Internal rifts increasing in US admin over policy on Israel's Gaza war

Despite unfolding thousands of kilometers away, Israel's ongoing war with Gaza since last October continues to exacerbate divisions within American society and sow discord within President Joe Biden's administration.

Whether it is providing billions of dollars in military support to Israel, offering humanitarian aid for Palestinians, or seeking to avoid regional hostilities that may intensify into a wider war — between Israel and Lebanon — Washington is deeply tied to what has been described as an "apocalyptic" war on Palestinians.

"The distance has not dampened the impact on America," a senior US State Department official told TRT World.

"We have staffers whose nephews, nieces, close and distant relatives were killed in Gaza. We hear their complaints. The voices of dissent are growing every day," the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Following the October 7 Hamas raid on southern Israel, the 266-day war — during which Israel has killed and wounded tens of thousands in Gaza, and laid waste to much of the besieged Palestinian enclave — has seen mass demonstrations in America, many of them led by Jewish groups, self-immolation protests, die-in sit-ins, arrest of students and scholars, surge in anti-Muslim attacks and anti-Semitism, limitations on free speech, and a rupture in the Democratic party.

Accusing the US president of turning a blind eye to Israeli atrocities in the blockaded Palestinian territory, many US administration officials have quit in protest while others continue to build pressure within the system.

"I have never seen anything like this before in my 20 years of working with the US administration. The sheer scale of devastation and loss of lives in Gaza is mind-blowing," said the US official who has seen some colleagues quit the State Department to protest Washington's backing for Israel and its failure to bring about a long-lasting ceasefire.

Surge of resignations

Josh Paul, Director of the State Department's Bureau of Political Military Affairs, resigned in October last year in the first publicly known resignation, citing Washington's "blind support" for Tel Aviv.

Harrison Mann, a US Army Major and Defence Intelligence Agency official, resigned a month later in November. He cited "guilt" for contributing to Gaza mass killings and went public with his reasons to resign in May this year.

In January, Tariq Habash, a US-Palestinian, resigned as Special Assistant in the Education Department's office of Planning, citing Biden administration's approach to the Gaza war and its failure to halt what he termed as Israel's "collective punishment tactics."

Then in March, Annelle Sheline's resignation from the State Department's Human Rights Bureau made global headlines and underscored her refusal to remain "complicit" in what she said was an unjust US policy towards Gaza.

In April, Hala Rharrit, an Arabic language spokesperson for the State Department, called it a day "in opposition to the US' Gaza policy."

Rharrit, who quit the US administration after 18 years of service, told TRT World in an interview that "Israel was committing genocide" in Gaza and US cannot escape "complicity" in this crime.

In May, Lily Greenberg Call, a Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff in the US Interior Department, quit, accusing President Biden of using Jews to justify US policy in Israel's war.

"He is making Jews the face of the American war machine. And that is so deeply wrong," Call said, noting that her ancestors were killed by "state-sponsored violence."

Alexander Smith, a contractor for US foreign aid agency, USAID, quit in late May, alleging censorship after the aid agency annulled publication of his presentation on maternal and child mortality among Palestinians.

"I can no longer in good conscience continue to be silent amidst USAID’s de facto policy of ignoring human suffering when that suffering is perpetrated by an ally [Israel]," Smith wrote in his resignation letter to Samantha Power, Administrator of USAID.

Stacy Gilbert, who served in the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration as Senior Civilian-Military Advisor, resigned in late May.

Gilbert reportedly accused the State Department of being wrong to conclude that Israel had not obstructed humanitarian assistance to besieged Palestinians of Gaza.

In June, Andrew Miller, the US State Dept expert on Israel-Palestine affairs, resigned over war on Gaza. The resignation of Miller, a high-ranking official in Israel-Palestine policy, is notable, signifying a major change and showing the depth of discontent within the Biden administration over its policy on the war.

'Difficult and complex'

The State Department official TRT World spoke with said several expressions of dissent including demands for immediate ceasefire in Gaza continue to make their way to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"He [Blinken] is aware of the situation inside the department. And since he is one of the 15 members of Biden's cabinet, the US president too is cognisant of it," the official said, acknowledging Blinken alone cannot change the Biden administration's policy on the conflict.

The official said Biden's three-phase truce deal, dubbed by the US president as a "road map to an enduring ceasefire and the release of all hostages", could pacify the tensions within the US administration but also admitted convincing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on the deal the way US sees it "has been difficult and complex".

Biden has described the deal as an Israeli decision and thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating for months to support it, but Netanyahu has been defiant, saying what has been presented by the US publicly is not accurate and that Tel Aviv is still committed to continuing the war until destroying Hamas — something many experts have called a far-fetched goal.

Netanyahu's far-right allies, too, have threatened to collapse his government if he implements the plan to reach a permanent ceasefire.

This week Netanyahu reiterated his position, telling a local pro-government channel he will only be willing to agree to a "partial" ceasefire deal that would not end the war.

"We are committed to continuing the war after a pause, to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I'm not willing to give up on that," Netanyahu said.

The US official told TRT World that Netanyahu's government is on shaky ground as his far-right allies could topple it if he proceeds with a permanent ceasefire plan.

"It has been hard to convince Netanyahu who is facing threats from his far-right alliances," the official said, worried that Israel's war on Gaza now threatens to spill over into Lebanon and beyond.