A Response to Joe Walsh on Israel, Gaza, and Genocide

Continuing a dialogue with Joe Walsh on Palestine based on the facts

Former Tea Party Republican Congressman and newly minted Democrat Joe Walsh and I disagree on much. But I continue to dialogue with him for two reasons.

One, engagement does not mean endorsement. Just because I engage with Joe on a particular topic (in this case Palestine and Israel) does not mean I endorse all his views. In fact, by engaging I can better document where I think he’s wrong.

Two, having followed Joe’s career since his time in Congress nearly 15 years ago, I admire the steps he’s taken to rectify where he was wrong in the past, own up to mistakes, and make amends. He was one of the first Republicans to oppose Trump, a move that eventually had him leave the party. That takes integrity. He’s taken notable steps since to lead by example. For example, even now, as Establishment Democrats refuse to so much as acknowledge Zohran Mamdani’s existence, Walsh is loudly demanding the Party support him because he is, after all the duly elected Democratic nominee for NYC Mayor. I respect Joe’s leadership in this space.

Which brings us to this present discussion on Gaza.

A few weeks ago Joe and I held a robust Substack Live on Gaza. In a recent piece titled “Let’s Talk About Gaza,” Joe elaborated on his views of Israel and Palestine in writing. I followed up to share that I found many of his claims demonstrably false, and asked if he’d be open to me writing a response?

“Absolutely,” was his immediate reply. He is reading this piece now at the same time as everyone else, and has additionally committed to offering his written response.

Again, I respect that. I believe that if we can stay grounded in our desire to uphold justice and peace for all people of the region, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and more, then we can make meaningful progress. Likewise, I believe that our respective audiences can benefit by seeing a genuine and respectful exchange of ideas, and make decisions based on verifiable facts. In this piece, I do not attack Joe, I attack his argument. With that, I dive in to my rebuttal to Joe Walsh’s piece on Gaza, and welcome your questions and comments. Let’s Address This.

Screengrab from the Substack Live Joe and I held on Gaza a few weeks back.

Setting the Stage: Joe Stands With Israel

Joe Walsh began his piece reaffirming that despite his party switch, he continues to ‘Stand with Israel’ and will do all he can to ensure the Democratic Party does as well.

Joe goes on to make clear that despite the hostility he faces from both sides of the political spectrum, he stands firm in his support of Israel. In his own words:

I still stand by it, despite getting mildly ratioed and losing a few subscribers. But I think you deserve an explanation as to why I posted that, and why my support persists even now, as the war in Gaza grinds on and the world shouts “enough.”

It’s tough to be a vocal supporter of Israel these days. My post was the direct result of a call I received from a fellow Democrat. He thanked me for taking this position publicly—something hardly any Democrat is willing to do anymore, at least not out loud.

And I get it. I know what’s happening in Gaza. I see the images of rubble and emaciated children. I know there’s a humanitarian crisis. I know Israel is hitting Hamas, and civilians are paying the price. It’s gut-wrenching.

But if you think that means Israel doesn’t have the right to defend itself—or worse, that it doesn’t have the right to exist at all—I believe you are wrong.

Off the bat, I object to Joe’s framing that Israel’s siege on Gaza has anything to do with self defense or its very existence. These are straw man arguments that deflect from the demonstrable genocide that the Israeli government is committing. So let’s dive into the substance of Joes arguments, which I break down into four main claims.

Joe Walsh’s Four Main Claims

1. Hamas started this war

2. Hamas hides in hospitals, behind civilians, and in schools

3. There would be peace if Hamas stopped fighting

4. Israel is a stable democracy

While the above generally summarizes the point, I make sure to quote Joe verbatim below—lest I make the mistake of misrepresenting his argument by putting it into my words. Once I reproduce his exact words, I follow up with a detailed rebuttal. Let’s start with Joe’s first claim, that Hamas started this war.

Joe’s First Claim: Hamas Started This War

First, let’s get this straight: Hamas started this war. On October 7, 2023, they didn’t just “launch an attack.” They slaughtered over a thousand Israelis, burned families alive, raped women, and dragged hostages—babies, teenagers, grandmothers—into Gaza. That’s evil. Not “complicated,” not “a reaction to oppression,” but pure, unadulterated evil. And evil like that doesn’t get negotiated with. It gets destroyed.

