Who is Josh Paul? State Department official resigns over Biden administration's 'lethal assistance' to Israel
WASHINGTON, DC: Josh Paul, a veteran State Department official in charge of arms transfers, has resigned in protest over the Joe Biden administration's decision to continue supplying Israel with arms and ammunition as it lays siege to Gaza in its war with Hamas.
Paul has been the director of congressional and public affairs for the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs for over 11 years.
He announced his resignation on Tuesday, October 17, citing a 'policy disagreement' concerning “continued lethal assistance to Israel.”
Paul’s resignation came as the Biden administration surged its weapons and munitions supply to Israel, a longtime key ally in the Middle East, following the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ surprise attack that killed over 1400 people and left many more gravely injured.
During a wartime visit to Israel, President Joe Biden also announced a $100M humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Why did Josh Paul resign from the State Department?
Paul shared his lengthy two-page resignation letter on LinkedIn, saying, “In my 11 years I have made more moral compromises than I can recall, each heavily, but each with my promise to myself in mind, and intact.”
“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 continued, according to Daily Mail.
Paul continued by adding that he cannot work in support of “major policy decisions” where US is “rushing more arms to one side of the conflict.”
“I believe to be shortsighted, destructive, unjust, and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse, and which I wholeheartedly endorse: a world built around a rules-based order, a world that advances both equality and equity, and a world whose arc of history bends towards the promise of liberty, and of justice, for all,” he stated.
He stressed that he believed the recent Hamas attack in Israel was a horrible act, taking the lives of over 1,400 innocent people.
Nonetheless, he also argued that it was not in the long-term interests of the United States to back Israel's activities as doing so would only cause more suffering for both Israelis and Palestinians.
“Let me be clear: Hamas' attack on Israel was not just a monstrosity; it was a monstrosity of monstrosities. I also believe that potential escalations by Iran-linked groups such as Hezbollah, or by Iran itself, would be a further cynical exploitation of the existing tragedy,” Paul asserted.
What did Josh Paul say about Biden Administration?
Paul claimed the response of the Biden administration and a large portion of Congress was motivated by political expediency, confirmation bias, bureaucratic lethargy, and intellectual atrophy.
He then mentioned the history of making mistakes in this area and contended that unquestioning support for one side in the dispute would eventually be detrimental to the interests of both sides.
Paul made an effort to appear impartial by bringing up his friends who are both Israeli and Palestinian, a study paper he had done about the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and his previous residency in Ramallah, a Palestinian city that is off-limits to Israelis.
“The murder of civilians is an enemy to that desire - whether by terrorists as they dance at a rave, or by terrorists as they harvest their olive grove. The kidnapping of children is an enemy to that desire - whether taken at gunpoint from their kibbutz or taken at gunpoint from their village,” he asserted.
Paul concluded by expressing his 'core beliefs' come from finding 'beauty everywhere in this world.'