Exclusive: 'Mutiny Brewing' Inside State Department Over Israel-Palestine Policy

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Source: HuffPost

Exclusive: ‘Mutiny Brewing’ Inside State Department Over Israel-Palestine Policy

Morale is low, and some staffers are preparing to formally express their opposition to President Joe Biden's approach, officials told HuffPost.

By Akbar Shahid Ahmed
Oct 19, 2023, 06:41 PM EDT

President Joe Biden’s approach to the ongoing violence in Israel and Palestine is fueling mounting tensions at the U.S. government agency most involved in foreign policy: the State Department.

Officials told HuffPost that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his most senior advisers are overlooking widespread internal frustration. Some department staff said they feel as if Blinken and his team are uninterested in their own experts’ advice as they focus on supporting Israel’s expanding operation in Gaza, where the Palestinian militant group Hamas is based.

“There’s basically a mutiny brewing within State at all levels,” one State Department official said.

Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, fighting in the region has killed more than 4,000 people, and Israel is preparing a ground invasion of Gaza that is expected to claim tens of thousands of additional lives.

Biden and Blinken say they want to help Israel decisively defeat Hamas, but that they do not want to see suffering among ordinary Gazans or a broader regional conflict. Both have recently visited Israel, and Blinken is prioritizing an attempt to open the Gaza-Egypt border to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged region and let some civilians out.

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Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/state-department-gaza_n_6531a23ae4b0da897ab75ce4