The confrontation between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has spilled over into fights between American conservative commentators.Ben Shapiro and her Daily Wire colleague Candace Owens have had some especially pointed exchanges.Owens tweeted November 3, "No government anywhere has a right to commit a genocide, ever…there is no justification for a genocide. I can’t believe this even needs to be said or is even considered the least bit controversial to state."After conservative commentator Dave Rubin interpreted the comment in the context of Israel and Palestine, Owens countered with a suggestion she made a "blanket statement" against genocide, adding that she "won’t be backing down or apologizing or further clarifying this statement."During an interview earlier this month with Jewish comedian Ami Kozak, Owens discussed alleged discrimination against whites on college campuses and asked, "What makes Jews so special?" Owens also suggested Muslims are required to be in Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter, but Kozak corrected her that this was not so.In a short video for the Daily Wire, Owens sarcastically endorsed former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley for the presidency of Israel, given the strong pro-Israeli stance of the Republican contestant to represent the party in the 2024 US presidential elections.“I think Bibi Netanyahu is going through a very bad time right now. Support for Israel has virtually collapsed socially if you’re paying attention to the trends, if you’re paying attention to what people are watching and if you’re paying attention to the protests. And the one person that I think is capable of getting it back is Nikki Haley with enough money from foreign interest lobbies,” Owens said.On Tuesday, Ben Shapiro criticized Owens in a public speech posted to Twitter ("X"), as "absolutely disgraceful" for her comments on the Israel-Hamas conflict, saying "her faux sophistication on these particular issues has been ridiculous. Everybody can see the moves that she’s making and the things that she’s saying and I find them disreputable.”Owens responded on Twitter ("X") by quoting Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew, where he blessed peacemakers and those persecuted for the sake of righteousness."No one can serve two masters," she further quoted Jesus. "Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.""Christ is King," Owens added in a later tweet.Shapiro took the post as a shot at him and tweeted “Candace, if you feel that taking money from The Daily Wire somehow comes between you and God, by all means quit.”But Owens was just as pointed in her reply.“You have been acting unprofessional and emotionally unhinged for weeks now. And we have all had to sit back and allow it and have all tried to exercise exceeding understanding for your raw emotion." “But you cross a certain line when you come for scripture and read yourself into it."“I will not tolerate it.”Owens also said Shapiro was "utterly out of line by claiming that I cannot quote biblical scripture” and told him, “The Bible is not about you.” She talked about the spat in an interview with Tucker Carlson on Twitter ("X") shortly thereafter."I can't respond to it on a level of intellect, because there's nothing that he has expressed — at least in that short clip — that he fundamentally disagrees with in terms of what I have said, but I will say that I'm not going to respond with the same ad hominem attacks," she told Tucker. "I don't think it helps further the discussion."“If that was me that was caught on a video saying that about colleagues that I work with, I would be embarrassed," adding she "would never, at a private event, stand on a table and talk badly about Ben."However, Shapiro has also been critical of Carlson, accusing him of exhibiting "moral blindness" for his "hands-off" stance regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict.Carlson has repeatedly said US political leaders should be focused more on domestic issues than foreign conflicts."Of course, I'm not for Hamas at all," Carlson said during a recent interview with podcaster Theo Von."I'm for America, actually. I shouldn't even have to answer that question. 'Are you for Israel or Hamas?' I mean, obviously, I'm for Israel over Hamas, but that's irrelevant. I'm for America, and no one even asks that,” Carlson said."And I feel deep resentment about that, that the concerns of this country are of no concern.”
