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US media broke the news: Biden appointed a "hawkish" official to lead the US State Department's Palestinian-Israeli affairs. The predecessor resigned due to the Gaza crisis

2024-08-24

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[Global Network reporter Chen Yitong] "Joe Biden appoints 'hawkish' official to lead (US) State Department Israel policy." The US Huffington Post published an "exclusive report" with this title on the 23rd, saying that two people familiar with the matter revealed that the Biden administration appointed Mira Resnick as the US State Department's deputy assistant secretary of state for Palestinian-Israeli affairs on Friday (23rd). The US media mentioned that Resnick had previously been "deeply involved" in the work of sending weapons to Israel.

Mira Resnick profile picture source: foreign media

The Huffington Post said Resnick worked in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs of the U.S. State Department. During the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the agency approved the delivery of billions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel despite concerns from U.S. lawmakers and human rights groups that Israel's use of U.S. weapons violated U.S. and international law.

The decision reportedly surprised some foreign policy experts and shocked those who were skeptical of Biden's almost full support for Israel's ongoing destructive military campaign in Gaza.

The report goes on to say that Resnick replaces Andrew Miller, who left the State Department this summer. According to other U.S. officials, Miller was wary of Biden's overwhelming support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Washington Post reported Miller's resignation on June 21. The report said that Andrew Miller, an expert on Israeli-Palestinian issues at the US State Department and deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, resigned due to the Gaza crisis. The report said that the official reason for Miller's resignation was family reasons, but people familiar with the matter said that Miller resigned because the US government insisted on supporting Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict despite external opposition.

In response to the latest appointment, the Huffington Post stated that Annale Sherin, a former State Department official who resigned earlier this year in protest of Biden’s policies, said that “the appointment (of Resnick)… reflects the administration’s redoubled determination to provide unconditional material support for Israel’s genocidal campaign against Gaza civilians.”

"Miller is known to be very aware of the nuances of the situation and to do his best to stop the administration's determination to promote genocide. And Resnick will eagerly support this action," Sherin said.

The Huffington Post said a State Department spokesman declined to comment on the appointment.

The report also mentioned that the Biden administration's move came at a time when the US-led peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) were fading. According to the Wall Street Journal on August 22, the Biden administration decided last week to push forward the $20 billion arms sale to Israel that had been delayed for several months. Not long after the decision was made, US Secretary of State Blinken embarked on a trip to the Middle East, which many people saw as a last-ditch effort to broker a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Blinken returned to Washington after the trip this week, and the negotiations did not make any breakthrough progress, but they are still continuing.