Written by Humaira Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two U.S. officials who resigned last year in protest of President Joe Biden’s policies on the Gaza war have joined a lobbying organization advocating a review of Washington’s longstanding stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A political action committee was established. .
Josh Paul, a former State Department official, and Tariq Habash, a former policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Education, say Americans no longer support sending U.S. weapons to Israel unconditionally, but elected officials said they were lagging behind. .
Their PAC, called “New Policy,” supports candidates whose positions center on aligning U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with human rights and equality, and a commitment to all Middle Eastern countries, including Israel. It would ensure that U.S. arms transfers comply with U.S. rules for both countries. and international law.
Washington’s unwavering support for Israel’s military operations in Gaza and, more recently, in Lebanon has led Muslim and Arab voters who loudly supported Biden in 2020 to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the upcoming election. has emerged as the main reason why people may refrain from doing so.
“American voters are clear: They don’t want to be complicit in this humanitarian catastrophe, and the majority want an end to the transfer of deadly weapons used to kill Palestinian civilians,” Habash said. .
Many Muslims and Arabs in the United States are calling on Mr. Biden to call for a permanent ceasefire. Harris will face Republican former President Donald Trump on November 5 in a presidential election that polls predict will be close.
The United States is Israel’s biggest arms supplier, according to Israeli tallies, and has given billions of billions of dollars to Israel since October 7, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 250. has provided military aid in dollars.
Israel’s relentless retaliatory attacks on the densely populated Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people, have turned the enclave into a wasteland and repeatedly forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee. More than 42,000 people have died so far, according to Palestinian health officials.
