In a town filled with boundless egos, self-righteous personalities and power-obsessed charlatans, chef José Andrés is a breath of fresh air. One of Washington’s few true celebrities, he has been a fixture in the nation’s capital since arriving in 1993.

He then vowed to revolutionize the world of Hispanic food in America. Now, leading his World Central Kitchen Aid organization, he may suddenly be the only person capable of convincing President Joe Biden to do a U-turn on the Gaza crisis.

Anyone who has met Andres or worked with him — and frankly, I’ve done both on occasion — knows he’s a force of nature. The veteran food industry worker here and in New York City often recalls his early days in the United States. In 1991, he came to New York from Spain with 50 US dollars and 1 yen to teach Americans how to eat tapas. At first glance, the country is not as enamored of Andrés’ adopted homeland.

His three-year journey in the United States took him from seeking out free meals from established restaurateurs to serving countless people in dire need in a global hellscape. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was so impressed by Andrés’ determination to develop World Central Kitchen that he made a super donation of $100 million to the NGO in July 2021 Dollar.

On Monday, seven of Andres’s World Central Kitchen colleagues in Gaza were brutally murdered by the Israel Defense Forces, marking the darkest moment so far in the organization’s short history. His team, which includes three British citizens, reportedly took all possible deconfliction steps, informing the Israeli military of its convoy’s travel plans and clearly marking the vehicles with the NGO’s logo.

None of this protects them from what Andres calls Israel’s “indiscriminate killings.” The convoy was attacked as it left a warehouse where World Central Kitchen volunteers had just unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid bound for Gaza’s Mediterranean coastline.

In an angry statement, Andres called the Israeli military’s actions “inexcusable” and said he was “heartbroken.” He firmly laid the blame for his colleagues’ killings on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the Israeli government “needs to stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians, and stop using food as a weapon.” Israel claims the killings were “unintentional.”

in sensual The article is New York TimesMr Andres said the Israeli government “needs to stop killing civilians and aid workers today” and open more land routes for food and medicine. He added: “Israel is doing better than the way this war is being waged. It is better than blocking food and medicine from civilians. It is better than killing aid workers who are acting in coordination with the IDF.”

Whatever the outcome of the ensuing investigation, by killing Andres’ employees, the Israeli military’s actions created a worse storm for Netanyahu in Washington than one that was already brewing.Andres carefully cultivated his relationships with successive Democratic presidents; Long-running feud with Donald Trump Rank-and-file Democrats throughout the former president’s administration were delighted.

On Tuesday, Biden made an emergency call to Andres after news broke in Gaza. “I spoke with my friend chef Jose Andres to express my deepest condolences … and to say I will continue to support him and his team as we prepare for the coronavirus pandemic,” Biden said in a written statement. The tireless and heroic efforts to feed hungry people.”

Biden said he was “angry and heartbroken.” But hours earlier, at the White House podium, his own spokesman insisted that the president still had no plans to impose conditions on new weapons shipments to Israel. “We still have to make sure they can defend themselves so that on October 7^th It won’t happen again,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

It’s hard to imagine that the position would satisfy Andres, who is now grieving the loss of colleagues who were simply trying to alleviate the threat of hunger in Gaza. He is not a man who will be dissuaded from his plans (I have witnessed this first hand in less urgent situations), nor is he a man who remains silent when he sees injustice being done.

He has Biden’s ears. Andres could soon become a thorn in the Israeli leader’s side at a time when the president faces regular chants of “Genocide Joe” and a wave of anger from Democratic supporters urging him to abandon U.S. support for Netanyahu’s war .