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The US State Department’s Hostility Toward Israel
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks in the briefing room of the State Department in Washington, US January 7, 2022. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS
JNS.org – The role of the US State Department in preventing the rescue of European Jews during World War II is well known. Top officials at Foggy Bottom instructed American consulates in Europe to make it difficult, if not impossible, for Jews trying to flee the Nazi death machine from coming to the United States. In the American Jewish community, the perception of the State Department is of a cabal of antisemites.
It doesn’t mean that everyone in the department was (or is) an antisemite, but clearly, the obstructionism that came from the leadership during the Holocaust years was responsible for the death of many thousands, if not millions, of Jews who could have been rescued.
Most recently, the State Department under President Joe Biden and headed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken continued the “tradition,” albeit, not against European Jews but rather toward the State of Israel. According to Michael Herzog, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, hostile elements within the department actively sought to limit Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip and block key security decisions taken by the Netanyahu government. Herzog told Israel’s largest daily, Israel Hayom, that “there are many within the State Department who are not just unfriendly to Israel but outright hostile.”
Herzog revealed that officials at State warned their Israeli counterparts last year against a retaliatory strike against Iran following the Islamic Republic’s missile attack against Israel on Oct. 1, 2024, with nearly 200 ballistic missiles. Israel was warned that any action taken might escalate into a regional war. Although the Iranian attack caused little damage or casualties in Israel, Herzog told US officials that in the Middle East, once attacked, rather than “containing it,” a counterstroke must hit back at the enemy harder and painfully. He said for Israel, retaliation was an existential matter. If Israel failed to respond to Iran, its deterrence would collapse, which would invite more attacks from Iran and its proxies.
Herzog said that Blinken also moved to implement targeted sanctions against the Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Unit 504. This unit deals with human intelligence and interrogation. Herzog said Blinken had “already made up his mind, but we managed to stop him just in time.”
Among Herzog’s disclosures was the fact that the State Department has a team focused specifically on tracking Israel’s use of US weapons. This constitutes a double standard since America does not apply such a level of scrutiny to any other country.
The Biden administration also sought to pressure Israel against entering Rafah by delaying and freezing weapons shipments, including 2,000-pound bombs, which the administration justified on humanitarian grounds. Herzog made clear that although there was no formal arms embargo, “bureaucratic delays and political pressure slowed down deliveries at crucial moments.” These obstructions prolonged the war, inflicting increased casualties on Israelis and Palestinians.
Herzog concluded that “in the end, we had to work around US pressure. If we had followed all their advice, our enemies would have sensed weakness. Instead, we acted in Israel’s best interest, even when it meant standing up to our closest ally.”
While Biden might have had pro-Israel instincts, he was under severe pressure from anti-Israel factions within his administration, especially those at State. The administration did little to curb violent antisemitic riots on US college campuses, funded in large part by Qatar. Herzog stressed that the Biden administration “allowed bureaucrats with an anti-Israel agenda to influence US policy, by making sure that nearly every Israeli request was delayed, watered down or obstructed.”
Several Biden foreign-policy officials resigned over US policy toward Gaza, including Josh Paul, former director of the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, who resigned in October 2023; and Tarik Habash, who worked for the US Department of Education and resigned in January 2024.
The two have since formed an anti-Israel political action committee called A New Policy PAC. In an Oct. 16, 2024 interview with the Huff Post, they articulated their opposition, if not hostility, toward Israel, advocating among other things for boycotting the Jewish state. Said Paul, “I think it’s very clear that the policies that the United States has been pursuing, certainly for the last year and frankly before that, have been deeply harmful to the Palestinian people, but also to American interests where we are seeing ourselves, our credibility around the world shattered, the stability of the Middle East cast into doubt, and civil rights at home also increasingly damaged by the debate around this issue.”
Typically, Paul and Habash reflect an inherently anti-Israel, if not antisemitic attitude that is pervasive in US institutions. They don’t blame the Hamas terrorists for repeated attempts to destroy Israel in accordance with the terror group’s charter, which culminated in the murderous Oct. 7 assault on Israel. Instead, they put the onus on Israel for its legitimate response against a murderous group that promised to repeat many more “Oct. 7” attacks on Israel. Their concerns for human rights don’t apply to the Israeli hostages kidnapped from their beds, raped, starved and tortured.
Fortunately for Israel, most American presidents and the majority of American citizens understand what Paul and Habash do not: Israel is a vibrant democracy that shares US values and interests and is the only loyal and reliable partner Washington has in the Middle East.
The post The US State Department’s Hostility Toward Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hezbollah Says Lebanon Move on Army Plan Is ‘Opportunity,’ Urges Israel to Commit to Ceasefire
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and members of the cabinet stand as they attend a cabinet session to discuss the army’s plan to disarm Hezbollah, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, September 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati told Reuters on Saturday that the group considered Friday’s cabinet session on an army plan to establish a state monopoly on arms “an opportunity to return to wisdom and reason, preventing the country from slipping into the unknown.”
