-lister Josh Shapiro is defending his record on the Israel-Palestine conflict after an op-ed he wrote in college resurfaced. Shapiro says the op-ed no longer represents his beliefs.

The op-ed expressed skepticism about the prospects for peace in the Middle East, placing blame at the feet of the Palestinian people, Fox News and The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

"Since he wrote this piece as a 20-year-old student, Gov. Shapiro has built close, meaningful, informative relationships with many Muslim-American, Arab-American, Palestinian Christian, and Jewish community leaders all across Pennsylvania," Shapiro spokesman Manuel Bonder told Fox News.

The Philadelphia Inquirer unearthed the op-ed where Shapiro "described the Arab world as fractious" and said "Palestinians will not coexist peacefully."

"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," Shapiro wrote in the 1993 op-ed.

Shapiro's op-ed is adding fuel to opposition to his selection as the vice presidential nominee among the Democratic Party's far-left. Others have called out what they believe to be unfair criticism of a Jewish candidate.

"I think there is that sense that somehow we're not objective [on Israel] because we're Jewish, which is just not true or fair," Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, told Axios.