For some politicians and government employees, the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is complicated and, in a few instances, career-ending as they resign in protest over their nation's public support for the Jewish nation of Israel in its existential battle against the Islamist terror group devoted to their destruction.

The latest example is British diplomat Mark Smith, who resigned from his position in protest against the U.K.'s provision of weapons to Israel amid the ongoing fight, according to The Independent.

Albeit not from resignation, Vice President Kamala Harris faces the prospect of her own political career ending over the Israel-Hamas war, largely because she appears incapable of picking a side and thus has angered supporters of the Israelis and Palestinian people alike.

British diplomat resigns over U.K. arms sales to Israel

Per The Independent, British diplomat Mark Smith announced his resignation in a letter that declared he would no longer be "complicit" in the U.K.'s support for alleged Israeli "war crimes."

His job in the British Foreign Office was to assess the compliance with international laws of recipient nations of military weapons sales, and he concluded of his own accord that Israel was in violation of those laws.

"To export arms to any nation, the UK must be satisfied that the recipient nation has in place robust procedures to avoid civilian casualties and to minimise harm to civilian life. It is impossible to argue that Israel is doing that," Smith wrote in the resignation letter that has since been posted on social media.

He added, "Since Israel’s invasion of Gaza in October 2023 I have had grave concerns about the conduct of the war and the UK’s compliance not only with international law but with the UK’s own domestic arms sales legislation. I am also opposed to the UK’s tacit support of Israel’s occupation of Palestine."

Harris backs efforts to negotiate a ceasefire

Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post reported that VP Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, finds herself near a potential political dead end for her career as she struggles to find a coherent position on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Harris has championed efforts to negotiate a ceasefire to end the fighting and see Israeli hostages returned safely, and recently insisted "we are not giving up" on those efforts despite repeated failures to reach a lasting agreement over the past several months.

Those negotiations have thus far failed in large part because Hamas refuses to accept anything but the most absurdly favorable proposals while Israel has rejected possible deals that will leave them hamstrung and vulnerable to future attacks by a determined enemy.

Leftist protesters demand Harris impose an arms embargo against Israel

VP Harris, despite her public criticisms of Israel's efforts to defeat Hamas in Gaza and support for a negotiated ceasefire, is nonetheless tied to the current administration's generally pro-Israel position that includes weapons sales to the Jewish nation fighting to secure its survival.

According to the Associated Press, that connection has prompted thousands of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protesters to descend on the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago, Illinois, and those predominately leftist activists have linked her to a supposed ongoing "genocide" of innocent Palestinians and demanded an immediate ceasefire to end the conflict, regardless of the terms.

According to Al Jazeera, some of the DNC protesters have gone beyond simply demanding an immediate ceasefire and also called upon Harris to impose an embargo on future U.S. weapons sales and transfers to Israel.

Harris could choose to ignore those protesters, but there is a potential political price for doing so, as the leftist protesters have threatened to withhold their votes from the Democratic candidate unless there is an arms embargo against Israel, and it is decidedly unclear how substantial and possibly career-ending for Harris that sentiment is across the party's far-left flank.