🔴 Website 👉 https://u-s-news.com/
Telegram 👉 https://t.me/usnewscom_channel
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. called accusations that the State of Israel is committing genocide in Gaza “blood libel.”
The health secretary’s comments follow a New York Times op-ed written by Israeli Holocaust professor Omer Bartov arguing the war in Gaza is “genocide.”
Bartov, who teaches Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, titled his op-ed: “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.”
My NYT op-ed this morning
I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It. https://t.co/gmQtbhrj48 via @NYTOpinion— Omer Bartov عومر بَرتوف עמר ברטוב (@bartov_omer) July 15, 2025
Mediaite provided further info:
In it, the Jewish academic, who grew up in a Zionist home and served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote: “My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Bartov argued there was a clear pattern of systematic destruction, mass civilian deaths, displacement, and deprivation, which he said aligned with both the explicit statements of genocidal intent by Israeli leaders and the operational reality on the ground.
“This was a painful conclusion to reach,” he continued, “and one that I resisted as long as I could. But I have been teaching classes on genocide for a quarter of a century. I can recognize one when I see one.”
While Bartov cited other academics who share his conclusion, others have pushed against his claims. One such voice is John Spencer, the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute and a reliable defender of Israel.
Spencer published an X article titled “I’m a War Scholar. There Is No Genocide in Gaza.”
“The genocide charge is a blood libel. Thank you Major Spencer for this withering deconstruction,” RFK Jr. commented.
The genocide charge is a blood libel. Thank you Major Spencer for this withering deconstruction.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 24, 2025
The Daily Wire provided additional details:
The essay Kennedy championed, by noted war expert John Spencer, who serves as chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute and host of the Urban Warfare Project Podcast, is titled “I’m a War Scholar. There Is No Genocide in Gaza.” Spencer was responding to a New York Times op-ed by leftist Brown University professor Omer Bartov that accused Israel of genocide.
“Genocide is not defined by a few comments taken out of context, by estimates of casualties or destruction, or by how war looks in headlines or on social media. It is defined by specific intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group in whole or in part,” Spencer noted.
“That is a high legal bar. Bartov did not meet it. He did not even try,” Spencer wrote. “Since October 7, I have been to Gaza four times embedded with the Israel Defense Forces. I have interviewed the Prime Minister of Israel, the Defense Minister, the IDF Chief of Staff, Southern Command leadership, and dozens of commanders and soldiers on the front lines. I have reviewed their orders, watched their targeting process, and seen soldiers take real risks to avoid harming civilians. Nothing I have seen or studied resembles genocide or genocidal intent.”
Spencer ripped Bartov for claiming Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comment on October 7 that Hamas would “pay a huge price” was a call for genocide, noting, “It is what any leader would say after the worst terrorist attack in the nation’s history.”
“He also cites Netanyahu’s statements that Hamas would be destroyed and that civilians should evacuate combat zones,” he continued, “That is not evidence of a desire to destroy a people. It is what professional militaries do when fighting an enemy that hides among civilians.”
“Bartov presents Netanyahu’s reference to ‘remember Amalek’ as a smoking gun,” he stated. “But this is a phrase from Jewish history and tradition. It is engraved at Israel’s Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, and also appears on the Holocaust memorial in The Hague. In both places, it serves as a warning to remain vigilant against threats, not as a call for mass killing.”
“I have studied the actual orders. They focus on destroying Hamas, rescuing hostages, and protecting civilians whenever possible,” he recalled