State Dept officials criticize Biden's Middle East policy: Politico

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Politico
7 Nov 2023 01:28
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State Department officials are worried that uncritical support for "Israel" contributes to regional public perceptions that the United States is biased and dishonest.

The sign used as the backdrop for press briefings at the U.S. Department of State, Aug. 10, 2006 (AP)

A "sensitive but unclassified" memo filed to the Dissent Channel in the US Department of State obtained by Politico shows that officials in the State Department are critical of the Biden administration's policy towards "Israel": arguing that the US should be willing to be publicly criticize the occupation.

Politico interprets the message as being indicative of increasing distrust by many mid-level and low-rank officials in Biden's policy towards the Middle East.

The two main requests put forth by the memo are:

The US should support a ceasefire in Gaza.
The US should publicly criticize Israeli measures rather than keeping them private.

The memo contends that the current US policy "contributes to regional public perceptions that the United States is a biased and dishonest actor, which at best does not advance, and at worst harms, U.S. interests worldwide”.

“We must publicly criticize Israel’s violations of international norms such as failure to limit offensive operations to legitimate military targets,” the memo reads.

“When Israel supports settler violence and illegal land seizures or employs excessive use of force against Palestinians, we must communicate publicly that this goes against our American values so that Israel does not act with impunity.”

That's 144 Palestinian children and 120 women killed every day by brutal Israeli strikes, but Western media still peddles the Israeli occupation's narrative and tries to justify the Israeli strikes and adopt the IOF's baseless claims that they are striking the #Palestinian… pic.twitter.com/L7dddJ26da
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) November 6, 2023

The memo, which was reportedly written by two midlevel officials, affirms that while they do believe "Israel" has a right to "self-defense", the crimes perpetrated against Palestinian civilians are unacceptable.

Yesterday, Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders an end to the killing of thousands of “innocent men, women, and children" while refraining from endorsing a ceasefire.

“What Israel does not, in my view, have a right to do is to kill thousands of thousands of innocent men, women and children who had nothing to do with that attack,” he said, adding, “There’s not enough food, there’s not enough water, medicine, fuel. You’ve got a humanitarian disaster, it has to be dealt with right now.”

However, he did call for an end to Hamas as well, which he believes has a "sinister goal".

While he called for an end to the killing of thousands of “innocent men, women and children," Sanders reiterated his stance against a ceasefire in the Strip, saying, “I don’t know how you could have a permanent ceasefire with an organization like Hamas which is dedicated to destroying the state of Israel … and has got to go."