A prominent Biden administration spokesperson who defended Israel from allegations of war crimes now says Israel has “without a doubt” committed war crimes in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Matthew Miller, who was the State Department’s top spokesperson until early this year, sparred with journalists who raised the allegations or questioned American foreign policy in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
He has now appeared on a Sky News UK podcast, conceding he believes Israel was responsible for war crimes while he was working in the administration.<\/p>\n
Asked if Israel was committing genocide, Mr Miller said: “I don’t think it’s a genocide, but I think it is without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes.”<\/p>\n
When interviewer Mark Stone said to him: “You wouldn’t have said that from the [State Department press briefing] podium,” Mr Miller said: “Yeah, look, because when you’re at the podium, you’re not expressing your personal opinion. You’re expressing the conclusions of the United States government.”<\/p>\n
Mr Miller was the public face of the State Department during the last two years of Joe Biden’s presidency, holding regular press conferences in Washington. At times, pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside his home.<\/p>\n
Like Mr Biden, he publicly criticised moves to hold Israel accountable for alleged war crimes, such as an International Criminal Court (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders last November<\/a>.<\/p>\n Those warrants, which remain in force, accuse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant of crimes against humanity and using starvation as a method of warfare.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has since imposed sanctions on ICC prosecutors and accused the court of “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”.<\/p>\n The International Court of Justice is separately hearing a genocide case against Israel, which has been brought by South Africa.<\/p>\n