The 12 officials claim that the cover provided to Israel “ensured” US “complicity” in the war on Gaza.
A group of former U.S. government officials have said that Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza endangers national security.
The 12 officials, who have resigned over the past nine months in protest of U.S. policy, said in a letter released Tuesday night that President Joe Biden’s support for Israel meant Washington had “undeniable complicity” in the slaughter and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. They called the White House’s policy on the war in the enclave “a failure and a threat to U.S. national security.”
While Biden and his administration have made rhetorical efforts to urge Israel to exercise restraint in recent weeks, Washington continues to provide military and diplomatic support to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition government, which includes hardline nationalist parties.
Several officials have resigned in protest since Netanyahu launched war on the enclave following Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7.
Maryam Hassanein, who left her post as a special assistant at the Interior Ministry on Tuesday, is one of the latest to resign. She is one of the signatories to the letter, along with former officials from the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the military and four political staffers.
“The United States’ diplomatic cover and continued flow of arms to Israel have ensured our undeniable complicity in the massacres and forced starvation of a besieged Palestinian population in Gaza,” the letter reads.
“This is not only morally reprehensible and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and U.S. law, but it also puts America in a difficult position,” the former officials warned.
“Credibility of American Values”
The protest letter comes as international protests against Israel’s conduct in Gaza continue, with US military and diplomatic support for its ally also increasingly criticized.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, nearly 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, and many more are feared to be under the rubble as Israeli bombardments have flattened once-populated areas of the besieged enclave.
The attack by Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, left about 1,200 people dead in October. About 250 others were abducted and taken to Gaza. An estimated 120 of them are still being held captive.
As Israel imposes a blockade on Gaza, the enclave’s 2.4 million people are also plunged into a deep humanitarian crisis, with shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel.
Washington has called for more aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, but Israel continues to impose strict restrictions. The former officials say in their letter that Israel’s ability to enforce the blockade on Gaza is another failure of U.S. policy.
“Rather than hold the Israeli government accountable for its role in arbitrarily obstructing humanitarian assistance, the United States has cut funding to the largest provider of humanitarian aid to Gaza: UNRWA, the United Nations agency for the Palestinians,” it reads.
“Rather than using our immense influence to establish safeguards that can guide Israel toward a lasting and just peace, we have facilitated its self-destructive actions that have deepened its political quagmire and contributed to its enduring global isolation.”
The statement added that U.S. policy toward the Middle East has also damaged the “credibility of American values,” as the United States condemns Russia’s war against Ukraine while “unconditionally arming and excusing Israel.”
The former officials outlined steps the government must take to ensure this, including implementing the Leahy laws that prohibit providing military assistance to forces involved in human rights abuses, and ensuring the expansion of humanitarian aid to Gaza and the reconstruction of the territory.