State Department Memo Critical of Israel Leaked

A State Department memo marked "sensitive but unclassified" was leaked Monday, criticizing unwavering U.S. support for Israel, urging President Joe Biden to support a Hamas-demanded cease-fire, and calling for the Biden administration to publicly criticize Israel's war on Hamas.

The "dissent memo" was obtained by Politico, and may suggest a growing divide in the State Department on long-running U.S. solidarity with Israel.

Anti-Israel sentiment has been rising worldwide amid Israel's Gaza operation to return an estimated 240 hostages held by Hamas since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack. The memo suggests there is a growing fissure in the Biden State Department on Israel, too, according to Politico.

The memo's key points run counter to Israel warnings, according to the report:

• Support a cease-fire in Gaza.
• Publicly criticize Israel's military tactics and the treatment of Palestinians.

Israel has stressed that the risk to innocent civilians in Gaza is a "Hamas plan," because the Oct. 7 terrorists took the hostages to be held as human shields for their own protection from Israeli retaliation, and that the terrorists' hiding places include mosques, refugee camps, hospitals, schools, and even children's playgrounds.

The State Department memo suggests U.S. solidarity with Israel amid the Gaza operation "contributes to regional public perceptions that the United States is a biased and dishonest actor, which at best does not advance, and at worst harms, U.S. interests worldwide," Politico reported.

"We must publicly criticize Israel's violations of international norms such as failure to limit offensive operations to legitimate military targets," the memo continued. "When Israel supports settler violence and illegal land seizures or employs excessive use of force against Palestinians, we must communicate publicly that this goes against our American values so that Israel does not act with impunity."

The State Department declined Politico's request for comment on the leaked memo, but pointed to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller's past remarks related to dissent on Israel.

"One of the strengths of this department is that we do have people with different opinions," Miller said during an October press briefing, according to the report. "We encourage them to make their opinions known."

• Jon Voight: 'These Animals Want to Wipe Out Jews, Christians'
• Obama Links Hamas Attacks With 'Unbearable' Israeli Occupation