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Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist Apologizes to Jewish Community for Gaza ‘Genocide’ Claims, Enters Sec. of State Race
Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist speaks at a “Hands Off” protest at the Michigan Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, on April 5, 2025. Photo: Andrew Roth/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist used a candidate forum on Sunday to directly address criticism over his past comments on the war in Gaza, seeking to repair his relationship with the Jewish community amid uproar over his recent characterization of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas as a “genocide.”
Speaking at the forum for Democratic candidates for Michigan secretary of state, Gilchrist told attendees that while he continued to oppose civilian suffering, he regretted how his earlier remarks about the conflict were expressed and the impact they had, particularly on Jewish communities in Michigan amid a sharp rise in antisemitism nationwide. He emphasized that his apology was about tone and responsibility, not a reversal of his condemnation of violence. Gilchrist announced that he has held discussions with members of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
“I heard you loud and clear that the nature of some of my comments and campaign rhetoric has been taken as antisemitic. I want to apologize for that,” Gilchrist said.
Gilchrist acknowledged the trauma caused by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, where Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages in the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Israel responded to the surprise attack with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities and political rule in neighboring Gaza.
Gilchrist added that public officials have an obligation to speak with care about a war that began with what he described as a “brutal terrorist attack” and that continues to reverberate far beyond the Middle East.
“I firmly stand against antisemitism, and I vow to continue an open dialogue with this community,” Gilchrist stated. “I also believe in my heart that there is a place in the Democratic Party for the entire spectrum of the Jewish people and Jewish community, and I’ll make sure that that door remains wide open to them.”
However, Gilchrist later reaffirmed that he has not retracted his assertion that the war in Gaza is a “genocide” but expressed regret that his condemnations roiled his relations with the local Jewish community.
Gilchrist also recently entered the Michigan secretary of state race after stepping away from a potential run for governor. The current lieutenant governor failed to gain traction in the race and failed to secure an endorsement from sitting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. In his concession last week, Gilchrist released a video saying, “The time for me to serve in that role may come, but now is not that time.”
Skeptics have suggested that Gilchrist used allegations of “genocide” against Israel as part of an attempt to galvanize Michigan’s sizeable Arab Muslim community around his campaign.
While rivals questioned his judgment and focus, Gilchrist argued that protecting democratic institutions and public trust requires leaders who understand how divisive rhetoric — especially around Israel and Gaza — can undermine social cohesion at home.
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, another candidate in the secretary of state race, took a thinly veiled jab at Gilchrist over his incendiary commentary regarding Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
“I think it’s the responsibility of the secretary of state, and any statewide office holder, to push back against hate, and to continue to be supportive of all constituencies and unite the party,” Byrum said. “You will never have to worry about my words or actions being used as a reason for certain constituencies not to feel loved and welcomed in the Michigan Democratic Party.”
Following the Oct. 7 atrocities, the relationship between the US Democratic Party and the Jewish state has grown increasingly tense. Once relegated to the far-left reaches of the party, anti-Israel sentiment has migrated into the mainstream of American liberal politics. Traditionally moderate Democratic lawmakers have started to distance themselves from Israel, using harsh language to describe its military operations and refusing to accept assistance from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a prominent pro-Israel lobbying group in the US.
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UK PM Starmer Says There Could Be New Powers to Ban Pro-Palestinian Marches
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer gives a media statement at Downing Street in London, Britain, April 30, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jack Taylor/File photo
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government could ban pro-Palestinian marches in some circumstances because of the “cumulative effect” the demonstrations had on the Jewish community after two Jewish men were stabbed in London on Wednesday.
Starmer told the BBC that he would always defend freedom of expression and peaceful protest, but chants like “Globalize the Intifada” during demonstrations were “completely off limits” and those voicing them should be prosecuted.
Pro-Palestinian marches have become a regular feature in London since the October 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel that triggered the Gaza war. Critics say the demonstrations have generated hostility and become a focus for antisemitism.
Protesters have argued they are exercising their democratic right to spotlight ongoing human rights and political issues related to the situation in Gaza.
Starmer said he was not denying there were “very strong legitimate views about the Middle East, about Gaza,” but many people in the Jewish community had told him they were concerned about the repeat nature of the marches.
Asked if the tougher response should focus on chants and banners, or whether the protests should be stopped altogether, Starmer said: “I think certainly the first, and I think there are instances for the latter.”
“I think it’s time to look across the board at protests and the cumulative effect,” he said, adding that the government needed to look at what further powers it could take.
Britain raised its terrorism threat level to “severe” on Thursday amid mounting security concerns that foreign states were helping fuel violence, including against the Jewish community.
“We are seeing an elevated threat to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions in the UK,” the head of counter-terrorism policing, Laurence Taylor, said in a statement, adding that police were also working “against an unpredictable global situation that has consequences closer to home, including physical threats by state-linked actors.”
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War Likely to Resume After Trump’s Rejection of Latest Proposal, Says IRGC General
Iranians carry a model of a missile during a celebration following an IRGC attack on Israel, in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – A senior Iranian military figure said that fighting with the US was “likely” to resume after President Donald Trump stated he was dissatisfied with Tehran’s latest proposal, regime media reported on Saturday.
The comments of General Mohammad Jafar Asadi, one of the top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, were relayed by the Fars news agency, considered as a mouthpiece of the the powerful paramilitary body.
“Evidence has shown that the Americans do not not adhere to any commitments,” Asadi was quoted as saying.
He further added that Washington’s decision-making was “primarily media-driven aimed first at preventing a drop in oil prices and second at extricating themselves from the mess they have created.”
Iranian armed forces are ready “for any new adventures or foolishness from the Americans,” he said, going to assert that the Iran war would prove for the US a tragedy comparable with what was for Israel the October 7 massacre.
“Just as our martyred Leader said that the Zionist regime will never be the same as before the Al‑Aqsa Storm operation [the name chosen by Hamas leadership for the October 7, 2023 massacre in southern Israel], the United States will also never return to what it was before its attack on Iran,” he said. “The world has understood the true nature of America, and no matter how much malice it shows now, it is no longer the America that many once feared.”
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Trump Says US Navy Acting ‘Like Pirates’ to Carry Out Naval Blockade of Iranian Ports
A view of Iranian-flagged cargo ship M/V Touska as the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer USS Spruance conducts its interception in a location given as the north Arabian Sea, in this screen capture from a video released April 19, 2026. Photo: CENTCOM/Handout via REUTERS
President Donald Trump said on Friday the US Navy was acting “like pirates” in carrying out Washington’s naval blockade of Iranian ports during the US and Israel’s war against Iran.
Trump made the comments while describing the seizure by US forces of a ship a few days ago.
“We took over the ship, we took over the cargo, we took over the oil. It’s a very profitable business,” Trump said in remarks on Friday evening. “We’re like pirates. We’re sort of like pirates but we are not playing games.”
Some of Tehran’s vessels have been seized by the US after leaving Iranian ports, along with sanctioned container ships and Iranian tankers in Asian waters.
Iran has blocked nearly all ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz apart from its own since the start of the war. Trump has imposed a separate blockade of Iranian ports.
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.
The war has raised oil prices and led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
Trump, who has offered shifting timelines and goals for the war that remains unpopular in the US, has faced widespread condemnation over his comments on the conflict, including when he threatened to destroy Iran’s entire civilization last month.
Many US experts said last month that American strikes on Iran may amount to war crimes after Trump threatened to target civilian infrastructure.