Did Miller suddenly grow a conscience?
‘They knew’: Biden administration official admits Israel committing war crimes
Matthew Miller, the US State Department spokesman under former President Joe Biden, has told UK broadcaster Sky News it is “without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes” in Gaza.
Miller, who spent more than a year justifying Washington’s unwavering support for Israel despite mounting evidence it was violating international law in Gaza, said it was an “open question” whether the Israeli state “has pursued a policy of deliberately committing war crimes”.
“I think what is … almost certainly not an open question is that there have been individual incidents that have been war crimes, where Israeli soldiers and members of the Israeli military have committed war crimes,” Miller said, adding that Israeli soldiers have not been held accountable.
Responding to the interview, Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy think tank, said the Biden administration deceived the American people.
“They misled the public and the Congress because Biden wanted to keep sending weapons” to Israel, Duss wrote on social media. “I’m glad Miller is speaking up now, even if it’s late. We need to hear from more of his colleagues, because once again: They all knew.”
From the start of the war in October 2023 to when Biden left office on January 20, his administration funnelled billions of dollars in military assistance to Israel despite reports US weapons were being used in deadly attacks on Palestinian civilians.
US laws prohibit arming countries engaged in human rights abuses. But advocates said Biden’s administration skewed the facts and denied well-documented Israeli violations.
‘Blood on his hands’: Ex-Biden official denounced for ‘war crimes’ admission
Raed Jarrar – advocacy director at DAWN, a Washington-based think-tank and advocacy group – says it’s “outrageous” that former US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller waited until he was out of office to admit Israel committed war crimes in Gaza.
As we reported earlier, Miller said during an interview with Sky News that it is “without a doubt true” that Israeli forces committed war crimes in the Palestinian territory.
“US officials who know atrocities are being committed and continue defending them from behind the podium are not neutral, they are complicit. Miller’s silence while in government helped Israel with its genocide. He has Palestinian blood on his hands,” Jarrar told Al Jazeera in an email.
“Anyone guilty of aiding and abetting genocide should be held accountable by the International Criminal Court or other international mechanisms.”