A veteran State Department official resigned from the agency on Tuesday after Biden reaffirmed the US commitment to supporting Israel in its war against Hamas.
Josh Paul, who worked at the state bureau for more than a decade overseeing arms transfers, expressed disapproval of the amount of U.S. military aid to the U.S. ally in the Middle East and resigned because he could do nothing about it.
He shared his lengthy, two-page resignation letter on LinkedIn, citing a “policy disagreement” over “continued lethal assistance to Israel,” which drew mixed reactions.
His resignation coincided with President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel, where he pledged a substantial $100 billion aid package to support Israel and Ukraine.
“In my eleven years I have made more moral compromises than I can remember, each heavy, but each with my promise to myself in mind, and intact,” Paul wrote. “I am leaving today because I believe that in our current course regarding the continued – even expanded and accelerated – supply of lethal weapons to Israel – I have reached the end of that agreement.”
Josh Paul (pictured), who worked at the state bureau for more than a decade overseeing arms transfers, expressed his disapproval of the amount of US military aid to the US ally in the Middle East and resigned because he could do nothing about it.
His resignation coincided with President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel, where he pledged a substantial $100 billion aid package to support Israel and Ukraine. Pictured: Israeli soldiers patrol a secret location along the Israel-Gaza border
“I cannot work in support of a series of important policy decisions, including sending more weapons to one side of the conflict, that I believe are short-sighted, destructive, unjust and contradictory to the values we publicly espouse, and which I wholeheartedly endorse: a world built around a rules-based order, a world that promotes both equity and equality, and a world whose history bends toward the promise of freedom and of justice for all.”
He emphasized that he believed the recent terrorist attack in Israel, which killed more than 1,400 innocent people, was a heinous act.
However, he asserted that continuing to support Israel’s actions would lead to further suffering for both Israelis and Palestinians and would not be in the long-term interest of the United States.
“Let me be clear: Hamas’ attack on Israel was not just a monster; it was a monstrosity of monstrosities. I also believe that potential escalations by Iran-affiliated groups such as Hezbollah, or by Iran itself, would be a further cynical exploitation of the existing tragedy.”
“But I believe to my core that Israel’s response, and thus American support for both that response and the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both Israelis and Israelis. the Palestinian people – and is not in America’s long-term interest.”
Paul claimed that the current administration’s response, like much of Congress, was based on confirmation bias, political convenience, intellectual stagnation, and bureaucratic inertia.
He argued that blind support for one side in the conflict would ultimately harm the interests of both sides and cited a history of repeated mistakes in this regard.
Paul tried to express his neutrality by mentioning his Israeli and Palestinian friends, a research article he had written on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and his former residence in Ramallah, a Palestinian city where Israelis are not allowed to enter.
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Merkava tanks at a staging area in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on October 18
Paul concluded by expressing his “core beliefs” that come from finding “beauty everywhere in this world.”
He compared the horrors of the terrorist attack that killed 1,400 people at a peaceful music festival to a “terrorist” “killing” someone while “harvesting their olive grove.”
“The murder of civilians is an enemy of that desire – whether it is by terrorists dancing at a rave, or by terrorists harvesting their olive grove. The kidnapping of children is an enemy of that desire – whether they are taken at gunpoint from their kibbutz or at gunpoint from their village.”
He also used common terms brought up in discussions about Israel, such as “ethnic cleansing,” “occupation,” and “apartheid.”
“And collective punishment is an enemy of that desire, whether it is the demolition of one house or a thousand; this also applies to ethnic cleansing; the same goes for profession; just like apartheid,” he wrote.
Paul emphasized the responsibility of third parties, like himself, to support the people caught in the middle of the conflict and work towards a better world.
‘It is my firm belief that in such conflicts, for those of us who are third parties, the side we must take is not that of any of the combatants, but that of the people caught in the middle, and that of the generations who still have to fight. come. It is our responsibility to help the warring parties build a better world.”
President Joe Biden, left, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas in Tel Aviv
Civil defense teams and residents launch a search and rescue operation around the buildings destroyed after the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip on October 19
Paul claimed that many in the State Department had quietly expressed their support, but his resignation sparked a series of reactions, with some praising his decision and others criticizing his position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The two-page letter prompted many responses, with one noting: “Thank you for leaving. In weaker times a weaker man could have succeeded, but now is the time for strength, man or woman. Thank you for standing back and not continuing to weaken this great nation. Well done.’
Another commented: ‘Confusing. Was your work human rights or arming our friends? If the Palestinians wanted a state, they could get it, but it seems too many people would rather kill Jews. QED, so please no more ‘occupation slant’.’
“Our enemies (Hamas, Iran, Russia, China, etc.) are happy to kill us and not for everything we have done to them. The two parties here exist in separate moral universes. How can those who actually fight against slavery and genocide ever be ‘unjust’? This is a level of preciousness beyond all utility or feeling, a real dog in a manger.”
“Key Republican senators say the $100 billion spending package the Biden administration wants to send to lawmakers will include funds to strengthen Israel and Ukraine — while also sending money to cities like New York and Chicago that are dealing with the fallout from feeling the immigration crisis.
The administration is expected to send the aid package request within days as President Biden returns from his seven-hour trip to Israel amid rising tensions over the Gaza hospital explosion.
The administration has indicated it will include both border money and border policy provisions, not all of which will be welcome among Senate Republicans who will be critical to passage.
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