World Central Kitchen founder faces backlash for handshake with Israeli president

World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder Chef Jose Andres is facing mounting criticism after meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog to discuss Israel's seven-month blockade that has cut off aid to Gaza.

Andres visited Gaza for the first time since the Israel's genocide began, sharing pictures and videos of the decimation and WCK's work along the way.

After leaving the Strip, Andres posted that he met with Herzog on Sunday to discuss Israel's aid blockade, which Amnesty International has recently described as a deliberate campaign of starvation.

"We talked in detail about how to flood Gaza with food and medicine so there is no hunger and no looting, so we can start rebuilding with hope and humanity," Andres wrote on X.

"That means full permits and access for all NGOs who can help end the despair and suffering of Palestinians... they were committed to help all they can with the release of the hostages, end of the war, providing all humanitarian aid necessary and the reconstruction for Gaza."

Herzog's X post about the meeting, praising WCK and featuring photos with Andres, became the flashpoint of the backlash.

I was pleased to meet today with @ChefJoseAndres, founder and head of the world renowned aid organisation, @WCKitchen which has worked with dedication to help provide food to those in need in Israel and in Gaza - and indeed all over the world.

True humanitarian assistance comes… pic.twitter.com/GKVLtNZGZC

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) August 17, 2025

Critics slammed Andres after seeing the post, saying the meeting amounted to condoning Israel's actions, including the targeting and killing of seven WCK international aid workers in April 2024.

An Israeli air strike killed an additional three workers from the international NGO in November. 

Middle East Eye reached out to WCK for a response to the criticism they're facing, but did not receive a reply in time for publication. 

"He accepted a medal from the man who supplied the bombs that killed his @WCKitchen workers," one X user wrote, referencing President Biden awarding Andres the Medal of Freedom earlier this year. "Now he shakes hands with the man directing their murders."

Israel murdered 7 of his employees and now he’s doing photo ops with them. @chefjoseandres disgraceful. https://t.co/4MIbXQAeng pic.twitter.com/TgioX7O5Hg

— B L A K E L E Y™℠©® LLC (@_iamblakeley) August 18, 2025

"The people you're shaking hands with have the blood of tens of thousands of Palestinians on their hands, the very people you claim to be helping," journalist Leyla Hamed posted on X. "And let's not forget: they also killed 7 members of your own NGO. Yet you still shake their hands. Disgraceful @chefjoseandres."

Greater good?

Others countered these criticisms by arguing that meetings like this are a part of Andres's role, and that it is necessary to help the humanitarian crisis Israel has manufactured in the Gaza Strip.

"I hate that Herzog gets a photo-op with him (at least it's not you know who), I hate that this can be seen as disrespectful to the murdered WCK members, but if it gets food to the Gazan people, I can see why he would make the sacrifice," one user argued on a Reddit thread. "He's done far more for the Palestinian people, and suffering people worldwide, than I ever have, and I'm not going to hold him in judgement over this."

Another user replied to this post, arguing that after two years of Israel's genocide in Gaza, it is natural for people to be sceptical of organisations or figures that Israeli officials publicly support.

People are criticizing Chef José Andrés for visiting the Israeli President, etc. I’m obviously not in his head, but I think it’s admirable that he is keeping his eye on *one* ball: to feed as many people in Gaza as possible. If it takes an annoying meeting, so be it. Life first.

— Ami Dar (@AmiDar) August 18, 2025

"If this does lead to more food getting into Gaza without any conditionals, then fine. I'm willing to live with this compromise even if I think it's still fair to call out the hypocrisy," the user wrote.

"However, we've also seen the past few months what it looks like when Israel coordinates efforts to let aid into Gaza between the GHF [Gaza Humanitarian Foundation] and the air drops leading to more deaths. I think it's more than a little right to be skeptical about an Israeli official suddenly being fine with aid given how they've weaponized it the past 4 months."

Scrutiny over WCK's ties to Israel, which has publicly lauded the group's work, deepened after Israel banned the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (Unrwa) – which is the primary source of humanitarian support for Palestinians across the Middle East – from operating in all of occupied Palestine in January.

"No one other than World Central Kitchen has been allowed by Israel to bring aid in by sea, and in the past Israel has attacked and massacred civilian groups attempting to do so," Palestinian journalist Ali Abunimah wrote in the Electronic Intifada last year. 

"And such a 'venture' or 'pilot project' only makes sense in a context where Unrwa is being eliminated."

Israel's inconsistent treatment of WCK compared to other international NGOs, along with Herzog's public praise for Andres, has led to the current backlash.

The consistent message in the critics' posts of the meeting between the chef and the president is about the concern that Israel, and the US, are potentially using influential figures like him to "'whitewash" their image.

"Israel murdered the workers of his NGO, but the chef forgives: he whitewashes the US and places the 'charity of the sandwich' wherever it benefits his business," one angered user posted on X. "May this photo haunt him wherever he goes."