Former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who served under the Biden administration, can hardly be described as a cheerleader for Israel. He’s also not one of Israel’s most severe critics either. But that’s not enough for some people.
A clip from Blinken’s appearance on a panel at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly has gone viral.
Blinken faulted Israel’s handling of Palestinian civilians, arguing that it had largely limited itself to the minimum steps it considered necessary for those trapped in the conflict. In his view, this reflected a measure of indifference and contempt toward civilians’ welfare, though he stressed that this was “vastly different from an attempt to do them harm or an intent to eliminate them.”
Blinken stated that Israel’s objective was Hamas, adding that a tragic number of people were caught in between and endured immense suffering as a result.
In other words: Israel did not carry out a genocide.
Cue lots of gnashing of teeth online as Israel’s worst detractors expressed their horror, among them the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which issued a press release condemning Blinken “for once again lying to the American public about the crimes the Israeli government has deliberately committed in Gaza with American taxpayer dollars and weapons.”
For good measure, CAIR said: “Secretary Blinken is a war criminal who must have no place in any future presidential administration.”
In the aftermath of the Democratic Party’s electoral success in the midterms, it’s clear that there is an attempt to delegitimize anyone in Democratic politics who will not automatically go along with the anti-Israel hate fest taking place on the far-left of the party.
If a relative moderate like Blinken is no longer deemed to be acceptable in a future presidential administration, then Israel has a potentially serious problem ahead. Because there are far too many out there who cannot even fathom a nuanced or even slightly critical take on the Gaza conflict or Israel’s right to defend itself, let alone a supportive one.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
