A Foreign Policy report attributes the recent failure of the US State Department’s policy in the Middle East to the Joe Biden administration’s unconditional support for Israel, as this has undermined the United States’ standing and credibility in the region, and may drag it into a war that will only benefit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be allowed to continue the genocide in Gaza and control the West Bank.

The writers, Hala Rarit and Anil Shelin, two former US State Department employees who resigned in protest of US policies towards Gaza, criticized the Biden administration’s subservience to an “extremist foreign leader,” and said that the administration’s dealings with Netanyahu are governed by “cowardice” and “fear.”

The report indicates that the administration refuses to use its diplomatic influence to pressure Netanyahu and stop the escalations that threaten US interests in the Middle East and the stability of the region.

According to the report, the damage to US national security and diplomacy as a result of the political weakness shown by the Biden administration is even worse than the damage caused by the war on terror or the invasion of Iraq, and Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and White House Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk bear responsibility for it.

The Biden administration deliberately ignored the warnings of experts at the State Department and worked to silence them. The result of the "wrong" decisions from the top of the political pyramid was to create an atmosphere of fear at the State Department, and all employees understood that they had to comply with the policy of supporting Israel or face dire consequences in their professional lives.

The two writers resigned from their positions at the US State Department in protest against the US administration's unconditional support for Israeli military operations in Gaza, after the State Department ignored their advice and protests. Hala resigned from her position as official spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa region, while Anil resigned from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the US State Department.

The report says that Vice President and Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris must take a tough stance on Israel from now on to attract young voters, as the Palestinian issue is crucial to Harris’s success in the upcoming elections.

Netanyahu harms American interests

In this context, a recently leaked internal document indicates that senior leaders in the ministry realize that supporting Netanyahu permanently damages the credibility of the United States in the Middle East, and does not benefit American interests, but the policy of supporting Israel continues.

US Director of National Intelligence Christopher Wray warned that US complicity in supporting Israel increases the ability of armed organizations to recruit recruits to their ranks in the name of the Palestinian cause, and makes American diplomats and soldiers in the region a target for supporters of the Palestinian cause. For example, several American soldiers were injured on August 5 as a result of rockets being fired at a US military base in Iraq.

According to the report, the Biden administration is demonstrating double standards regarding human rights by continuing to fund and defend Israel’s attacks on civilians in Gaza, and the report also criticizes Israeli policies that obstruct the delivery of food, clean water, and medicine to Gaza.

Source: Foreign Policy+Al Jazeera