In a viral interview in May, Piers Morgan spoke with Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom. In a highly revealing exchange, Morgan asked Hotovely if she knew how many children Israel had killed over the course of its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip:
Morgan: “Do you know how many Hamas terrorists you’ve killed and how many children you’ve killed? Do you know those two numbers?”
Hotovely: “I know the numbers that came from the IDF. I know the numbers that came from a very, very established think tank…We killed 30,000 terrorists in phase one of the war. Since the war is back, I don’t have the numbers, but let me tell you one thing. We never target civilians, so this question is irrelevant.”
Morgan: “How many children have you killed?”
Hotevely: “Piers, Israel is not killing children. Israel is not killing children. Hamas is using them as human shields.”
Morgan: Israel is killing children every single day. Why pretend otherwise?”
Hotevely: “Piers, this is a blood libel you’re putting on Israel.”
Let’s go ahead and assume, for the sake of argument, that Hotovely is telling the truth. Even if every single child killed in Gaza had been used as a human shield, would that absolve Israel of responsibility for killing them? Of course not.
Back in March 2024, a former ranking IDF officer told Haaretz that the Israeli military was engaged in a form of combat that was “unusually wasteful.” He accused the IDF of “attacking innumerable targets, without asking whether it’s worth attacking them,” using artillery “in places where it’s not really obligatory,” and “demolishing everything before entering.” What’s more, the officer argued that, by causing less destruction, ground forces would have ended up spending less time in Gaza, thereby exposing themselves to fewer casualties.
Israel is a developed country with a high-tech weapons industry. In the year following the October 7 attack, it received $17.9 billion in security assistance from the United States. Israel has the ability to minimize civilian casualties; it chooses not to. In the minds of Israeli officials, the civilian population of Gaza is expendable. As a result, it’s justifiable to kill tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, especially when their lives are deemed less valuable than those of IDF service members. According to people like Tzipi Hotovely, the blame for such casualties always rests with Hamas, even when it’s Israel that carries out the death blow. And anybody who disagrees is motivated by anti-semitism.
By insisting that Israel is driven exclusively by a sense of benevolence, she can whitewash her government’s annihilation of the Gaza Strip. But the numbers don’t lie. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, over 53,655 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. Of that number, 15,613 have been children. Is it anti-semitic to notice?
According to Hotovely, it is. By claiming that Morgan invoked the blood libel, she thinks she can obscure the awful truth and deny the destructive consequences of her preferred policies. Like all demagogues, she pins the blame on others while accusing her critics of rank bigotry and impure motives. Unfortunately for Hotovely, even Piers Morgan, who has tried to argue that intentionally killing civilians isn’t inherently evil, is wise to her act.
The claim that anti-semitism is ubiquitous has itself become a canard. Much in the same way that the Great Awokening sowed the seeds of its own destruction, Israel supporters have overplayed their hand. The anti-semitism card has lost its sting, and fewer and fewer members of the media class are willing to accept its premises.
Contrast Hotovely’s statements with Congressman Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) unequivocal rejection of state violence against civilians.
Nothing can justify the number of civilian casualties (tens of thousands of women and children) inflicted by Israel in Gaza in the last two years. We should end all U.S. military aid to Israel now.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) May 30, 2025
Massie is no stranger to spurious accusations of anti-semitism. Back in 2023, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) demanded that Massie take down a meme he characterized as anti-semitic. Earlier this year, the Israel lobby declared preemptive war on his since-abandoned Senate ambitions. And Donald Trump’s recent attacks on Massie are no doubt motivated in part by the former’s subservience to AIPAC and pro-Israel donors like Miriam Adelson.
Massie’s willingness to continue opposing U.S. backing for Israel’s actions signify an undeniable sea change. At no other time have baseless allegations of anti-semitism been less effective. The more such accusations annoy and alienate people, the harder it will become for Israel to deny the fact that it is responsible for the mass murder of thousands of children.