There is much to unpack here, so let’s take it one by one.

While Hamas’ attack on 10/7 is a war crime because it attacked civilians, it is also not the start of the violence. And there are at least six points Joe must grapple with if he truly wants to stand by his claim that this violence began on 10/7.

The first point.

As I and human rights lawyers globally have long detailed, we must recognize Israel’s 57 year illegal military occupation of Palestinian territories for the illegal and violent act it is. Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, reports, “The world must recognize that ending Israel’s illegal occupation is a prerequisite to stopping the recurrent human rights violations in Israel and the [Occupied Palestinian Territories]. Israel’s occupation of Palestine is the longest and one of the most deadly military occupations in the world.”

Joe, a strong defender of the Second Amendment, is silent on how he would respond to a foreign military violently and illegally occupying his home and his land, even as it kills anyone who dares stand up to said military? Does Joe consider Israel’s illegal, violent, and deadly military occupation as a form of violence?

The second point.

Hamas is not an ancient organization, but having been established only in 1987, it is a reaction to more than 20 years of Israel’s illegal occupation and land grab. Moreover, Hamas funding came with the approval and support of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as a way to delegitimize Palestinian statehood. As Times of Israel reports, “For years, the various governments led by Benjamin Netanyahu took an approach that divided power between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank — bringing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to his knees while making moves that propped up the Hamas terror group. The idea was to prevent Abbas — or anyone else in the Palestinian Authority’s West Bank government — from advancing toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

Joe is silent on Netanyahu openly propping up Hamas. And while Joe will no doubt state he opposes Netanyahu and wants him gone—that does not change the point I am making that this violence did not begin on 10/7. Indeed, how absurd that the man who propped up Hamas for years is now pointing to Hamas as his excuse to bombard Gaza? It’s like an arsonist claiming the only way to put out a fire he started is to dump more gasoline on the fire.

The third point.

Israel’s 700,000 illegal settlements spanning 50+ years violate international human rights law. For example, on September 27, 2023, just 10 days before the 10/7 attack, the UN issued a press release citing the strong opposition to Israel’s illegal settlement expansion by none other than the United States itself, “The representative of the United States said the ongoing violence between Israelis and Palestinians sets back prospects for peace and is responsible for “so much needless suffering”. Voicing concern over the situation in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, she said the United States opposes the advancement of settlements and urges Israel to refrain from those actions, emphasizing that it undermines “the geographic viability of a two-State solution, exacerbates tensions and further harms trust between the two parties”.

I repeat, “the ongoing violence” caused by Israel’s illegal settlements. This is testimony from the United States itself—Israel’s staunchest ally. How does this translate to “Hamas started the war on 10/7?” Joe does not address this contradiction.

The fourth point.

Israel’s land, air, and sea blockades on Gaza violates international human rights law. Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza, its holding of thousands of Palestinian hostages (including up to 1000 Palestinian children), all violate human rights law. As NPR reports: “Israel detains individuals without any intent to prosecute them in a trial, and they're held on the basis of secret security information that the detainee and their lawyer cannot review. Israel has been using this form of detention since its occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip - so back to 1967.”

These are hostages by any other name. The near 1000 imprisoned children are further denied access to counsel or parents, while suffering ongoing physical and sexual abuse. As Save the Children International reports: “Palestinian children in the Israel military detention system face physical and emotional abuse, with four out of five (86%) of them being beaten, and 69% strip-searched. Nearly half (42%) are injured at the point of arrest, including gunshot wounds and broken bones. Some report violence of a sexual nature and some are transferred to court or between detention centres in small cages.”

And while we have seen universal (rightful) condemnation of Hamas holding Israeli hostages, even by the most conservative estimates, Israel is holding far more Palestinian hostages without charge or trial—and with global silence to this atrocity. See this daunting comparison by data scientist Stephen Semler.

Would Joe seriously argue that the Israeli government holding hostage thousands of Palestinians, including children, where they are denied access to counsel, are beaten, and are sexually abused by Israeli soldiers is somehow not an act of violence? Again, if a foreign military occupied Illinois, where Joe was a Congressman, took thousands Illinoisans hostage, including children—and we knew for a fact those children were suffering physical and sexual abuse—would Joe dismiss those acts as “not violent?” I highly doubt it, and rather, I would hope not.

