CPAC Hosts First Int’l Conservative Conference in Israel; Ben Shapiro Delivers Keynote Address

CPAC Hosts First Int’l Conservative Conference in Israel; Ben Shapiro Delivers Keynote Address

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Matt Schlapp, CPAC Chairman, told Israel National News that the first CPAC conference in Israel has been a huge success, with people even flying in from the United States to attend.

“It’s so great to be here at CPAC Israel. It’s our very first CPAC in Israel. We’ve done these CPACs in Japan, in Korea, in Australia, in Brazil, we obviously do these big conferences in America,” Schlapp said speaking from CPAC and Tel Aviv Salon’s International Conservative Conference in Tel Aviv, produced with Shibolet and Sela Meir publications.

“It seems like this is the perfect time, this could be G-d’s time for conservatives in Israel to partner more with their conservative friends in America,” he explained to INN. “There’s always been a lot of partnership organizations between our two countries but none of them based on being conservative, so it’s a very unique time.”

He added that American conservatives are very interested in Israeli politics.

“The people of America, they’re not always interested in everyone’s politics, but they are interested in Israeli politics,” he told INN. “We’re very worried with the Biden presidency that we’re sending the message out around the globe that we’re weakened, that we won’t take care of our energy needs, that we’re on decline, that we’re telling Vladimir Putin and we’re telling Xi and China, we don’t really have the power to do anything to stop you. That is not where the American people are. We’re really hopeful that this Biden administration can come to an end as soon as possible and and I think the November elections in our country, just like you have November elections, it’s going to stop any progress the Biden administration can make on further destroying our economy and sending these terrible weak messages overseas.”

Asked about his visit to Hebron, Schlapp replied: “I’m glad that our delegation went there, I’m glad we paid respects to some of the great heroes of the Old Testament. I’m proud of the fact that we’ve brought a whole plane load of dignitaries over here today – three Trump ambassadors here for CPAC Israel, two former cabinet secretaries, including Rick Grenell who was the ambassador to Germany, we’ve brought our great friend Ben Shapiro here at CPAC Israel, and we’re just very impressed, we have regular citizens. They said, You’re going to do a CPAC in Israel, we’re flying over there.”

The Times of Israel reported that as keynote speaker, conservative media juggernaut Ben Shapiro ascended the stage, many people in the audience rose to their feet, cheering loudly and trying to capture his image on their phones. Free seats were in short supply, and many people were standing throughout his hour-long talk, as was reported by TOI.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Shapiro was the central attraction of the sold-out CPAC Israel event, also sponsored by the Tel Aviv International Salon and right-wing publisher Shibboleth. Several attendees at Tel Aviv’s Hangar 11 said they were there for Shapiro and not the many Trump administration officials who spoke before him, as was reported by the Jerusalem Post. The seats, which only filled up close to the time at which he was scheduled to speak, reflected as such, the report indicated

Shapiro said before he took the stage that he hoped to convey a message about “what America can teach Israel and what Israel can teach America.”

“The welfare state prevented Israel from being the economic power it otherwise would be,” he said, according to the JPost report.

The US should learn from Israel that “you need a nation to be a nation-state,” Shapiro said. Americans used to widely believe in American exceptionalism but has since divided itself into “tribes and races,” he said, as was reported by the JPost.

“There are groups of people that believe America is not exceptional, it is bad, not rooted in liberty and instead rooted in racism and evil,” Shapiro said. “America should learn from Israel that we need common sense of destiny, of what we are fighting on behalf of.”

Asked about Biden’s visit to Israel last week, Shapiro said the president “fell on his face,” as was reported by the JPost.

“He arrived, shook hands, made some noises that sounded vaguely pro-Israel and then weird sounds started to emerge, like comparing the plight of the Palestinians to the Irish under British rule. It’s quite a feat to offend two key American allies and botch the history in the process,” Shapiro quipped, according to the JPost report. “Traveling to east Jerusalem and removing the Israel flag from the Beast [the presidential limousine] is him catering to his left-wing base, and he made a fool of himself in Saudi Arabia.

TOI reported that speaking at a rapid clip, without notes and seemingly from memory, Shapiro reeled off a list of statistics he said attested to the health and robustness of Israeli society.

“Despite a complete lack of natural resources, a tiny land area located in one of the most dangerous parts of the planet and a total population of 9.2 million people, Israel has the 20th highest GDP per capita on planet Earth,” he said, according to the TOI report.

Shapiro also praised Israel for its high fertility rate, describing it as “the only Western country with a fertility rate above replacement rates. The only one.”

“In fact, it’s truly an amazing stat when you think about it. Even the most politically left-wing areas of Israel reproduce at higher rates than other countries. In Tel Aviv, the fertility rate is 2.49. In Haifa, the fertility rate is 2.35.”

Shapiro attributed this to Israelis’ sense of unity, as was reported by TOI.

“From the inside, Israel has to look like a roiling country of disagreements and conflicts, of dislike and antipathy, of unbridgeable gaps, where nobody gets along. From the outside, which is where I live, here is what Israel actually looks like: a country more solid in its identity than nearly any country on planet Earth.”

TOI reported that Shapiro did criticize Israel for its bureaucracy and obstacles to a free-market economy, drawing muted applause.

He drew laughs when he mocked elements of the American left, whom he said believe that “men can be women, women can be men, both can be chickens, and the summit of human existence lies in the subjective sexual self-definition of each and every individual.”

Warning Israelis not to be influenced by leftist attitudes, Shapiro said, “Do not let any of this crap happen here, for the love of God. Do not let the left destroy the covenants of fate and destiny. Cling fast to your principles. Cling fast to your history,” as was reported by TOI.

TOI reported that large screens around the hall showed audience members listening raptly as Shapiro deftly wove together strands of theology, political theory and potshots at his political adversaries.

INN reported that Shapiro was asked by journalist Amit Segal why he will not make Aliyah to Israel.

“Because the fundamental principles of the United States are good, eternally good, and worth upholding, and my fight to do that as a Jew is deeply important, not just to people who are not Jewish but particularly to Jews,” he replied, as was reported by INN.

“So, in other words, my Jewish mission does not conflict with my presence in the United States, or my citizenship of the United States or my loyalty to the United States,” continued Shapiro.

INN also reported that Segal then asked, “Shouldn’t all Jews live in the State of Israel?” to which Shapiro replied, “Jews should live where they can be a light to the nations, and for me, as person with millions and millions of followers in the United States, promoting what I think are values that are eternally good, living in the United States is a point of morality for me.”

Asked whether he ever wonders if, one day, he will be forced to flee the United States, he said, “I think that every Jew throughout world history, who has a brain and knows history, has always wondered if a country that is not a Jewish state is going to eternally provide them security guarantees and full citizenship,” according to the INN report.

“That’s why the existence of the State of Israel is the single greatest guarantor of my loyalty to the United States, frankly,” he added. “Because Israel exists, that means the United States is going to be a more welcoming place for me, because Israel is there as a backstop in case anything should go wrong.”

INN reported that Segal also asked Shapiro whether he has ever wanted to run for politics and be a candidate for President or Vice President, to which Shapiro replied, “That sounds like hell.”

“Running for office is a garbage business. You have to ask a bunch of people who you don’t care very much about for large sums of money, in order to run a campaign in which you have to fib about your core positions, and then if you win, you have to hang out in Washington, DC, with politicians. All of this sounds horrifying,” he added, noting he gets to say what he wants for a living and gets paid richly for doing so.

“I’m 38 right now. I’ll stick with that at least until I’m of the average age of our presidents, so that gives me like seven or eight decades,” quipped Shapiro, according to the INN report.