US government official resigns over ‘provision of lethal arms to Israel’

A senior US State Department official has resigned from his position on Wednesday in the light of the Biden administration’s role in the Israel-Palestine escalation.

Josh Paul, director of congressional and public affairs at the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, posted a letter on his LinkedIn account announcing his resignation and the reasoning behind it.

While he clarified his stance on October 7 and deemed the Hamas attack on Israel as “a monstrosity of monstrosities,” he also stated that “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.”

“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”, he added

In the latest developments following October 7, Israel has been more aggressive in its attacks in Gaza which has resulted in the killings of more than 3,300 Palestinians whereas Biden pledged to support Israel in its so-called right to defend through and through.

“When I came to this bureau … I knew it was not without its moral complexity and moral compromises, and I made myself a promise that I would stay for as long as I felt … the harm I might do could be outweighed by the good I could do,” Paul acknowledged in his letter.

“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. 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.”

He also pointed out that “I fear we are repeating the same mistakes we have made these past decades, and I decline to be a part of it any longer.”

HuffPost spoke to Paul following his resignation.

“I’ve been surprised by how many have said, ‘We absolutely understand where you’re coming from, we feel similarly and understand’”, he said.