A longtime State Department official resigned Wednesday over President Biden’s decision to provide lethal arms to Israel as it wages war on Hamas terrorists.
Josh Paul, a now former senior official in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, publicly announced his resignation in a letter posted on his LinkedIn page, arguing that supplying Israel with lethal weaponry and ammunition is “impulsive” and “immensely disappointing.”
“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, who worked in the State Department division overseeing arms sales, wrote in his note. “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 wrote.
Biden, 80, has vowed to “stand with Israel” and “make sure Israel has what it needs to take care of its citizens, defend itself and respond” in the aftermath of Hamas’ barbaric Oct. 7 terrorist attack against the Jewish state, which left more than a thousand dead.
Josh Paul, a now former senior official in the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, publicly announced his resignation in a letter posted on his LinkedIn page.Josh Paul/LinkedIn
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House last week that the US “has surged ammunition and interceptors for [Israel’s] Iron Dome” missile defense system at the direction of the president, and would be providing the Israeli military with “additional capabilities” soon.
Paul’s resignation comes on the same day Biden, during a high-stakes visit to Israel, pledged to ask Congress later this week “for an unprecedented support package for Israel’s defense.”
However, the president also announced $100 million in humanitarian aid for Palestinian territories during his trip, and he has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to follow the “laws of war” as he prepares to send ground troops into Gaza.
In his resignation announcement, Paul argued that supplying Israel with lethal weaponry and ammunition was “impulsive” and “immensely disappointing.AFP via Getty Images
Paul, who described Hamas’ attack as “a monstrosity of monstrosities,” admits that he is “heartened” by Biden’s efforts to moderate Israel’s response and provide humanitarian aid to Gaza, but that in his former role “my responsibilities lie solidly in the arms transfer space.”
“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 argued.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) greets US President Joe Biden upon his arrival at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport on October 18, 2023.AFP via Getty Images
“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.”
The State Department did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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