Zeynep ConkarWhen World Central Kitchen (WCK) founder Chef Jose Andres travelled to Gaza this month, his visit was framed as a humanitarian mission.
He walked through the ruins, shared images of entire neighbourhoods erased, and spotlighted his organisation’s attempts to deliver food into a starving enclave sealed off by Israel’s blockade.
But the narrative shifted the moment he left.
Days later, Andres revealed he had sat down with Israeli President Isaac Herzog: one of the men presiding over the blockade and the military offensive that had already killed 10 of his own aid workers alongside more than 62,000 Palestinians.
Andres said the meeting was about “flooding Gaza with food and medicine” and securing permits for NGOs.
Herzog, in turn, praised WCK’s work and posted photos of the two side by side. It was those images from the apparent photo-op – and the handshake – that ignited a storm of outrage.
For many, the images were impossible to separate from what had happened just months earlier: the killing of seven WCK aid workers in April 2024 when Israeli forces struck their convoy after it unloaded 100 tonnes of food brought by sea.
At the time, Andres had accused Israel of deliberately targeting his staff "systematically, car by car".
Speaking in a video statement, he said the Israeli military tracked the convoy for almost two kilometres, striking each car in succession.
The vehicles were marked with WCK’s brightly coloured logos, and the army knew their exact movements.
"This was not just a bad luck situation where 'oops' we dropped the bomb in the wrong place," Andres said.
“They were targeting us in a deconflicting zone, in an area controlled by the Israeli army,” he added.
Those seven workers – Australian, British, Palestinian, Polish, and dual US-Canadian nationals – were killed despite what Andres described as “clear communication” with the Israeli military.
Sixteen months later, all seems to have been forgotten.
The WCK described the discussions between Jose and Herzog as “constructive and represent a meaningful step forward”.
“While in Israel, Jose (Andres) met with Herzog and other government officials to continue advocating for accountability for the victims of the April 1, 2024, strike…,” says Carrie Hayes, WCK’s Media and Communications Strategy Director.
“This remains a profoundly painful chapter in our history, and ensuring justice and recognition for our colleagues and their families remains a priority for all of us,” Hayes tells TRT World.
Three more WCK staff were killed in November by another Israeli strike.
Following those incidents, the group temporarily suspended its operations.
‘Disgraceful’
Against that backdrop, Andres’ handshake with Herzog was seen by many as a betrayal.
“He accepted a medal from the man who supplied the bombs that killed his workers. Now he shakes hands with the man directing their murders,” one critic posted on X, referring to former US president Joe Biden awarding Andres the Medal of Freedom earlier this year.
“How disgraceful @chefjoseandres. You don't even respect the memory of your workers. You are a horrible person,” another post said.
Other posts accused the chef of allowing himself to be used as a prop to “whitewash” Israel’s reputation.
“Chef Jose Andres and how to turn solidarity into an industry that collaborates in cleaning up the image of a genocidal regime.”
“These are the 7 aid workers targeted and murdered by the government whose leader you just met. Shows how little you value their sacrifice,” another user said.
Not everyone joined in the condemnation. Some argued that Andres’s role inevitably requires him to meet with leaders, even those implicated in atrocities, if it means getting aid into Gaza.
“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 said on Reddit.
“In his conversations with Israeli leaders and regional partners, Jose also emphasised the critical need to expand humanitarian access into Gaza,” Hayes says.
“This access is essential for World Central Kitchen to reach our goal of one million hot meals a day for Gaza – and for all humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza,” she explains.
Why WCK?
The debate over WCK’s relationship with Israel is not new.
Israel banned the UN agency UNRWA from operating earlier this year, cutting off the main channel of humanitarian assistance for Palestinians.
Yet WCK was permitted to deliver aid by sea, something that other groups attempting to do in the past were met with deadly force.
“I don't trust anyone whom Israel openly praises and agrees to work with. And for the record, Herzog is literally on record saying the entire population of Gaza is not innocent, so he's clearly on board with forms of collective punishment like an engineered famine and mass starvation,” another Reddit post said.
Andres has not publicly addressed the backlash.
But the images of him with Herzog continue to circulate, juxtaposed with his own words about how the Israeli military “systematically, car by car” killed his colleagues.
For many Palestinians and their supporters, the contrast is irreconcilable.
What is clear is that for a global audience already aware of Israel’s manipulation of humanitarian efforts, the handshake has become a lasting stain that could define WCK’s credibility for years to come.
