Biden faces MUTINY over Israel war: State Department insiders warn of ‘remarkable and unprecedented’ internal turmoil over White House’s support for Jerusalem
Joe Biden is facing a significant internal revolt against his administration's stance on the war between Israel and Hamas, insiders say — reflected in the nationwide unease about the conflict and his dismal polling.
The president is determined to stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel after the October 7 Hamas terror attack that killed 1,200 people.
But he warned Israeli leaders both privately and publicly not to repeat America's post-September 11 mistakes and be blinded by anger and a desire for revenge.
Now that 15,000 Gazans have been killed in a seven-week bombing campaign, many in the Biden administration believe the White House must do more to rein in Israel.
Only one person has publicly resigned over the Gaza attack: Josh Paul, director of the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which oversees U.S. arms transfers.
But Sources report this to NBC News that the internal turmoil—including statements in open letters from government employees—exceeds anything felt in the past forty years, including the Iraq War and Donald Trump's Muslim ban.
On November 29, demonstrators are seen outside the White House calling for an end to the war
Large parts of Gaza have been destroyed and 15,000 people have been killed in seven weeks of war
Joe Biden, seen in the Oval Office on Thursday, faces intense criticism for not doing enough to rein in Israel
“It's remarkable and unprecedented,” said Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank who worked at the State Department from 1978 to 2003.
“I've never seen anything like it.”
The anger has been expressed by hundreds of federal employees who signed an open letter demanding the Biden administration push for a ceasefire, and by dozens of State Department diplomats who sent official dissents.
At the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), hundreds of employees signed a letter criticizing the administration's approach, while hundreds of staff in Congress protested and signed letters demanding a ceasefire.
They rejected what they called a “blank check” for Israel.
Meanwhile, the CIA sent an internal email last month reminding staff to keep their social media posts strictly apolitical and nonpartisan, NBC News previously reported.
One official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told NBC: 'Not everyone demands a change in policy, but they do advocate for a change.
“We all saw the photos on October 7 and I think there was broad support for Israel's right to remove this threat. But we also saw the photos that came out afterwards.
“Once pictures emerged from the rubble of 5,000 dead, 10,000 dead…
“We all know the tools they used to kill them.”
Palestinians search for survivors of an Israeli bombardment of Rafah on November 22
Destroyed buildings can be seen in the Gaza Strip on November 22
Gazans light a fire to keep warm in the remains of a house in Khan Yunis on Thursday
Members of the Palestinian Youth Movement carrying Palestinian flags and banners are seen in Washington DC on Thursday
The United States supplies large amounts of weapons to Israel: about $3 billion per year, adjusted for inflation, for the past 50 years. Israel has historically been the largest recipient of US security assistance.
Biden announced in October that he would send more, stating from the Oval Office that he would seek “an unprecedented support package for Israel's defense” of $14.3 billion.
“We are in the process of providing additional military assistance,” he added.
Two State Department officials told NBC that “their most level-headed counterparts in the region” warned that Biden was damaging America's reputation by not doing more for a ceasefire.
One source told NBC that the unrest was partly generational, with younger people more likely to question the United States' enormous financial and political support for Israel and Palestine.
a new NBC News poll shows that 70 percent of Democratic voters aged 18 to 34 disapprove of Biden's handling of the war.
Biden's approval rating is currently at one of the lowest points of his presidency, falling from a high 50 percent when he was inaugurated to below 40 percent now.
Only 33 percent of all voters approve of Biden's handling of foreign policy, down 8 points from September.
Among Democratic voters, 51 percent believe Israel has gone too far, compared to 27 percent who believe Israel's military actions are justified.
“They have a different view of US foreign policy than the older generation,” one source said.
“It's a progressive view that believes the US has made terrible mistakes and is not always on the right side of history.”
State Department employee Josh Paul spent 11 years at the State Department after a stint in the Department of Defense.
Josh Paul resigned from the State Department after eleven years in protest against the conflict
He wrote an op-ed for The New York Times on November 17 explaining his reasoning.
“On October 18, I resigned from the State Department because I could not support the supply of American weapons to the conflict in Gaza, where I knew they would be used to kill thousands of civilians,” he wrote.
“I saw no willingness to reevaluate long-term policies that have not led to peace and have in fact undermined both regional stability and Israeli security.”
Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, wrote a memo to employees about this in early November, saying they were listening to their concerns.
“We've organized forums in Washington to hear from you, and urged managers and teams to have candid discussions at posts around the world precisely so we can hear your feedback and ideas,” Blinken said.
“I have asked our senior leadership to continue to do that. We listen: what you share shapes our policies and messages.'
The American Foreign Service Association, the union for the State Department's diplomatic corps, told NBC it was 'encouraged' by the way the government responded to the internal disagreements.
“We know there is some concern about current policies, especially among members of Arab American and Muslim American employee organizations at the State Department and elsewhere,” said Tom Yazdgerdi, president of the association.
“We know that these employee groups met with Secretary Blinken and other members of State leadership.
'That is crucial because dissenting opinions must be heard and we hope that this will be taken into account.'