Pentagon official Colonel Nathan McCormack was removed from his position at the Joint Chiefs of Staff for posts calling Israel a “death cult,” referring to Netanyahu and his ilk as “Judeo-supremacist cronies,” and asking whether the US is functioning as Israel’s proxy.
McCormack was serving as the chief of the Levant and Egypt branch within the J5 strategic planning directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
His reassignment followed a report published Tuesday by the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), which highlighted a semi-anonymous X (formerly Twitter) account allegedly associated with McCormack. The account featured posts characterizing Israel as “our worst ‘ally’.”
According to Middle East Eye, the account also criticized US policy toward Israel, accusing Washington of facilitating what it described as Israel’s “bad behavior.” One post read, “The Western states go to great lengths to avoid criticism of Israel, much out of Holocaust guilt.” Another asserted, “Israel’s actions over decades have prompted the accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide.”
In response to the controversy, a Pentagon spokesperson informed JNS that McCormack “will no longer be on the joint staff while the matter is being investigated.” The Department of Defense has appointed an investigating officer to review the content of the posts and assess their potential ramifications. “The individual is being returned to his service while the matter is under investigation,” the official added.
The posts, which were initially revealed by JNS and subsequently detailed by Middle East Eye, have since been archived. They also included pointed criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom McCormack reportedly described, along with his political allies, as “Judeo-supremacist cronies” intent on expelling Palestinians to ethnically cleanse “Eretz Israel.”
McCormack’s LinkedIn profile indicates he began his current role in June 2024.
