Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro spoke to Arutz Sheva – Israel National News on Wednesday about the recent hostage and ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. He also shared insights on the role of President-elect Donald Trump in shaping the deal and discussed "We Will Rise", the inspiring new musical he co-created with his father.
"I think the fact is that the Trump Administration wants the hostages out, and I also think that they want a headline that is connected to the hostages being released," Shapiro said. "I think whether the deal ends up being a net benefit for Israel and for the United States or whether it ends up being a net detriment is going to be largely determined by whether it's seen as a ceasefire/end of war deal or whether it's seen as a hostage release deal. And it seems to me far-fetched to believe that the Trump Administration would cram down a full-scale ceasefire deal that allowed Hamas to remain in place given the fact that literally every Cabinet nominee who's spoken on this has said precisely the reverse."
He noted that yesterday, Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee for Defense Secretary, said that he supports Israel "in killing literally every member of Hamas." Likewise, Trump's pick for National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, has said that Hamas will not remain in power in Gaza.
"So any sort of deal that ends with Hamas in control, either titular or effectual, of the Gaza Strip, seems to be a non-starter. So what that actually means is that is probably best to be seen, if you going to try and game it out, as a way of guaranteeing that many of the hostages get out - hopefully as many as possible - and then a recognition that Israel is going to have to go back in and mop up the job," he said.
"It's a painful deal," he acknowledged. "The question is how much pain, and I think that's yet to be seen."
Shapiro said that he "understands many of the concerns" of Trump supporters in Israel who feel that Israel has been pressured into a catastrophic deal. "It's only going to be determined how bad or good the deal is as it's implemented. I have enough trust in both the Netanyahu administration and the Trump administration to believe that it isn't a full-scale surrender as it's been portrayed by some."
"What they're going to get is an administration that is very friendly towards Israel, that wants to see Israel protect itself, that recognizes that Israel's enemies are indeed evil and seek its destruction, and is going to act that way," he said. "But again, no one can predict the future and no one even knows who's going to be president five years from now. I would always urge Israel and the United States to act as independent states in their own interests."
Shapiro also spoke about "We Will Rise", the musical he co-created with his father, David Shapiro. The production portrays the story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, drawing poignant parallels to the realities faced in the aftermath of October 7.
His father wrote music for film and television "and had always wanted to write for musical theater," Shapiro recounted. "He and I combined on this project. He wrote the music and the lyrics. I wrote the libretto, which is to say the plot and the dialogue."
"When we put it together originally ... it was a musical about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which is what 'We Will Rise' is about. We basically completed what we thought was a good round of that going into 2023, and then October 7th happened. And we really wanted to tie the messages that were very relevant from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to October 7th, to the modern-day State of Israel. And so the musical now opens with two soldiers from the IDF going into Kfar Aza and finding it burned out and realizing that one of the soldiers' grandmothers has been kidnapped into Gaza. And they find on the floor of her home a picture of a baby and her parents from the Warsaw Ghetto. We flash into the picture, and now we tell the story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising," he explained.
Shapiro called the work "a musical about Jewish unity in the face of annihilationist enemies. It's a musical about the fact that no matter how much Jews may try to escape antisemitism, antisemitism will always come for them. And it's a musical about why the State of Israel is necessary to collective self-defense. The answer to 'Never Again' for the Jews was not just relying on the kindness of other nations, which, of course, Jews all over the world are still reliant on that. But also the establishment of the State of Israel as a homeland and protector for Jews everywhere. That's what the musical is really about in essence. I think that message was relevant before October 7th. I think it's even more relevant after October 7th."
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