In one sense, it’s no surprise that Josh Shapiro insinuated, in an upcoming memoir, that Kamala Harris’s staff asked him antisemitic questions.

Shapiro, the Jewish governor of Pennsylvania, has always worn his Judaism on his sleeve. He’s highlighted his family’s Shabbat dinners in a campaign ad, was sworn in on three Hebrew Bibles, and reportedly begins his memoir, which will be released on Tuesday, describing the antisemitic arson attack on his residence last Passover.

In that book, “Where We Keep the Light: Stories from a Life of Service,” Shapiro also recalls the vetting process for Harris’s running mate in the 2024 election, and recounts, with incredulity and offense, being asked if he had ever been “a double agent for Israel.”

Shapiro is widely assumed to be eyeing a run for US president in 2028, and the book suggests that when he hits the national campaign trail, he’s going to continue centering his Judaism. It also indicates that he’s not going to be shy about calling out antisemitism, even in his own party.

For American Jews, that will be something of a shift. Recent Democratic primaries have included prominent Jewish candidates, but not since Joe Lieberman’s presidential campaign in 2004 has there been a serious contender who placed his Jewish observance at the heart of his public persona. For Jews, or at least for the majority of Jews who vote Democrat, that could be a welcome sight and a reminder in a time of rising hostility of the promise America has historically held for its Jewish citizens.

But it could also be a trap, both for Shapiro and American Jewry. A willingness to accuse political rivals of antisemitism inevitably means that Shapiro will have to make calls about what constitutes prejudice against Jews, an especially thorny question when it comes to anti-Israel criticism. Campaigning for support among Democrats who are increasingly liable to criticize his support for Israel, Shapiro will have to wrestle with whether to make his Jewish identity part of his defense, and what that would mean for American Jews.

If he’s forced to opine on whether statements from his critics, or even from fellow candidates, are antisemitic, Shapiro’s public embrace of his Judaism could turn from an asset into a liability, and might make the question of American Jewish belonging more of a political football than it already is.

Shapiro has taken two tacks when discussing his religion in public: He almost always frames it in positive, uplifting terms, and he endeavors to make it accessible to the vast majority of voters who aren’t Jewish.

That’s why his Jewish references mix particularism with a broader appeal. He talks about being Jewish a lot, but tends to refer to his “faith,” a word used mostly by Christians. He’s fond of a famous........

© The Times of Israel