More than 400 political appointees and staff members representing some 40 government agencies sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Tuesday protesting his support of Israel in its war in the Gaza Strip.
The letter, part of growing internal dissent over the administration’s support of the war, calls on the President to seek an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and to push Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the territory. It is the latest of several protest letters from officials throughout the Biden administration, including three internal memos to secretary of state Antony Blinken signed by dozens of state department employees as well as an open letter signed by more than 1,000 employees of the US Agency for International Development.
The signatories of the letter submitted on Tuesday and the one circulating among employees of the US Agency for International Development are anonymous, the USAID letter explains, out of “concern for our personal safety and risk of potentially losing our jobs”. The signatories of the state department dissent cables must disclose their names, but those cables have not been released publicly.
The letter, a copy of which was reviewed by The New York Times, began by denouncing the October 7 attacks by Hamas, then urged Biden to stop the bloodshed caused by Israel’s retaliatory military campaign in Gaza.
“We call on President Biden to urgently demand a cease-fire, and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the letter states.
Two political appointees who helped organise the letter to Biden said the majority of the signatories are political appointees of various faiths who work throughout government.
Some of the signatories helped Biden get elected in 2020 and said in interviews they were concerned that the administration’s support of Israel’s war in Gaza clashed with Democratic voters’ stance on the issue.