In a series of revelations aired Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes," senior US administration officials disclosed their resignations in protest of President Joe Biden's Israel policy, highlighting an unprecedented wave of internal dissent.
Thirteen senior officials from the State Department, White House, and military branches resigned in response to what they characterized as the administration's "blind support" for Israel.
Joshua Paul, who served as director in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the State Department for 11 years overseeing critical arms agreements with US allies, emphasized the direct US role in the conflict. "There's a direct connection between every bomb dropped on Gaza and the United States, since every bomb is dropped from an American plane," Paul stated. According to the source, US military assistance to Israel since the outbreak of hostilities has reached 18 billion shekels ($5.1 billion), primarily in weaponry funded by American taxpayers. The US State Department recently authorized an additional arms package worth 8 billion shekels ($2.3 billion) at the beginning of this month.
Former American diplomat Hala Rharrit, who served nearly two decades in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, revealed institutional resistance to transparency regarding the conflict's humanitarian impact. "I would show images of children that were starved to death," she said. "In one incident, I was basically berated, 'Don't put that image in there. We don't want to see it. We don't want to see that the children are starving to death.'"
The most senior official to resign, Andrew Miller, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs, provided insight into the administration's approach. "The message that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received is that he's in the driver's seat, he controls this, and American support will be there, and he can take it for granted," Miller explained. According to the source, the administration established no substantive restrictions beyond conventional references to international law compliance.
While Brett McGurk, White House coordinator for the Middle East and one of President Biden's closest advisers, declined a "60 Minutes" request for an interview, a senior White House official defended the administration's position, stating that government lawyers have not determined Israel violated the laws of armed conflict, therefore allowing American weapons to continue flowing.
Miller offered a stark assessment of the situation: "Absent intervention from the United States or for someone else to compel or to force a decision, it ends when Netanyahu says it's over."
