Pentagon officer removed over anti-Israel posts, internal probe launched

ISTANBUL

The Pentagon has removed a senior officer from his post and launched an internal probe following the emergence of inflammatory social media posts criticizing Israel and US policy in the Middle East.

Col. Nathan McCormack, who had been serving as the Levant and Egypt branch chief within the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s J5 strategic planning directorate, is at the center of the controversy.

The move came shortly after the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reported Tuesday on a semi-anonymous X account allegedly linked to McCormack, which included remarks describing Israel as “our worst ‘ally’.”

A Pentagon official told JNS, “He will no longer be on the joint staff while the matter is being investigated,” adding that the Defense Department is assigning an investigating officer to examine the content and its implications.

“The individual is being returned to his service while the matter is being investigated.”

First reported by JNS and further detailed by Middle East Eye, the posts, which have since been archived, also included criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

McCormack referred to him and his allies as “Judeo-supremacist cronies” and accused them of wanting “to expel [Palestinians] and cleanse ‘Eretz Israel’ [Israeli territory] of ethnic Palestinians.”

“This is the kind of bitter oversharing I’d expect from someone who doesn’t know better,” a Defense Department contractor told JNS. “But at his level and under his own name and likeness? It’s mind-boggling.”

The Pentagon emphasized that the posts “do not reflect the position of the Joint Staff or the Department of Defense,” underscoring the potential impact such views could have on US alliances. “Our global alliances and partnerships are vital to our national security,” the official said.

McCormack’s LinkedIn profile states he began his current assignment in June 2024.

According to Middle East Eye, the posts also accused Washington of enabling Israel’s “bad behavior” and added: “The Western states go to great lengths to avoid criticism of Israel, much out of Holocaust guilt.”

“Israel’s actions over decades have prompted the accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide,” McCormack also wrote.