U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel on August 9, 2024. Courtesy of MacMillan Publishers

By Jacob Kornbluh October 20, 2024

Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, on Sunday defended President Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war, countering Republican criticism that the administration’s opposition to some tactics and policies of Israel’s right-wing government indicates insufficient support for the country.

“When the president of the United States says to Israel the truth, that’s being a friend,” Emanuel said in an interview with CNN host Fareed Zakaria. “And just doing something blindly is not a friend.” 

Emanuel, who is Jewish, criticized former President Donald Trump’s repeated remarks on the campaign trail, accusing Jews of dual loyalty, a longstanding antisemitic trope, saying that Jews supporting Democrats “should have their head examined,” and predicting Israel’s demise should Vice President Kamala Harris win the election. Earlier this month, Trump also recorded a video message to Americans living in Israel, saying of Democrats, “The other side doesn’t even like you.”

“First of all, that’s nuts,” Emanuel said about the Republican nominee’s comments about American Jews. 

Emanuel, who was appointed by President Biden as ambassador in 2021 and worked in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, said the Biden administration’s approach to the war in Gaza — providing defensive support to Israel while urging caution regarding the military’s operational conduct — is consistent with Jewish values. It is also the vision of Israel’s founding fathers, who sought “to be accepted as a nation among nations,” he said. 

“And that means you have to be honest when Israel is wrong,” Emanuel said. “And I have no problem saying that with my middle name being ‘Israel.’”

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