The fifth point.

In just the one year prior to 10/7 the Israeli military killed at least 240 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank (where there is no Hamas authority or rule). That death toll included 47 children. In fact, it was the deadliest year in recent history for Palestinian civilians.

If the roles were reversed and Hamas had killed 240 Israelis including 47 Jewish Israeli children, would Joe Walsh dismiss that as “not starting the violence” or would he rightly condemn that as horrific violence? Again, I would hope the latter, but Joe is silent on this atrocity in his article.

The sixth point.

Finally, it is also worth noting that while Joe repeats the claim of mass rape, he might be surprised to know two things.

One, the Israeli prosecutor in charge of filing rape charges withdrew her case due to lack of evidence, and has not filed a single rape charge. Not one. Prosecutor Moran Gaz is the former head of the security cases division at the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office in Israel, and is a member of 'Team 7.10,' responsible for prosecuting rape and sexual assault crimes that occurred on 10/7. In an interview with Israeli media outlet Ynet News she admits that her department has “found no evidence to substantiate the claims of "mass" and "systematic" rape by Hamas.” She went on to state:

In the end, we don’t have any complainants. What was presented in the media compared to what will eventually come together will be entirely different… We approached women’s rights organisations and asked for cooperation. They told us that no one had approached them.

So, not only could the Israeli prosecutor specifically charged with prosecuting the claim of mass rape find no evidence of mass or systemic rape—even with the help of women’s rights organizations—they could not find a single example to prosecute. So why does Joe continue to make the claim of rape when the Israeli government itself admits no such evidence exists to substantiate that claim?

Two, as if the above was not devastating enough to Joe’s claim of mass rape, the Netanyahu government is blocking a UN commission into investigating rape charges because they are afraid that doing so will instead expose the Israeli military as the perpetuator of systemic sexual abuse. Israel’s oldest newspaper Haaretz confirms that Israel fears a UN investigation into Hamas would instead expose the rape and sexual violence committed by Israeli forces against Palestinians, reporting:

The UN's special representative on conflict-related sexual violence asked to investigate Hamas' alleged crimes on October 7 and towards the hostages, but Israel refused her request to access Israeli detention facilities to examine claims of IDF abuse. Israeli women's rights groups warn this could lead to Israel, instead of Hamas, being added to the UN's sexual violence blacklist

So not only does Joe provide no evidence of rape on 10/7, he ignores the Israeli government’s admission that rape did not occur, and he ignores that per Netanyahu, the actual fear is that the UN would document systemic rape committed by the Israeli military—which we already have ample video footage documenting.

All of the above six points are well documented. None of have been addressed or even attempted to be rebuked by those claiming Israel is justified in its genocide on Gaza. And I would hope that upon reviewing these six points, Joe can agree that 10/7 was by no means the start of this violence. Not by a long shot.

Let’s move on to Joe’s second claim.

Joe’s Second Claim: Hamas Hides In Hospitals, Behind Civilians, and in Schools

But we can’t ignore this truth either: Hamas hides behind those civilians on purpose. They store rockets in schools. They put command centers under hospitals. They make sure that when Israel fights back, the world sees dead Palestinians instead of dead terrorists. That’s the playbook. And it’s been the playbook since they took control of Gaza in 2007. And far too many Americans fall for it every time.

Joe doesn’t provide any evidence for these claims, whatsoever. He also ignores that the Israeli government has killed more than 230 journalists in Gaza, has banned all international media from reporting on their actions in Gaza, has killed dozens of aid workers, has killed American citizens, and has faced zero accountability whatsoever. Moreover, while Joe accuses Hamas (without evidence) of using human shields, he ignores what is well documented—the Israeli military uses human shields “in a systematic way.” This is a war crime.

Furthermore, Joe ignores that the only “evidence” we have of “Hamas hiding in hospitals” is the Israeli government’s verbal testimony, right after they bomb those hospitals. This includes the “double tap” bombing the Israeli government committed just this week at Al Naseer, killing five journalists and up to 20 aid workers, while claiming they targeted a “Hamas camera.” Apparently even cameras are Hamas now.