Lebanon’s cabinet on Friday welcomed a plan by the army that would disarm Hezbollah and said the military would begin executing it, without setting a timeframe for implementation and cautioning that the army had limited capabilities.
But it said continued Israeli military operations in Lebanon would hamper the army’s progress. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Lebanese information minister Paul Morcos stopped short of saying the cabinet had formally approved the plan.
Qmati told Reuters that Hezbollah had reached its assessment based on the government’s declaration on Friday that further implementation of a US roadmap on the matter was dependent on Israel’s commitment. He said that without Israel halting strikes and withdrawing its troops from southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s implementation of the plan should remain “suspended until further notice.”
Lebanon’s cabinet last month tasked the army with coming up with a plan that would establish a state monopoly on arms and approved a US roadmap aimed at disarming Hezbollah in exchange for a halt to Israeli military operations in Lebanon.
Qmati said that Hezbollah “unequivocally rejected” those two decisions and expected the Lebanese government to draw up a national defense strategy.
Israel last week signaled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the army took action to disarm Hezbollah. Meanwhile, it has continued its strikes, killing four people on Wednesday.
A national divide over Hezbollah’s disarmament has taken center stage in Lebanon since last year’s devastating war with Israel, which upended a power balance long dominated by the Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim group.
Lebanon is under pressure from the US, Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah’s domestic rivals to disarm the group. But Hezbollah has pushed back, saying it would be a serious misstep to even discuss disarmament while Israel continues its air strikes on Lebanon and occupies swathes of territory in the south.
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem last month raised the specter of civil war, warning the government against trying to confront the group and saying street protests were possible.
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UK Police Arrest Dozens at Latest Protest for Banned Palestine Action
Demonstrators attend the “Lift The Ban” rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
British police arrested dozens more people on Saturday under anti-terrorism laws for demonstrating in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group banned by the government as a terrorist organization.
Britain banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged military planes. The group accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Police have arrested hundreds of Palestine Action supporters in recent weeks under anti-terrorism legislation, including over 500 in just one day last month, many of them over the age of 60.
On Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near parliament in central London to protest against the ban on Saturday, with many holding up signs that said: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said officers had begun arresting those expressing support for Palestine Action. Police did not say how many arrests were made but a Reuters witness said dozens of people were detained.
Palestine Action’s ban, or proscription, puts the group alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS and makes it a crime to support or belong to the organization, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
“I can be unequivocal, if you show support for Palestine Action – an offense under the Terrorism Act – you will be arrested,” Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said on Friday. “We have the officer numbers, custody capacity and all other resources to process as many people as is required.”
Human rights groups have criticized Britain’s decision to ban the group as disproportionate and say it limits the freedom of expression of peaceful protesters.
The government has accused Palestine Action of causing millions of pounds worth of criminal damage and says the ban does not prevent other pro-Palestinian protests.
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Macron’s Meeting with American Jewry ‘Won’t Happen’ Amid Palestinian Recognition Drive, Surge in Antisemitism
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference in Paris, France, June 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
i24 News – French President Emmanuel Macron attempted to set up a meeting with American Jewish leaders later this month on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
i24NEWS has learned that the meeting won’t happen, firstly because Macron was only available for the meeting ahead of the UN General Assembly during Rosh Hashanah, and yet, a person invited to meet with Macron and who has knowledge of the discussions told i24NEWS the sit-down simply wasn’t going to happen, anyway.
“I think the organizations, for the most part, would not have participated,” the person said, adding that AIPAC, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee would have likely received invitations, among other entities.
“The guy has a 15% popularity rating in France. It’s not our job to help him out,” the person said.
Asked by i24NEWS whether Macron’s push for greater Palestinian state recognition or his lack of action in tackling antisemitism at home led to the stance of organized American Jewry, the person said it’s more of “the climate” which allows one to say ‘Look, the American Jews met with me,’ regardless of the content.”
The person said they are sure, if a meeting would have happened, that everybody in the room would have taken a hard line with Macron, including his “statements on Israel, the failure to respond to antisemitism” and France’s announcement this summer that it will recognize a Palestinian state later this month, and is leading an effort to get more countries to do the same.
But, the person told i24NEWS they are convinced that, in the end, while no final decision actually had to be taken, there was enough pressure that a consensus would have been reached to decline the meeting.
Of the timing of Rosh Hashanah allowing for leadership to not be forced to officially say no to Macron, the person said “G-d saves us every time.”
Another source familiar with the matter noted that it cannot be ruled out that Macron may eventually succeed in arranging a meeting with certain representatives, as the organizations are not a single unified body. However, he is unlikely to be welcomed by the overwhelming majority of groups representing American Jewry.
i24NEWS has also learned that French President Emmanuel Macron explored the possibility of visiting Israel ahead of the convention, but was advised by the Prime Minister’s Office that the timing was inappropriate. The message came as Macron continues to push for recognition of a Palestinian state, a move Israel strongly opposes. Sources further told i24NEWS that Israel is weighing additional retaliatory measures against Macron, including the potential closure of the French consulate in Jerusalem, which primarily serves Palestinians in the West Bank.