State Department staffers blast Biden’s stance on Israel-Hamas war, accuse Jewish state of ‘war crimes’: memo
One hundred employees from the State Department and Agency for International Development signed a scathing internal dissent memo criticizing President Biden’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, accusing him of “spreading misinformation” and unwilling to de-escalate the conflict.
The five-page memo, organized by a junior diplomat on Nov. 3, blames Biden for a failure to call out Israel for “war crimes” in Gaza during his speech on Oct. 10, where the president said the US stands with the Jewish State, Axios reports.
“[Biden] doubled down on our unwavering military assistance to the [Israeli government] without clear or actionable redlines,” the memo reads.
The staffers went on to accuse Biden of spreading misinformation about the war, but they failed to cite any specific instance when the president allegedly lied about the conflict.
The memo also accuses Israel of committing “war crimes” after it initially cut power and humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, which the Jewish State defended as a means to stop supplies from reaching Hamas.
With the State Department employing more than 77,000 people, and the USAID with its more than 10,000 staffers, the dissenters amount to just 0.11% of their workforce.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken — who has been feverishly trying to help broker a de-escalation of the Mideast crisis — acknowledged the internal dissent in a memo to staffers Monday.
“I know that for many of you, the suffering caused by this crisis is taking a profound personal toll,” the country’s head statesman said, according to CNN. “The anguish that comes with seeing the daily images of babies, children, elderly people, women, and other civilians suffering in this crisis is wrenching. I feel it myself.
“Some people in the Department may disagree with approaches we are taking or have views on what we can do better,” Blinken wrote.
“As I said in private and in public, we believe Palestinian people’s voices must be at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza. We believe in Palestinian-led governance of Gaza, with Gaza unified with the West Bank. Gaza’s reconstruction must be supported with a sustained mechanism.”
The White House’s “overarching objective remains the same: to bring this terrible conflict to a close as quickly as possible, while standing by Israel’s right and obligation, in full accordance with international humanitarian law, to ensure a terrorist attack like October 7th never happens again,” the secretary of state said.
State Department rep Matthew Miller separately added that officials were open to hearing opinions from all its employees, as the memo was submitted through the department’s dissent channel, which allows workers to voice their dissatisfaction with government policy.
“The Secretary wants to hear from those employees. He wants to hear what their opinions are,” Miller said.
This is not the first time a dissent memo has been submitted to the State Department regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
Last week, it was revealed that another memo was filed to the department to call on Blinken to demand an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, Politico reports.
As Miller alluded to, residents across the US are also divided on the war, with many rallies breaking out across the nation since the new conflict began, with people showing support for either Israel or the Palestinians.
Last week, a pro-Palestinian group marched in Washington D.C., cursing at the president and demanding a ceasefire in Gaza amid Israel’s ground incursion to eradicate Hamas.
More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel following the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas, and since the IDF began its retaliatory strike, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
The death toll is unprecedented in the history of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.