But perhaps most devastating to Joe’s claim about “Hamas hiding in hospitals” is the testimony of the Israeli military itself, which admitted to the UN that they have zero evidence of Hamas hiding in hospitals or using hospitals as command centers.

Per a detailed UN report in Summer of 2024, the Israeli military had then bombed all 110 hospitals and medical centers in Gaza, claiming Hamas was ‘hiding inside.’ This means that in bombing 110 healthcare facilities, the Israeli military should have had explicitly clear knowledge that Hamas was using these facilities as “command-and-control” centers in violation of IHL. And if the Israeli government had explicitly clear knowledge, then they should have zero trouble providing ample evidence, example after example, that Hamas is using hospitals in violation of IHL.

But what does the reality show us? A detailed UN Commission from Summer 2024 concluded the following:

Israeli security forces asserted that over 85% of major medical facilities in Gaza were used by Hamas for terror operations, but did not provide evidence to substantiate that claim. Israeli security forces alleged that there were tunnels underneath or connected to hospitals, and that Hamas stored weapons, hid personnel and operated headquarters from within and underneath hospitals. The Commission interviewed senior medical personnel at hospitals and they denied that there was any military activity, emphasizing that the hospitals’ only role was to treat patients.

Let’s unpack this. The Israeli military first claims that 85% of the 110 medical facilities it targeted were used for “Hamas terror operations.” That means that it admits 15% of the medical facilities it targeted had no Hamas terror operations, but the Israeli military targeted them anyway. That in and of itself is a clear admission of war crimes. And that is all that should be necessary for the US Government, indeed the global West, to stop arming Netanyahu.

But adding to these war crimes is that even in the “85% (allegedly) legitimate targets,” the Israeli government could provide no evidence to substantiate its claims. None. Not one single example. The UN Commission found zero evidence from the Israeli government, or from a single senior medical personnel at the hospitals that any military activity occurred at the hospitals that the Israeli military bombed. Yet, the bombings continue, in complete violation of IHL. And given that these bombings are deliberate and intentional, this satisfies the “intent” element of proving genocide.

Indeed, beyond war crimes, the Israeli military bombing 110 hospitals and medical centers in Gaza, while knowing full well they are not Hamas military command centers, proves they are intentionally killing Palestinian civilians. That is genocide.

Joe’s Third Claim: If Hamas Stops Fighting, There’s Peace

I’ve been to Israel twice. I’ve sat in homes where families live under constant rocket fire. I’ve walked the narrow streets of Jerusalem where every security guard knows a bomb could go off at any moment. Israelis know they are one bad day away from annihilation. And yet, they get lectured by comfortable Westerners about “restraint.”

The reality is, if Israel stops fighting tomorrow, Hamas will regroup, rearm, and come again. If Hamas stops fighting tomorrow, there’s peace. And it’s why I refuse to play the moral-equivalence game.

There are three facts here that are devastating to Joe’s claim above.

First, is the fact that Hamas only exists because Netanyahu continued to prop them up—a fact I cited earlier. Hamas would not have been able to survive but for Netanyahu.

Second, Hamas has already made clear to Israeli negotiators back in 2024, in writing, that they have no desire to continue to control Gaza and will leave—but it is Netanyahu who continues to break ceasefires and refuses deals to have the hostages returned.

Third, these are facts that the hostage families attest to, that Israeli hostage negotiators attest to, that Netanyahu’s own Israeli generals attest to, that the US Government attests to, that the UN Security Council attests to.

So we have two options before us and neither of them require us to believe anything Hamas says.

Option One: We believe that the hostage families are lying, the Israeli negotiators are lying, the Israeli generals are lying, the US Government is lying, and the UN Security Council is lying.

Option Two: Netanyahu is lying.

These are the two options before us. Based on these facts, how on Earth can anyone believe that anyone but Netanyahu is responsible for the perpetuation of this violence?And given that Joe has already made clear he does not trust Netanyahu and wants him gone, he should agree with me that Netanyahu is lying, all the other entities are telling the truth, and his third claim above is without backing.

