US State Department official Lara Friedman submitted her resignation due to President Joe Biden’s administration’s handling of the conflict in Israel and Gaza, joining the other official in the ministry, Josh Ball, who resigned earlier for the same reason.
Friedman is the president of the Peace Foundation in Middle East, and is considered an authority in American foreign policy related to the Palestinian issue.
Friedman’s resignation comes hours after the resignation of Paul, who announced that he could not support more American military aid to Israel, and described the administration’s response as a “reckless reaction” based on “ Intellectual bankruptcy.”
Submitting his justified resignation letter on LinkedIn, Paul wrote, “Today I informed my colleagues that I have resigned from the State Department, due to a political disagreement regarding our continued lethal aid to Israel, and to further clarify my justification for doing so, I wrote the attached memorandum.”
He said in his post, “In 11 years, I have made more moral concessions than I can remember. I am leaving today because I believe that on our current path with regard to the continued - and even expanded and rapid - supply of lethal weapons to Israel, I have reached the end of this bargain.”
He added that he "cannot accept continuing a job that contributes to the killing of Palestinian civilians."
Paul spoke to the American website HuffPost, and said that he felt he had to do so because he knew that he could not push for a more humane policy within the government. "When I was sure that I could not change anything, I resigned," he added.
Paul was director of public and congressional affairs in the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which deals with arms transfers, according to the Washington Post.
/>His departure represents a rare indication of internal discomfort over the administration’s strong support for Israel, the United States’ closest ally in the Middle East, according to the newspaper, describing this development as a public display of opposition within President Biden’s foreign policy apparatus, which has worked to prevent such expressions of frustration from spreading.
Paul spent more than 11 years in his job, in which he coordinates relations with Congress and public messaging for a main office dealing with military aid.
He previously worked in Iraq and Palestine in the field of institutional development and security sector governance, and worked in His youth in the House of Representatives on the team of Steve Israel, the Democratic Representative from New York State.