Fact Check: Did Henry Kissinger Say He'd Be Antisemitic if Not Jewish?

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who died Wednesday at the age of 100, has left a divisive legacy of political and foreign policy maneuvering that was both lauded and derided across the globe.

Seen by some as a pragmatic diplomat, awarded a Nobel prize for reaching a ceasefire and peace agreement to the Vietnam War, he has also been accused of enabling war crimes, including his involvement in the orchestration of U.S. bombing in Cambodia.

Among the conversations reflecting on his legacy was one quote that appeared to suggest Kissinger would have been antisemitic had it not been for his Jewish birth.

The Claim

A post on X, formerly Twitter, by user @hannahgais, viewed 905,000 times, stated "Kissinger: 'If it were not for the accident of my birth, I would be antisemitic.... Any people who has been persecuted for two thousand years must be doing something wrong.'"

The Facts

The quote is taken from Walter Isaacson's 1992 biography Kissinger.

Isaacson described the book as neither an authorized nor unauthorized biography, stating that while Kissinger did not approve the book before publication, he provided "two dozen formal interviews," access to public and private papers, and asked "family members, former aides, business associates, and past presidents" to contribute.

Isaacson spoke not only to Kissinger but dozens of colleagues and bosses including late former President Richard Nixon.

The quote on X appears in a section of the book describing Kissinger's attitude toward his Judaism and how his faith was viewed by Nixon. According to Kissinger, Nixon felt Jewish people "put the interests of Israel above everything else" and "that their control of the media made them dangerous allies."

Isaacson wrote that following Israel's violation of a 1973 ceasefire with Egypt, "Kissinger grumbled at one WSAG meeting, 'If it were not for the accident of my birth, I would be anti-Semitic.'

"In other moments of exasperation, he would note that "any people who have been persecuted for two thousand years must be doing something wrong.'"

The Washington Special Actions Group, or WSAG, was a high-level U.S. government crisis committee formed under the Nixon administration.

Notably, the National Security Archive later discovered that Kissinger "gave a green light" for Israel to breach the 1973 ceasefire.

What was not mentioned alongside the citation on X was Isaacson's suggestion that Kissinger's comments may have not been intended seriously.

In the same paragraph as the quote attributed to Kissinger, the book states: "As was often the case, Kissinger's attitude toward his Jewishness was reflected in his humor, much of it directed at the pressure on him from 'my coreligionists' to forgive any Israeli sin."

While this does not alter what Isaacson said, or verifiably confirm his intent, this argument is absent from the citation on X.

This same section of the biography also notes the commitments Kissinger made to his religion, insisting, Isaacson writes, that his son had a bar mitzvah, and his "emotional commitment to the survival of Israel," quoting Kissinger telling Jewish leaders: "'How can I, as a Jew who lost thirteen relatives in the holocaust, do anything that would betray Israel?"'

The source of the quote is attributed only to a Washington Special Actions Group meeting, although Isaacson states that most documentary material came from the "Nixon Presidential Papers Project."

While Isaacson did not state where Kissinger was quoted, the conversation took place while Kissinger was U.S. secretary of state.

Isaacson notes that while in office Kissinger had secretaries and aides listen in on his phone conversations and take notes which "evolved into a full-fledged taping system with a battery of secretaries who would transcribe the talks overnight."

The Ruling

Needs context

The quote is taken from Walter Isaacson's 1992 biography Kissinger, attributed to a meeting Kissinger held in 1973 after Israel breached a ceasefire between it and Egypt.

While it was accurately quoted, Kissinger's comments were, according to Isaacson, intended with humor, also noting the late secretary of state's commitments to his faith.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team