Former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Says U.S. May Have Delayed Gaza Ceasefire at Harvard Talk

Former United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken ’84 suggested the United States acted too slowly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, acknowledging that earlier action “maybe” could have reduced suffering during the Israel-Hamas war at an Institute of Politics talk Tuesday.

Speaking before a packed audience, Blinken defended the Biden administration’s approach while reflecting on the limits of U.S. influence over Israel’s military decisions and the risk of a wider regional conflict.

“This is something that I grappled with and will continue to grapple with for as long as I can see,” he said. “Could we — should we — have done things differently, such that the suffering the people endured, the loss of the children, so many others, could have been averted?”

“The short answer is maybe yes. We had to make judgments,” he added.

Blinken said U.S. officials were balancing competing priorities — preventing a broader regional war, securing the release of hostages, and increasing humanitarian aid.

But he cautioned that that the trauma in Israel was so profound that, “irrespective of what” the U.S. did to deescalate the conflict, Israel “would continue to do what they did.”

Outside the talk, roughly 25 pro-Palestine demonstrators — including some Harvard students — gathered along John F. Kennedy Street to protest Blinken’s appearance, accusing him of enabling Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Protesters chanted through megaphones and held signs, including one that read, “War criminals should be locked up, not touring universities.”

Inside, interim Institute of Politics Co-Director Ned C. Price opened the event by emphasizing Harvard’s commitment to free expression, appearing to respond to the protests.

“Everyone here tonight has the right to hear from Secretary Blinken,” Price said, “and likewise, Secretary Blinken has every right tonight to have his voice heard.”

During the talk, Blinken repeatedly emphasized the competing pressures facing policymakers, arguing that U.S. strategy centered on reaching a ceasefire tied to hostage releases and humanitarian aid.

“We thought that the best way to get to an end, to protect people, to help people, was to get a ceasefire with hostages coming out and with aid going in,” he said.

He also pointed to the risk of escalation across the Middle East as a central concern.

“We were trying to make sure that October 7 never happened again,” he said. “And I stand by that as long as necessary. We were trying to make sure there wasn’t a wider regional war.”

“With blood in the water, quite literally all of these other countries were poised to jump in — Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, the Houthis, Iranian aligned militia groups — both against us, and especially against Israel,” Blinken added.

At the same time, Blinken acknowledged the scale of human suffering in Gaza and said it remains a source of personal reflection.

“The trauma in Israel, the trauma among Palestinians — same,” he said. “The loss of Palestinian life, the loss of Israeli life — the same.”

He also suggested that public discourse in the U.S. often overlooked Hamas’s role in the conflict.

“I do remain with a question in my mind about why barely a word was spoken in all those months about Hamas, who was responsible for so much of what happened,” he said.

Blinken said he regrets that the Biden administration was unable to secure a renewed nuclear agreement with Iran, describing it as a missed opportunity.

“I wish we had gotten there,” he said. “We worked very hard on getting that longer and stronger agreement, and I think at various points we were really leaning into it.”

He also criticized the current administration’s handling of Iran following recent U.S. and Israeli military action in the region.

“Is it good that the Ayatollah Khamenei is no longer around? Yes, it is. Is it good that their missiles and arsenal has been depleted or destroyed? Yes. Is it good that the nuclear program has been re-obliterated, since, apparently, it was obliterated in June? Yes,” Blinken said. “But to what end and at what cost and how sustainable is this?”

“The challenge that we’ve had at this moment is the administration, at least in my judgement, never made the case to the American people for what it needed,” he added. “It failed to bring other countries along in its plans and in its rationale.”

On Ukraine, Blinken argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion ultimately strengthened NATO, including by prompting Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.

“What Putin has done in Ukraine is precipitate things he claimed he was trying to prevent, including a stronger NATO that is in different ways now closer to Russia,” Blinken said.

Reflecting more broadly, Blinkin warned that Israel’s conduct in Gaza could have long-term political consequences in the U.S.

“You may not care that you’re losing the Democratic Party, but trust me, you are going to lose young Republicans,” he said, recalling a warning he said he issued to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “You’re going to lose young evangelicals. This is generational.”

Blinken ended on a note of optimism, saying that younger generations and rapid technological advances offer reason for hope.

“I am actually very optimistic about the future and the potential,” he said.

“We have to find a way to get to the other side,” he added. “To bring people along, bring our societies along, bring our countries along.”

—Staff writer Sophia E. Alcacer can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at sophiaalcacer.88. Follow her on X at @sophiaalcacer.

—Staff writer Jen L. Phan can be reached at [email protected] and Signal at jenphan.74. Follow her on X at @jenllphan.