Nathaniel Rodwell-Simon

Yinam Cohen, consul general of Israel to the Midwest, speaks at the event.

Maroons for Israel (MFI) hosted Yinam Cohen, consul general of Israel to the Midwest, on Tuesday, October 8. Pro-Israel students from Loyola and DePaul Universities were also present.

The event, which was attended by approximately 30 students, featured a significant level of security, including plainclothes University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) officers, Israeli consular security, and four deans-on-call. The meeting’s location was not announced prior to the event, and only approved guests subject to an ID check could attend. Attendees were required to store their bags outside of the room with a security officer.

MFI president Joachim Sciamma told the Maroon that he and MFI event coordinator Jake Rymer had been working with the University and Cohen’s security detail for four months prior to the event, in accordance with the University’s “High Profile Events” protocol for RSOs.

In a statement to the Maroon, Sciamma expressed that he was not worried about reactions to Cohen’s presence on campus.

“SJP has done a very good job of not being reactionary to our events and installations, and we don’t anticipate a negative reaction to this event,” he said.

Cohen has previously visited UChicago. Last winter, he met with University President Paul Alivisatos and students from Chabad and Hillel “to further enhance the partnership between [the University] and Israeli research institutions and to make sure that every Jewish or Israeli student feels safe on campus,” according to a post he shared on X at the time.

In response, UChicago Jews for a Free Palestine released a letter denouncing the meeting and requesting that Alivisatos hold a public meeting on the University’s investments and relationships with Israeli institutions.

Cohen is a critic of the way other Chicago educational institutions have handled antisemitism. In a Chicago Tribune op-ed published in July, he accused Chicago public schools and universities of allowing Jewish students to be “physically and verbally targeted” and, citing U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, alleged that pro-Palestinian protests have been encouraged and financially supported by Iran.

Moderating the discussion was David Litman, a writer for pro-Israel media monitoring and research organization Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis.

Following a moment of silence commemorating the October 7 attacks, the event, titled “Democracy in Israel,” began with a discussion of the differences between the Israeli and U.S. systems of government. Cohen explained that the Israeli parliamentary system is “fundamentally different” from the structure of government in the U.S.

“The huge difference compared to America is that we have a coalition-based government,” Cohen said. “There are many parties in Israel that reflect the diversity of the country… and I think that helps guarantee wide representation to the diverse elements of Israeli society.”

He specifically noted the presence of the United Arab List party in the former coalition government as a testament to this diversity. The party is now in the opposition bloc to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government.

About halfway through the event, the discussion shifted to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, along with Israel’s broader relationship with Palestinians and Arab Israelis.

Both Cohen and Litman were critical of organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which Litman called “disgusting,” for claims that they have made about disparities in treatment between Jewish and Arab residents of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Cohen also discussed accusations that Israel’s conduct during the war in Gaza constitutes a genocide, which the International Court of Justice deemed “plausible” in a January 2024 ruling.

“What’s a genocide? Nobody on this campus or any other campus using the word has made the minimum effort of [looking it up],” he said. “Genocide is the systematic killing of a group of people based on their nationality or ethnicity…. There is definitely a politically motivated overuse of this word, and what’s happening in Gaza is a war.”

Cohen argued that the war in Gaza started on October 7 “when Hamas invaded Israel” and that “the civilians that got killed in Israel were killed on purpose knowing they were civilians based on their ethnicity and religion.”

Cohen also discussed the more than 40,000 Palestinian casualties of the war in Gaza, blaming Hamas for using civilians as “human shields” and arguing that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has been especially careful to limit the number of civilian deaths (compared to those of combatants) in contrast to other recent wars in the Middle East. He also argued that a significant number of those included in the death toll are members of Hamas, as the 40,000 number does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

“According to UN stats, in urban warfare… the ratio between civilian casualties and military terrorist casualties is 8:1,” Cohen said. “In U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the ratio was lower, it was four civilians to each combatant. Even if we take Hamas numbers, it means the ratio [of civilian to combatant deaths] in Gaza is 1:1 or maximum 1.5:1, the lowest ratio in any modern warfare.”

However, Cohen did express regrets about the deaths of civilians in Gaza, stating, “Is [the killing of civilians] horrible? Yes. Does it break my heart every day? Yes.”

According to Reuters, as of October 1, the death toll in Gaza stands at over 41,500 people, the “vast majority” women and children. Israeli estimates claim that 17,000 were Hamas fighters. The toll does not include the thousands of bodies that have been unable to be extracted from rubble. Additionally, former U.S. State Department employees have claimed that the IDF’s airstrikes exhibit a much higher tolerance for civilian casualties than the U.S. military, resulting in the Biden administration’s decision to delay the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs in May.

Although he spoke at length about Israel’s compliance with international law and its active involvement in the UN, Cohen also believes that there is bias against Israel in the international court system and in the application of international law.

“International law is a thing that is sometimes wielded against Israel,” Cohen said. “The implementation or interpretation of many [international courts] is politically motivated, and that creates a huge problem for Israel.”

Cohen then took questions from the audience, which prompted discussions on the growing number of Israelis not subject to military service, the relationship between American and Israeli Jews, and the prevalence of social media in shaping people’s perceptions of the war in Gaza.

“The ratio of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinians [posts on social media]—that’s very simplistic—is not representative of the actual public opinion in America,” Cohen said.

Cohen also blamed antisemitism among “educated people” on academic trends in Europe and America that “[examine] every issue in the world in the lens of oppression and privilege,” which he thinks “serves to attack Israel” because of the visibility of the war in Gaza.

Following the event, Cohen mingled with attendees and posed for photos. He told the Maroon that the Israeli government looks to strengthen its ties with the University and other colleges in the Midwest, both for research purposes and to connect with students.

He also told the attendees that he plans “to come back again and again.”