A Boston-based Jewish organization said Thursday it was “deeply troubled” by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s claim that there is “ample evidence” Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza.
The American Jewish Committee sent a letter to Warren that accused the Democrat of providing “cover to extreme voices” by claiming that Israel could be found guilty of war crimes in a top United Nations court.
“[W]e write to express our deep disappointment and concern about your recent comment regarding Israel’s defensive war in Gaza – which aims to rescue the many hostages currently held by Hamas, the terrorist organization responsible for the single most deadly attack against Jews since the Holocaust, and to offer our assistance to you moving forward,” Rob Leikind, the New England director of the American Jewish Committee, wrote in the letter.
Warren revealed last week that she believes the International Court of Justice will find that the Jewish state has committed genocide in Gaza after a war crimes case was brought before The Hague by South Africa.
“If you want to do it as an application of law, I believe that they’ll find that it is genocide, and they have ample evidence to do so,” Warren said during an event at the Islamic Center of Boston.
A spokesperson for Warren noted that the remark was not a reflection of “her views on whether genocide is occurring in Gaza.”
“Nonetheless,” Leikind argued, “We believe that your statement was inaccurate and hurtful and did not reflect what is happening in Gaza or the likely outcome of South Africa’s claim against Israel at the ICJ.”
The American Jewish Committee director noted that Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called the genocide claim “meritless.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has also told senators that there is “no evidence” Israel is committing a genocide in Palestinian territory.
“While we are confident that it was not your intent, your statement has provided cover to extreme voices, who have been maliciously accusing Israel of genocide long before a single Israeli soldier entered Gaza,” the letter continues.
“It is also true that the Jewish people know what genocide is. The Nazis’ systematic extermination of Jews was one of the events that led Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent, to coin the term in 1944. It is, therefore, especially painful when the term is employed in ways that are certain to encourage outrage, but do not nearly apply to the reality being described.”
Leikind laments the loss of life and accounts of innocent civilians suffering amid the Israeli invasion and bombing of the Gaza Strip but argues “it is wrong to assume that this suffering is the intent, rather than a terrible consequence, of a legitimate war.”
“In the absence of reliable information about the full circumstances in which specific attacks or suffering occurred, it is wrong to assume that Israel’s actions were carried out with malign – let alone genocidal – intent,” he argued. “Doing so further inflames an already volatile situation and will not lessen the suffering in Gaza today.”
Warren’s office did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
“Your voice is a powerful one, not just in Massachusetts, but around the globe. We know that you seek to apply it in constructive ways, but for the reasons offered, believe that what you represented was both inaccurate and served to further inflame a tragic situation,” the letter concludes.
Warren, at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing this week, argued that the US should “cut off” support for Israel if it doesn’t do more to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza.
“US policy explicitly states that we expect our allies to meet the same standards that we do to prevent and mitigate civilian harm,” she said. “Israel is failing to do that in its bombing campaign.”
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claims that more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed since the outbreak of war. The ministry does not distinguish terrorist deaths from civilian ones.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the fight against Hamas until the terror group is eliminated and the more than 100 hostages taken into Gaza after the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on the Jewish state are freed.
