"But with Israel, it's a blank check from Congress. ![]() "The difference here is that in all of those cases - when those within the department and the interagency with human rights concerns had done all the shaping they could - you knew the next step was for the sale to go to Congress where it would be held, debated, even voted against," he explained. He told NPR that he used his position to fight many times for what he believed to be right, including debates over arms transfers to "a number of unsavory regimes." But this time is different, he says. He wrote that he's "made more moral compromises than I can recall" over his last 11 years in the job. Security in Ramallah and has "deep personal ties" to both sides of the conflict. Paul noted in his letter that while his work dealt with many countries, he was particularly well-versed in Middle East issues: He wrote his master's thesis on Israeli counterterrorism and civil rights, spent time working with the Palestinian Authority and Israel Defense Forces while serving for the U.S. Paul says this is different from previous moral conundrums "And I hope they see that and that it speaks to them to do the right thing as well, which I know so many of them will," he said. Paul said he's received a huge outpouring of support after posting his resignation letter - which has since been reposted more than 1,000 times - and hopes his colleagues grappling with similar feelings take that to heart. But he said he hoped to accomplish two things: remove himself from a debate that he found difficult, and show others in the government "that it's OK and possible to stand up." Paul said he doesn't expect his departure to lead to an immediate change in policy - an assessment several experts also made to NPR. ![]() "So I think looking at this on equal terms, we have to talk about both sides." "We never seem to ask, well, what about the Palestinian right? Not to face incursions in their villages, not to be bombed from the air," he added. But he said there are "ways to do that that don't involve dislocating a million Palestinians, that don't involve the death of thousands of civilians." In an interview with Morning Edition's Michel Martin, Paul strongly denounced Hamas' attack on Israel and affirmed Israel's right to defend itself. The State Department declined to comment on personnel matters. Paul wrote in his letter that he was heartened to see the administration's efforts to temper Israel's response, including its advocacy for the provision of relief, supplies and safe passage for civilians in Gaza.īut he said he could not work in support of a set of major policy decisions - including "rushing more arms to one side of the conflict" - that he believes to be "shortsighted, destructive, unjust, and contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse." The president pledged his commitment to its security and promised a congressional request for more defense funding, even as he urged Israelis not to be consumed by their rage and directed $100 million in humanitarian aid for Palestinians. ![]() ![]() Paul tendered his resignation on Wednesday, the same day that President Biden visited Israel in a public show of support. "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 wrote. In a two-page letter posted on LinkedIn, he said he had made a promise to himself when he joined over a decade ago that he would stay "as long as I felt the harm I might do could be outweighed by the good I could do." Josh Paul was the director of congressional and public affairs at the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. military assistance to Israel as its retaliatory bombardment and blockade of Gaza exacerbate a humanitarian crisis there. A State Department official has resigned from the bureau that oversees arms transfers to foreign nations, citing his objection to continued U.S.
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