Michael Kurilla

Commander of United States Central Command from (2022-2025)

Current: Fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy

As head of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees U.S. military operations in much of West and Central Asia, Michael Kurilla played a leading role in ensuring the United States’s military support of Israel. 

After the October 7, 2023, attacks, Kurilla ordered the deployment of U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Called a “true friend” of Israel by Israeli military leadership, Kurilla met with Israeli military officials accused by organizations including Human Rights Watch of war crimes, including former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, dozens of times during his tenure at CENTCOM, in efforts to deepen military ties between the United States and Israel. 

Kurilla also provided cover for Israel, maintaining that the state was committed to allowing aid into and “[improving] the humanitarian situation” in Gaza, according to a March 2024 statement from CENTCOM. Shortly after CENTCOM released this statement, the UN reported that Israel had been blocking the delivery of aid into Gaza, denying 30% of humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza between March 1 and April 1, 2024.