I must also add that I, too, have been to Israel and Occupied Palestine. I have seen the apartheid conditions first hand. I’ve been stopped by the Israeli military at gunpoint, forced off busses at gun point, forced to show my papers at gun point, and threatened with arrest if I did not comply. I have seen the illegal and violent military occupation of Palestinian land, the “Israelis only” areas of Occupied Palestine where Palestinians are not allowed to walk under threat of “administrative detention,” i.e. being taken hostage without charge, trial, due process, or access to counsel. Joe is right, there is no moral equivalence, but not for the reason he claims.

Joe’s Fourth Claim: Israel Is A Democracy

Israel is the one stable, democratic ally we’ve got in a region that’s otherwise a snake pit of dictators and terrorist states. The Israeli people share our values—free elections, free press, rule of law—and they’ve bled alongside us in the fight against jihadist terror. If you think Iran and its proxies are just Israel’s problem, try asking the families of the Americans they’ve killed in Iraq, Syria, and beyond.

Let’s be honest, this sounds like a redux of post 9/11 propaganda used to pass horrific pieces of legislation like the Patriot Act and expand anti-Muslim hate and sentiment. This is George Bush screaming “You’re either with us, or you’re with the terrorists.” The same scapegoating that helped him sell two illegal wars, resulting in the mass death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi and Afghan civilians, of tens of thousands of American soldiers, and of trillion of dollars wasted while Americans didn’t (and still don’t) have enough to put food on the table and secure a roof over their heads. We must be better than this.

Also, I’d welcome receipts to see where Israel has “bled alongside us in the fight against jihadist terror?” Clearly I am not looking in the right places, because I cannot find any evidence that the Israeli military sent its soldiers to Iraq (despite Netanyahu goading the US into that war), Afghanistan, or any other illegal war the United States waged to fight alongside American troops? I do know that the Israeli government has killed at least 9 American citizens over the last few years, though I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Joe call out that injustice or demand accountability. Hopefully I am wrong.

Moreover, the assertion that Israel is a “stable democracy” needs more than Joe’s simple claim—because the facts prove otherwise.

Stable democracies value free press, they don’t enforce international media blackouts as Israel is doing in Gaza. They don’t kill more journalists in 22 months (240+) than journalists killed in 27 years of the Vietnam War and World War 2 combined (132)—as Israel has done. They don’t enforce apartheid on foreign land that they’re also illegally occupying for 70 years—as Israel is doing. They don’t block aid to the people they’re bombing, enabling famine as the UN just confirmed, while shooting and killing more than 1500 Palestinians simply trying to get aid—as Israel is doing. They don’t—as Professor Zachery Foster (himself Jewish) thoroughly documents—have a two-tiered system of apartheid, one for Israeli Jewish citizens of Israel and one for Israeli Arab citizens of Israel—as Israel is enforcing. A stable democracy does not do these things, but an apartheid state does, and that is what we are witnessing. Our tax dollars are funding these atrocities, and it is only right that we demand they end without delay.

Conclusion

The above covers the main crux of Joe’s claims of why he still stands with Israel. I am hopeful that in his response he either addresses each of my points one by one with facts and evidence—or concede the point.

I have been clear in my decades of advocacy for peace in the region that we must adhere to international human rights law. We must ensure that Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the region can live in peace and harmony. I’ve documented the thousands of years in which Jews lived peacefully under and with Muslim rule, while facing immense persecution under Christian rule. To this day in Jerusalem, it is a Muslim family that holds the keys to the church that safeguard the holy Sepulcher of Christ—a tradition that has lasted centuries. I have seen this with my very own eyes. This trust is not by accident, but by precedent. It is this interfaith, intercultural, interpersonal, and intergenerational precedent that we must hold fast to.

This is not a religious war. It is certainly not, as Joe claims, a war between Israel and “jihadists.” This is a genocide of Netanyahu’s concocting, backed by bipartisan administrations in the United States, and further enabled by Western governments. It is not merely my opinion that this is genocide, it is the global consensus of genocide scholars and Holocaust scholars, including—nay, especially—that of Jewish and Israeli scholars like Dr. Omer Bertov and Israeli based human rights groups like B’TSalem.

Justice and international human rights law mandate that ICC prosecutions proceed against the Israeli government and against Hamas. Let due process and the evidence exonerate or condemn those responsible for these atrocities. But let us not ignore the clear evidence of Israel’s genocide and injustice against Palestinian civilians, lest we be recorded as those who were on the wrong side of history.