Arms Transfer To Israel Contributes To ‘Massive Civilian Casualties’
October 20, 2023—Josh Paul isn’t the only State Department official who has concerns about the U.S. policy on Israel’s military assault on civilians. But he might be the first one to resign.
The resignation comes as President Biden asks Congress for a $14 billion military aid package for Israel and $9.15 billion for humanitarian aid for Israel, Ukraine, and Gaza. It also comes as the United States vetoed a resolution in the UN Security Council that would have created safe corridors for humanitarians to assist civilians in Gaza.
U.S. diplomatic staff are taking notice. Acknowledging the morale problem, Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote to department staff saying the Middle East crisis “has not only been challenging professionally but personally.” According to Politico’s reporting, Biden’s policy “jarred many State Department employees who worried it gave Israel a green light to take measures that would unfairly punish ordinary Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
In his letter to staff, Blinken stayed on message:
“President Biden has made clear from the beginning of the crisis — as I underscored across the region — that while we fully support Israel’s right to defend itself, how it does so matters. That means acting in a way that respects the rule of law and international humanitarian standards, and taking every possible precaution to protect civilian life,” he wrote.
But as thousands of Palestinian civilians die and are injured by Israeli bombs—the latest figure is 4,137 deaths in Gaza, the message might be lacking sincerity.
Mincing No Words
For Josh Paul, the civilian deaths are events that cannot be ignored or swept under the rug. He announced his decision to leave the State in an October 19 post on LinkedIn. He minced no words and included language such as ethnic cleansing, occupation, and apartheid to describe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Paul worked for over 11 years in the department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.
Paul said he knew his job in a bureau that is most responsible for arms transfers would involve “moral complexity and moral compromises.” But he promised himself he would stay as long as he felt he was doing more good than harm.
“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 said.
Arms Transfer To Israel
Paul said he specifically objects to a rushed arms transfer to Israel without consideration of assaults on civilians. That’s in contrast to a White House announcement in February that the Biden administration was raising its standard on transfers of arms. The higher standards were meant to ensure weapons are not used to commit human rights violations. But the vetting process is not happening when it comes to weapons sales to Israel.
“What we’ve seen with Israel repeatedly in operations in Gaza in 2009, 2014 and 2021 is massive civilian casualties. Thousands of Palestinians killed through a relatively indiscriminant use of bombs, and destroyed building,” Paul said in an October 18 interview with PBS. “And yet, in the context of this conflict today, where we’ve already seen thousands of Palestinian casualties, there has been no policy debate. Indeed, there’s a rush to provide arms where normally there’s discussion, consideration, and thought.”
Blind, Impulsive U.S. Support
Paul called the October 7 terror attack on Israel by Hamas a “monstrosity of monstrosities.”
He took issue with Israel’s response, saying it would lead to worse suffering for Israelis and Palestinians. Moreover, he called the U.S. response “blind support for one side” and an “impulsive reaction built on confirmation bias, political convenience, intellectual bankruptcy, and bureaucratic inertia.”
Paul encouraged U.S. policymakers to stand on the side of the people, rather than the warriors.
“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,” Paul said.
