A State Department official resigns over the Biden administration’s handling of the conflict between Israel and Hamas

CNN
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A US State Department official announced his resignation from the agency due to the Biden administration’s approach to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. LinkedIn Wednesday.

Josh Paul, who said he worked at the Office of Political-Military Affairs for more than 11 years, said in his LinkedIn post that he resigned “due to a political disagreement over our continued lethal aid to Israel.”

“Let me be clear,” Paul wrote. Hamas’ attack on Israel was not just an atrocity; It was a savagery of monsters. I also believe that potential escalation by Iran-linked groups like Hezbollah, or by Iran itself, would be another cynical exploitation of the current tragedy. But I believe deep down that the response Israel is taking, and with it American support for this response and the status quo of occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both Israelis and Israelis. The Palestinian people – this is not in the long-term American interest.”

“The response of this administration — and much of Congress as well — is a reckless response based on confirmation bias, political expediency, intellectual bankruptcy, and bureaucratic inertia,” Paul adds. “This means that it is very disappointing, and not at all surprising. Decades of the same approach have shown that security for peace leads neither to security nor to peace. The truth is that blind support for one side is destructive in the long run to the interests of the people on both sides.”

Paul said he cannot work to support a set of policy decisions that include sending weapons, which he believes are “short-sighted, destructive, unfair, and inconsistent with the very values ​​we publicly embrace.”

Reached for comment, a State Department spokesperson told CNN that the agency declines to comment on personnel matters.

In an interview with New York timesLegal barriers intended to keep American weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers are failing, Paul said, as the United States supports Israel while the country cuts off water, food, medical care and electricity to Gaza.

“There’s a moment where you can say, ‘Well, well, you know, it’s out of my hands, but I know Congress will oppose that,'” he told the Times. “But in this case, there’s no significant potential response from Congress, there’s no other oversight mechanism, there’s no other forum for discussion, and that’s part of what went into the decision-making process.”