26 votes

US diplomats privately criticize US public policy stance towards Israel in leaked memo

4 comments

  1. MimicSquid
    Link
    ... ... It looks like for all the public stance at the top is all in on support for Israel's actions, there's additional nuance within the ranks at the State Department.

    State Department staffers offered a blistering critique of the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war in a dissent memo obtained by POLITICO, arguing that, among other things, the U.S. should be willing to publicly criticize the Israelis.

    ...

    The memo is marked “sensitive but unclassified.” It’s not clear how many people signed it or if and when it was submitted to the department’s Dissent Channel, where employees can voice policy disagreements. It’s also not clear if the document was revised in any way beyond the version obtained by POLITICO.
    Still, the arguments in it offer a window into the thinking of many people at the State Department, which has long been vexed by the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    ...

    Multiple dissent memos about this war are being circulated in the State Department in efforts to gather signatures. These communications may or may not be classified, but their contents are rarely leaked. The department’s Dissent Channel is a long-established vehicle that allows staffers to freely express their discontent on a policy matter without fear of reprisal.

    It looks like for all the public stance at the top is all in on support for Israel's actions, there's additional nuance within the ranks at the State Department.

    20 votes
  2. [2]
    MetaMoss
    Link
    A while back, a geopolitically-minded friend of mine made the remark that both China and the US have a rogue state in their sphere of influence that regularly starts shit and causes embarrassment...

    A while back, a geopolitically-minded friend of mine made the remark that both China and the US have a rogue state in their sphere of influence that regularly starts shit and causes embarrassment for their benefactors: China has North Korea, while the US has Israel.

    2 votes
    1. Minty
      Link Parent
      Israel didn't start shit. It didn't even start itself, or its war of independence. It can certainly be argued they overreact, but not start. I'd rather point at the US and Saudi Arabia.

      Israel didn't start shit. It didn't even start itself, or its war of independence. It can certainly be argued they overreact, but not start.

      I'd rather point at the US and Saudi Arabia.

      3 votes
  3. [2]
    Comment removed by site admin
    Link
    1. timo
      Link Parent
      Yet with the US governments stance they’ll most likely alienate the rest of the region and other Muslims worldwide. You can support your ally, but it doesn’t mean you should let them go crazy on...

      As for the government something that isn't talked about much is that they would probably rather deal with Jewish people in the middle east than muslims because the Jews have less history of religious extremists attacking Americans and American interests.

      Yet with the US governments stance they’ll most likely alienate the rest of the region and other Muslims worldwide.

      You can support your ally, but it doesn’t mean you should let them go crazy on another population.

      2 votes