Pro-Israel org reels in big fish: A former CENTCOM commander
Recently retired Gen. Frank McKenzie will give credibility to JINSA's Likud-aligned positions on the Middle East
Despite serious concerns about possible Israeli war crimes and even “plausible” allegations of genocidal acts in its war in the Gaza Strip, the former chief of U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, has accepted a fellowship from one of Washington’s most hawkish pro-Israel organizations.
The Jewish Institute for National Security of America, or JINSA, announced last week that Gen. Frank McKenzie, who led CENTCOM from 2019 to April 2022, would become the Hertog Distinguished Fellow at JINSA’s Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy.
JINSA, which was a major promoter of the U.S. invasion of Iraq 21 years ago (when its name was the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs), has also long championed more confrontational military policies toward Iran, including providing Israel with the means to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and supporting it if it chooses to do so.
“We are thrilled and honored to have Gen [sic] McKenzie join JINSA,” said Michael Makovsky, the group’s president and CEO. “As a former CENTCOM commander and J-5, he will be an invaluable source and contributor to JINSA’s work on U.S. strategic challenges and opportunities in the Mideast, and how to bolster the U.S.-Israel security relationship.”
JINSA’s press release also highlighted McKenzie’s oversight as CENTCOM commander of the “killing of Iran’s Quds Force commander General Qassem Soleimani” in January 2020.
Aside from promoting pro-Israel policy positions, JINSA’s main work has consisted of conducting educational programs and exchanges between U.S. and Israeli military officers since its founding nearly 50 years ago. “JINSA believes that Israel is the most capable and critical U.S. security partner in the 21st century and that a strong America is the best guarantor of Western civilization,” according to its current mission statement.
During the current Gaza war, JINSA has produced a steady stream of webinars featuring, among others, senior Israeli retired military officers, and near-daily email updates on “Operation Swords of Iron,” virtually all of which echo the Israeli government’s version of its campaign. JINSA also defend Israel against growing charges by international human rights groups and U.N. experts that its armed forces are guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide evidence for which was deemed “plausible” in January by the International Court of Justice.
McKenzie is the first former CENTCOM commander to associate himself formally with JINSA, although the group’s roster of “experts,” includes several other former regional commanders, including Adm. James Stavridis who served as commanders of both SOUTHCOM and EUCOM, and the former AFRICOM commander, Gen. David Rodriguez. Among other experts are former deputy EUCOM commander Air Force Gen. Charles “Chuck” Wald, who has published a number of op-eds in prominent newspapers over the past dozen years urging U.S. air strikes against Iran’s nuclear program.
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/mckenzie-jinsa/