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TEL AVIV — Secretary of State Antony Blinken invoked his Jewish ancestry on Thursday in a markedly personal appeal to the Israeli public aimed at offering solidarity as the country reeled from the deadliest assault in its 75-year history.
“I come before you not only as the United States secretary of state but also as a Jew,” Blinken told an audience at Israel’s Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.
“My grandfather Maurice Blinken fled pogroms in Russia. My stepfather Samuel Pisar survived concentration camps,” he said. “I understand on a personal level the harrowing echoes that Hamas’s massacres carry for Israeli Jews and, indeed, for Jews everywhere.”
Blinken stood beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who offered his gratitude to Blinken and the American public for its “incredible support for Israel in our war against the barbarians of Hamas.”
Blinken’s unequivocal support for Israel came amid growing international calls to manage the deteriorating humanitarian situation stemming from Israel’s airstrikes and shutdown of Gaza.
Crisis in Gaza worsens as Washington negotiates for humanitarian passage
The top U.S. diplomat is on a multicountry swing through the Middle East in an effort to manage the swirling crisis as Israel vows to annihilate Hamas in response to the group’s devastating assault on Israeli communities.
In Gaza, where resources are dwindling after Israel ordered a total blockade earlier this week, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres urged the allowance of “rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access.”
“Crucial lifesaving supplies — including fuel, food and water — must be allowed into Gaza,” he said.
Gaza will not receive water or electricity until hostages are set free, Israel’s Energy Minister Israel Katz said Thursday. Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, this weekend is believed to have taken more than 100 hostages from Israel over the border. Their fate remains unclear.
On his visit, Blinken brought one of his top aides for hostage negotiations, Steven Gillen, who will remain in Israel to keep working to free the U.S. hostages, Blinken told reporters at a news conference.
At least 25 Americans have been killed following Hamas’s assault on Saturday, said Blinken, but U.S. officials have declined to say how many Americans have been taken hostage.
During his visit, Blinken met Lior Gelbaum, 24, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen who survived the dance rave in southern Israel that was attacked by Hamas militants. In an emotional exchange, Gelbaum told Blinken it was a “miracle” she survived, and urged the United States and Israel to focus on saving the hostages.
Blinken said the Biden administration is also in conversations with the Israelis and Egyptians to provide safe passage to civilians in Gaza before a widely expected Israeli ground invasion of the enclave.
The densely populated Gaza Strip relies on Israel for most of its electricity and other basic services. Severing gas and power from the territory could leave many residents without clean drinking water, proper sanitation and health care.
Palestinian authorities said that Gaza’s only power plant had stopped operating Thursday after running out of fuel.
Egypt urged Israel to refrain from targeting the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing — the only entry into Gaza not controlled by Israel — with airstrikes so it could be reopened for deliveries of food, water and emergency services.
But as the humanitarian concerns mount, Blinken made clear that the United States will stand with Israel, even as others criticize its occupation and subjugation of Palestinians.
“You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself. But as long as America exists, you will never ever have to,” Blinken said. “We will always be there by your side.”
Blinken assured Israelis that there was bipartisan support for Israel in the U.S. Congress, which is preparing to approve more military aid to Israel amid competing demands for aid to Taiwan, Ukraine and the U.S. southern border.
Blinken repeatedly defended Israel’s right to defend itself but made reference to the importance of trying to avoid civilian casualties.
“We democracies distinguish ourselves from terrorists by striving for a different standard, even when it’s difficult,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important to take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians.”
During his meeting with Netanyahu, the Israeli leader said he showed Blinken graphic images of babies allegedly mutilated and burned by Hamas. U.S. officials said they were not in a position to authenticate the images, but Blinken described what he saw in the pictures as “depravity in the worst imaginable way.”
U.S. officials are also working to provide safe passage to some of the estimated 500 to 600 Palestinian American residents of Gaza who are seeking to flee, said a U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.
Blinken did not confirm or deny a Washington Post report that the United States and Qatar have quietly agreed not to allow the release in the near term of Iranian oil revenues held in Doha. “We have strict oversight of the funds and we retain the right to freeze them,” Blinken said.
Following his lighting round of meetings on Thursday, Blinken will fly to Jordan to meet King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He also plans to travel to Egypt, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia — continuing to urge countries with diplomatic relations with Hezbollah, Iran and the Palestinians in the West Bank to convince them to stay out of the conflict.