Lily Greenberg Call says she cannot “in good conscience” represent the US government and condemns the “disastrous” Gaza policy.
Another official in US President Joe Biden’s administration has publicly resigned in protest at continued US support for Israel amid the war in Gaza, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Lily Greenberg Call, special assistant to the chief of staff at the U.S. Department of the Interior, wrote in her resignation letter that she could not “in good conscience continue to represent” the administration, the AP reported Wednesday.
Call, who is Jewish, also condemned comments Biden has made since the start of the war in Gaza in October, including one in which he warned that “there would not be a Jew in the world who would be safe” without the existence of Israel.
“He is making Jews the face of the American war machine. And that is deeply wrong,” she told the news agency in an interview.
Several Biden administration officials and appointees – including a former US Army officer – have publicly resigned from US policy in Gaza since the conflict began on October 7.
The resignations came amid widespread anger in the country over Biden’s unequivocal support for Israel despite the rising death toll in the Gaza Strip and accusations that Israeli forces are committing genocide against Palestinians in the enclave.
More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the conflict, and Israel’s continued attack and siege on the territory has created a terrible humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people have been internally displaced.
But despite the terrible cost of Israel’s military offensive and the recent decision to suspend a US arms shipment to Israel, the Biden administration signaled this week that it plans to send another billion dollars in military assistance to Israel.
The news drew condemnation from human rights advocates, who for months urged Washington to suspend all arms transfers to its main ally in the Middle East.
A recent US State Department report concluded that Israeli forces likely used US-supplied weapons in a manner “inconsistent” with international law. However, it failed to identify violations that would end Washington’s continued military aid.
On Wednesday, Josh Paul — a former State Department official who resigned in October over US policy on Gaza — said the Biden administration’s latest firing signaled that “the tide is turning.”
Paul noted in a LinkedIn post that U.S. college students, Democratic Party voters, as well as Biden’s own staff and political appointees have all made it clear they oppose his Middle East policy.
The US president, who is seeking re-election in November, faces growing disapproval among key segments of his Democratic base over his stance on Gaza.
Young people, progressives and black voters, among others, said they would not vote for him in the next election if he did not change course.
“How many more Palestinian lives will it take before President Biden reaches out to the American electorate and stops American support for the war crimes committed with our funding, with our weapons, by Israel?” Paul wrote.
Call, the resigned Interior Department official, also said Israel’s war in Gaza and U.S. support for it were “disastrous.”
“I think the president needs to know that there are people in his administration who think this is disastrous,” Call told the Associated Press. “Not just for the Palestinians, for the Israelis, for the Jews, for the Americans, for their electoral prospects.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
