OAN’s Abril Elfi
1:27 PM – Thursday, October 19, 2023
Josh Paul, a State Department official who spoke to the press, has now resigned from his position for reasons pertaining to the Biden Administration’s strategy on the current conflict between Israel and Hamas.
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Paul, who had worked at the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs for over 11 years, announced through a statement posted on LinkedIn on Wednesday that he quit his job “due to a policy disagreement concerning our continued lethal assistance to Israel.”
“Let me be clear,” Paul wrote. “Hamas’ attack on Israel was not just a monstrosity; it was a monstrosity of monstrosities. I also believe that potential escalations by Iran-linked groups such as Hezbollah, or by Iran itself, would be a further cynical exploitation of the existing tragedy. But I believe to the core of my soul that the response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response, and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people – and is not in the long term American interest.”
He continued, saying: “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.”
“That is to say, it is immensely disappointing, and entirely unsurprising. Decades of the same approach have shown that security for peace leads to neither security, nor to peace. The fact is, blind support for one side is destructive in the long term to the interests of the people on both sides,” Paul added.
Paul also asserted that he is unable to support a set of policy decisions that he believes are “shortsighted, destructive, unjust, and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse.”
He also said that the U.S., as a “third party,” should not take sides in the conflict and expressed that Israel had committed “gross violations of human rights.”
The decision of the former state official comes as President Joe Biden has increased funding and weapons to Israel, a long-standing Middle East ally, in response to the Islamic terrorist group’s unexpected attacks on the country earlier this month.
The U.S. currently provides $3.8 billion in security support to Israel each year, and the administration is preparing to request even more security assistance.
In an interview, Paul told reporters that legal safeguards intended to keep American weaponry out of the hands of human rights violators are failing since the U.S. is supporting Israel while cutting off water, food, medical care, and energy to Gaza.
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