Biden State Dept official resigns over US support for Israel against Hamas terrorists

A Biden administration State Department official has resigned over the United States' decision to aid Israel in its war against Hamas terrorists.

Josh Paul, who worked for the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, issued a statement in which he cited his reason for leaving as a "policy disagreement." Paul was responsible for transferring arms to key American allies, such as Israel, according to Fox News.

"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," Paul wrote on LinkedIn.

"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," Paul said.

While Paul condemned Hamas's terrorist attacks on Israel, he explained that Israel's retaliation against Hamas, with the support of the United States, will result in long-term suffering for both the Palestinians and Israelis which he "can't support." 

"Let me be clear: Hamas’ attack on Israel was not just a monstrosity; it was a monstrosity of monstrosities," he wrote. "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 wrote.

Paul's resignation was made just after Biden declared that the United States would be arming Israel, its closest Middle Eastern partner. Biden stated that the United States supports Israel's right to self-defense in the wake of Hamas's invasion of Israel, which resulted in the slaughter of more than 1,400 Israelis in the deadliest act of terror Israel has seen since 1973.

"When I came to the Bureau, the US Government entity most responsible for the transfer and provision of arms to partners and allies, 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 would be outweighed by the good I could do. 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," Paul said in the statement.

Paul added: "We cannot be both against occupation and for it. We cannot be both for freedom and against it. And we cannot be for a better world while contributing to one that is materially worse."

The now-former Biden official slammed the administration's decision to aid Israel as an "immensely disappointing response," calling it an "impulsive reaction."

"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 continued in the statement. "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 peace."

President Biden visited Israel on Wednesday and pledged that the US will continue to support Israel, one of the nation's greatest allies. Biden also announced a $100 million aid package that will be sent to Hamas-ruled Gaza to support humanitarian efforts.