Foreign Policy magazine warned that harbingers of a coming storm were gathering in the skies of the US State Department, as many diplomats expressed their anger, shock, and despair at what they considered a “blank check” that the United States had granted to Israel in order to launch a large-scale military operation in Gaza at a high humanitarian cost paid by Palestinian civilians in The besieged sector.

The magazine said in a report that this anger turned into a “massive wave of opposition” to President Joe Biden’s approach to the war among national security officials, which put his administration in a defensive position internally and externally.

This comes while US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was moving between the capitals of the Middle East in an effort to address the devastating crisis in the region that was fueled by the war between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas."

Try to contain

Blinken had sent a “lengthy” letter last October 20 to members of the diplomatic corps in his ministry during one of his trips, in which he spoke about how “difficult” the current crisis was for them, and in which he repeated his and President Biden’s calls for Israel to respect “the rule of law and humanitarian standards.” International, while supporting its right to defend itself following the surprise attack launched by Hamas fighters on October 7.

“Let us also ensure that we preserve and expand the space for debate and dissent that makes our policies and our institution better,” he wrote in the letter, a copy of which Foreign Policy said it obtained.

These mounting objections within the State Department, the National Security Council, and other American agencies coincided with angry reactions outside Washington and among progressive Democrats and Arab American voters regarding Biden’s policies.

Rapid decline

The magazine indicated in its report that about 59% of Americans had supported Biden in 2020, but their support for him in the 2024 presidential race dropped to 17%, according to a recent opinion poll.

In Washington, the rise of internal opposition poses one of the biggest challenges facing Blinken's tenure in the State Department so far, according to some current and former officials.

Foreign Policy reported that the Biden administration's approach in light of the high human losses resulting from Israeli strikes and military operations in Gaza has changed, and it has urged Israel publicly and secretly to take more steps to alleviate human suffering and return water, fuel, and humanitarian supplies to Gaza.

Massacre

According to the magazine, many officials agree that the scenes of "massacre" in Gaza and the severe warnings from relief organizations, as well as the protests of other regional powers, have begun to cause a change in US policy on the margins and on limited humanitarian priorities.

It quoted current and former American officials as saying that it is difficult to determine the extent to which violent reactions among diplomats and security officials - if any - helped formulate this change in tone.

But opposition is still simmering and will test the Biden administration's response to further twists in the conflict, manifested in more internal objections from policymakers at every level in the coming weeks, that could change the calculus of the only country that can still moderate Israel's approach to the war.

Source: Foreign Policy