U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s team asked Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro during the 2024 running-mate vetting process whether he had ever been an “agent” of Israel, according to an advance copy of his memoir obtained by The New York Times on Sunday.
In “Where We Keep the Light,” Shapiro, who is Jewish and whose official residence in Harrisburg was targeted in an antisemitic arson attack last year, says Harris’s team focused heavily on his views on Israel during the selection process.
“Had I been a double agent for Israel?” Shapiro wrote, per the Times, describing an eleventh-hour question from the vice president’s team.
Shapiro was said to have responded that the question was offensive and was told, “Well, we have to ask.” He wrote that while he understood that the aide was “just doing her job,” the fact that he, “the only Jewish guy,” was asked such questions “said a lot” about some on Harris’s team.
“These sessions were completely professional and businesslike,” the governor wrote. “But I just had a knot in my stomach through all of it.”
A representative for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the Times said. Shapiro’s book is due to be published Jan. 27.
Shapiro was ultimately passed over, with Harris picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who praised anti-Israel protesters for “speaking out for all the right reasons” and called for a Palestinian state, as her running mate.
In her 2025 memoir, 107 Days, Harris referred to Shapiro facing attacks tied to Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. She said he vocalized criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while also expressing concerns that he would not be satisfied as the No. 2 on the ticket.
Aaron Keyak, a former deputy special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism in the State Department in Joe Biden’s administration, told JNS on Sunday that Shapiro had faced an “antisemitic inquiry.”
“The minimum demand of Jews in the United States and our allies—even those in public service—is to simply be treated like any other American, regardless of religion, ethnicity or race,” said Keyak.
“While we can safely assume that asking all potential vice presidential picks if they are an Israeli double agent is not included on the standard list, the obvious question is why it was Governor Shapiro who was targeted by the staff of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, in particular,” the ex-envoy told JNS.
“The truth is, we almost certainly know why,” said Keyak, who currently serves on the advisory board of the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time the U.S. government or a presidential campaign has applied a double standard to American Jews during the vetting process for a wide range of officials,” he stated.
“I can speak from personal experience,” he continued. “During my vetting process, I faced questions in a classified setting that my fellow non-Jewish political appointees did not.”
Keyak concluded by stating that “antisemitic questions are anti-American and do not represent the best that the Democratic Party offers. Now, and especially during the next presidential campaign, we must demand better.”
