By Debra Rubin | March 5, 2026 – Jewish Link
Despite Israel’s effort to defend itself against terrorists who seek to destroy it, a “blood libel” has been unleashed by various critics that has seeped into the consciousness of even some of Israel’s friends, according to Israel’s ambassador to the United States.
In an often times fiery assessment of the reaction to the war in Gaza and Israel’s efforts to eliminate threats to its existence, Yechiel Michael Leiter said supporters must vigorously defend Israel against accusations that its committing genocide, ethnic cleansing or is starving the civilian population of Gaza.
Leiter made his remarks during an appearance Feb. 26 at Rutgers Chabad in New Brunswick, speaking first to a limited group of community members and afterward to students. He addressed his dealings with bipartisan members of Congress, how to counter antisemitism sparked by the Gaza war and the valor of young Israelis who rushed into battle after Hamas’ terrorism attack more than two years ago, including his own son who was killed in action when he entered a booby-trapped Gaza tunnel.
Hamas has long been part of Iran’s terrorist “ring of fire” around Israel, prompting its terrorist attack of more than two years ago that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and resulted in more than 200 being kidnapped.
However, in launching its attack, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was later killed by Israel, made a critical miscalculation by discounting “the greatest generation of Jews that has ever lived” who prevented the attack from spreading death and destruction throughout the country.
“All over the country young people your age who serve their country ran and jumped into their cars with their weapons and went careening into battle,” Leiter told the students. “They didn’t wait for their commanders. They saved the country.”
Yet, Israel is being miscast as the villain in a war it didn’t start against an enemy that seeks the destruction of the Jewish State.
“The blood libel itself has been absorbed into the general narrative,” said Leiter. “We all have to deal with it. We have to push back on this with our friends and family.”
In a recent meeting with five U.S. senators there was questioning about why Israel wasn’t letting in needed food to Gaza. Leiter had to explain to them that they were misinformed.
“People don’t understand,” he noted, pointing out that the United Nations coordinates food aid and Israel facilitates those caravans, but Hamas steals 90 %.
“I said to them, ‘Gentlemen, you have the numbers wrong,’” said Leiter. “‘You have the facts wrong. By the way, the army doesn’t send food into a war zone … You allow international agencies who are not in combat to send it.’”
When one lawmaker challenged Leiter’s knowledge of what was happening in Gaza, he received a curt response from Leiter: “Actually it is my business to know what’s going on in Gaza. Gaza is drenched in my son’s blood.”
A few days later a staff member of Leiter’s told him to look at the statistics on the United Nations own website. There the U.N. itself reported 91% of food caravans have been commandeered and never reached hungry civilians.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” said Leiter, who called the skeptical senator back to advise him to look at the UN website. The senator acknowledged it did indeed say the majority was being diverted but that “it doesn’t say by Hamas.”
“When you have a narrative you want to believe it just doesn’t matter what the facts are,” said Leiter. “So it seeps into the narrative and the more people who believe this stuff it’s going to take a toll on us at every level and it’s going to take a toll on our children, on your children and your children’s children because Israel has become the Jew of the community of nations.”
Rather than Jews being accused of kidnapping children and using their blood for religious purposes, Israel has replaced the blood in the libel and is now viewed as being responsible for all the ills of the world, stated Leiter, who sardonically added, “We are just such a gifted people we committed ethnic cleansing and genocide without leaving a trace.”
Later, with the students, Leiter elaborated more on the loss of his 39-year-old son, Moshe, a major and commando/paramedic in the Shaldag unit who was killed in November 2023.
“He teaches me something every day,” said Leiter. “I miss him more than I can say. He was my oldest and brought me six grandchildren.”
Describing his son as a “special person,” Leiter recalled that after being part of the security accompanying a medical team sent to the Philippines after a 2013 earthquake, he returned determined to go to medical school to help others.
Despite the difficulties of the last year and throughout its existence, Israel’s economy is “booming” and it has turned “every disadvantage into an advantage,” and he cited the example of water, which was so scarce when the American-born ambassador first came to Israel that the showers would turn off after two minutes. Now through the development of methods of recycling industrial waste water, Israel is an exporter of water to the Palestinian territories and Jordan.
The American-Israeli relationship is also transitioning to one of partnership where the two countries will develop mutually beneficial offensive and defense weaponry and where American investment into Israeli arms will be greater than what is paid under the current aid formulation.
Leiter’s message was that the answer to countering rising antisemitism is to fight back against charges of genocide or ethnic cleansing. He himself goes to church every Sunday where he speaks to Christians.
“We want to be treated like everybody else,” stressed Leiter. “We do not want to be the Jew of the globe anymore.”
Students who heard the ambassador speak were moved by his presentation.
Geri Zimmerman, a freshman biology major from Deal, said she found the program to be insightful and felt privileged to hear such an amazing Israeli politician.“The strongest part for me was when he talked about how his son got killed,” she said. “That made it really personal for me. It really resonated for me because the soldiers are our brothers and sisters and we all feel it when they get killed or hurt.”
Michael Cytryn, a freshman accounting major from Deal, said Leiter’s message of being “unapologetic” about standing up for Israel and the baseless charges of ethnic cleansing and genocide and “not hiding our Jewish identity and being proud and strong” were what he took from the program.
