Matthew Miller, a former senior spokesperson for the Biden administration who previously defended Israel against war crimes allegations, has now stated that Israel has “without a doubt” committed war crimes in Gaza.
Miller, who served as the State Department’s chief spokesperson until earlier this year, frequently clashed with journalists raising concerns about Israeli actions or US Middle East policy.
On a recent Sky News UK podcast, he acknowledged his belief that Israel was responsible for war crimes during his time in government.
When asked if Israel was committing genocide, Miller responded, “I don’t think it’s a genocide, but I do think it is without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes.”
He admitted he would not have expressed this view publicly while at the State Department because, “when you’re at the podium, you’re not expressing your personal opinion. You’re expressing the conclusions of the United States government.”
Miller was the public face of the State Department throughout the last two years of Biden’s presidency and held frequent press briefings in Washington, sometimes facing protests outside his home by pro-Palestinian activists.
Like President Biden, Miller previously criticized efforts to hold Israel accountable for alleged war crimes, including the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) November decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials.
These warrants accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of crimes against humanity and using starvation as a weapon of war.
The Trump administration later imposed sanctions on ICC prosecutors, condemning the court’s actions as “illegitimate and baseless” against the US and Israel.
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice is hearing a separate genocide case against Israel, filed by South Africa.
Israel denies all accusations, arguing its military operations are legitimate self-defense following Hamas’s October 7 attack, and that it takes precautions to avoid civilian casualties despite Hamas allegedly using human shields and diverting aid.
Miller said it remains an “open question” whether the Israeli government intentionally pursued a policy of committing or recklessly enabling war crimes, but he stated it is “almost certainly not an open question” that Israeli soldiers have carried out such acts.
He emphasized that the measure of a democracy is whether it holds perpetrators accountable, adding, “We have not yet seen them hold sufficient numbers of the military accountable.”
Miller also questioned whether the White House could have exerted more pressure on Israel to agree to a ceasefire sooner, saying, “I think at times there probably was.”
The Biden administration proposed a ceasefire deal in May, implemented in January, but it collapsed when Israel resumed airstrikes on Gaza in March.
He noted that while Israel was not the only party in the negotiation, both Hamas and Netanyahu “moved the goalposts,” and there were occasions when the US should have been tougher on Netanyahu.
