RJC Responds to Pres. Obama on Hamas-Israel War: When Israel Faces a Barbaric Attack from Hamas, Obama Blames Israel

Washington, DC (November 4, 2023) – The Republican Jewish Coalition responded to remarks by former President Barack Obama today on the “Pod Save America” podcast, in which he blamed both sides for the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel, saying that “nobody’s hands are clean... all of us are complicit to some degree.” 

Obama said, “What Hamas did was horrific, and there is no justification for it. And what is also true is that the occupation, and what’s happening to Palestinians, is unbearable.” 

RJC CEO Matt Brooks said in response: 

At a time when morality, international law, and the welfare of our chief ally in the Middle East all demand that we stand with Israel, full stop, Barack Obama says it’s complicated. It’s not.  

Hamas attacks civilians; Hamas takes hostages; Hamas uses Gazans as human shields; Hamas steals humanitarian supplies; Hamas builds terrorism tunnels instead of bomb shelters, or schools, or houses. Hamas is to blame for the current war. The US should be fully behind Israel as it seeks to end Hamas’s capability to harm Israelis and Gazans alike. 

But instead, when Israel faces a barbaric attack from Hamas, Obama blames Israel. 

It is Barack Obama who is complicit in the death and suffering over the last month in Israel and in Gaza. His policies and those of President Joe Biden put billions of dollars into Iranian coffers, money used to fund and train Hamas and other terrorist groups whose stated goals are the destruction of Israel and the annihilation of Jews. 

Obama’s attempt to dilute his own culpability in this situation doesn’t change the facts.