State Department official resigns over Biden administration's Israel policy
According to the Associated Press, President Joe Biden traveled to the Middle East this week where he met with high-ranking Israeli officials.
While Biden pledged that the United States "will stand forever" with Israel, that stance has led one State Department figure to announce his resignation.
Official slams "continued lethal assistance to Israel"
According to Politico, Josh Paul worked at the State Department Bureau of Political-Military Affairs before revealing on Wednesday that he is stepping down from his job.
Specifically, Paul objects to the Biden administration's decision to increase military aid to Israel following a brutal attack by the Iranian-backed terror group Hamas that left an estimated 1,400 people dead.
"Today I informed my colleagues that I have resigned from the State Department, due to a policy disagreement concerning our continued lethal assistance to Israel. To further explain my rationale for doing so, I have written the attached note," Paul said in a post on Linkedin.
"In my 11 years I have made more moral compromises than I can recall, each heavily, but each with my promise to myself in mind, and intact," he continued.
Politico reports White House "is surging weapons to Israel"
"I am leaving today because I believe that in our current course with regards to the continued — indeed, expanded and expedited — provision of lethal arms to Israel — I have reached the end of that bargain," Paul explained.
"I cannot work in support of a set of major policy decisions, including rushing more arms to one side of the conflict, that I believe to be shortsighted, destructive, unjust, and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse," the former official insisted.
"This Administration’s response — and much of Congress’ as well — is an impulsive reaction built on confirmation bias, political convenience, intellectual bankruptcy, and bureaucratic inertia," Paul declared. "That is to say, it is immensely disappointing, and entirely unsurprising."
Paul's announcement came just over a week after Politico reported that the Biden administration "is surging weapons to Israel."
POLITICO: The Biden administration is surging weapons to Israel, rapidly sending air defenses and munitions in response to Israeli officials’ urgent requests for aid. https://t.co/PYOTy1RDs0
— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) October 10, 2023
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupt Senate hearing
Opposition to American support for Israel is not confined to the State Department, as Wednesday also saw a mob of pro-Palestinian demonstrators swarm Capitol Hill.
There’s an insurrection happening now on Capitol Hill https://t.co/hBMIcv3pqW
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) October 18, 2023
The Daily Mail reported that some of the demonstrators disrupted the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation as it held a confirmation hearing for Jack Lew, who has been nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel.
