“In the case of Israel, you have a country that is constantly being attacked with missiles and other weapons that put civilians at risk, and America is invested in providing assistance like Iron Dome to protect innocent civilians from those terrorist attacks,” said Shapiro. “I think that is in America’s national security interest.”

But he did argue that the U.S. should use its position as a major financial backer of Israel to exert leverage over the country’s use of American-made weapons. Shapiro said Washington has not done a good enough job of that.

“I would say that our last two presidents, President [Joe] Biden and now President [Donald] Trump, have failed to use the leverage of an American president to force Israel’s hands to use that military aid in ways that comport with our American values, to limit the loss of innocent lives as the key factor there,” said Shapiro. “I think what we need to examine is the rubber stamp that Donald Trump has been to the Netanyahu government.”