U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told an interviewer that Arab states in the Middle East are committing genocide against Jews and Christians, and rejected claims that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the remarks in an interview distributed on social media early Tuesday morning, framing the demographic decline of Jewish and Christian populations across the Middle East as a deliberate, ongoing genocide. He cited population figures — a drop from 1 million Jews in Arab states in 1948 to about 15,000 today, and a Christian population decline from 20% of the region to 5% — as evidence. By contrast, he noted the Palestinian population in Israel has grown from 150,000 in 1948 to nearly 2 million, arguing this contradicts the genocide accusation against Israel. The remarks come amid ongoing international legal proceedings, including the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court cases related to the Gaza war. Kennedy's statement aligns with a broader Israeli government messaging campaign rejecting "genocide" accusations as legally and factually baseless, a position also expressed by Israeli leaders in previous reports published by The Zioneer.
The Zioneer has previously reported on Israeli leaders addressing the genocide framing: Prime Minister Netanyahu noted in June that the combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio in Lebanon is 5:1, which he called unprecedented, while former Prime Minister Bennett argued that improving Palestinian living standards is an Israeli interest, despite skepticism of Palestinian political aspirations.
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- StrongVP Vance tells reporter he 'disagrees' with genocide label for Israel's Lebanon campaign
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- DevelopingAndy Burnham, potential UK PM, declines to call Israel's actions 'genocide'
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