American conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro, who spoke on Wednesday at the CPAC Israel conference in Tel Aviv, was asked by journalist Amit Segal why he will not make Aliyah to Israel.

“Because the fundamental principles of the United States are good, eternally good, and worth upholding, and my fight to do that as a Jew is deeply important, not just to people who are not Jewish but particularly to Jews,” he replied.

“So, in other words, my Jewish mission does not conflict with my presence in the United States, or my citizenship of the United States or my loyalty to the United States,” continued Shapiro.

Segal then asked, “Shouldn’t all Jews live in the State of Israel?” to which Shapiro replied, “Jews should live where they can be a light to the nations, and for me, as person with millions and millions of followers in the United States, promoting what I think are values that are eternally good, living in the United States is a point of morality for me.”

Asked whether he ever wonders if, one day, he will be forced to flee the United States, he said, “I think that every Jew throughout world history, who has a brain and knows history, has always wondered if a country that is not a Jewish state is going to eternally provide them security guarantees and full citizenship.”

“That’s why the existence of the State of Israel is the single greatest guarantor of my loyalty to the United States, frankly,” he added. “Because Israel exists, that means the United States is going to be a more welcoming place for me, because Israel is there as a backstop in case anything should go wrong.”

Segal also asked Shapiro whether he has ever wanted to run for politics and be a candidate for President or Vice President, to which Shapiro replied, “That sounds like hell.”

“Running for office is a garbage business. You have to ask a bunch of people who you don’t care very much about for large sums of money, in order to run a campaign in which you have to fib about your core positions, and then if you win, you have to hang out in Washington, DC, with politicians. All of this sounds horrifying,” he added, noting he gets to say what he wants for a living and gets paid richly for doing so.

“I’m 38 right now. I’ll stick with that at least until I’m of the average age of our presidents, so that gives me like seven or eight decades,” quipped Shapiro.