As President Joe Biden attempts to balance a show of support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas with tangible expressions of concern for impacted civilians in Gaza, he is facing something of a mutiny inside his own State Department, as the Daily Caller reports.
Compounding the problem for the White House is the fact that Secretary of State Antony Blinken – who has been an integral part of the administration's outreach to Tel Aviv in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks -- has also been the subject of heated criticism from those working within the agency he leads.
Referencing a recent HuffPost report, the Daily Caller outlined the escalating tension at the Department of State regarding what many there characterize as Biden's disproportionate emphasis on supporting Israel.
According to diplomatic insiders, many administration officials at State believe greater attention and resources should be devoted to the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza, who they believe are innocent victims of recent upheavals stemming from the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
In a stark assessment of the internal temperature at the State Department, one insider said, “There's basically a mutiny brewing...at all levels.”
As an indication of just how much discord has arisen over the issue, reports have emerged that a cadre of diplomats is preparing what is known as a “dissent cable,” or a formal statement outlining their opposition to the official foreign policy of the United States.
Such communications are customarily distributed to top-level leaders at the State Department, making them a serious expression of disunity.
The dissension in the ranks at the State Department has already led to the resignation of one particularly high-profile employee, as ABC News reported, it what could conceivably be a sign of things to come.
It was last week that Josh Paul, the now-former congressional and public affairs director at the agency's Bureau of Military Affairs, submitted his resignation over his own disagreement with the administration's stance on Israel.
Paul departed his role as a means of protest over the president's approach, posting to LinkedIn the letter he gave to colleagues on his way out the door, as the Daily Mail explained.
Outlining the rationale for his decision, Paul said, “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 regard to the continued – indeed, expanded and expedited – provision of lethal arms to Israel – I have reached the end of that bargain,” he added.
While making it clear that he views the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel as “a monstrosity,” Paul opined 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.”
Whether Paul's resignation proves to be an anomaly among State Department veterans who find themselves out of step with the current administration, or it represents the start of a more substantial exodus from the agency, only time will tell.
