Former US official: bomb shipment suspension not enough

Josh Paul, a former US state department official who resigned over the “expanded and expedited” provision of lethal arms to Israel, has told Middle East Eye that the Biden administration’s decision to suspend a bomb shipment to Israel was “not a moment to celebrate”.

“Exactly seven months ago today I wrote to colleagues in the State Department warning that ‘maybe the best thing for Israel right now is not security assistance in the sort of volume that makes them think they can afford to just ignore the Palestinian question and hope that, cordoned off, it will somehow just go away’,” Paul said. 

“Now, finally, over 200 days later, it has been reported that the Biden administration has finally acted to suspend a shipment of 2,000lb and 500lb bombs to the Israeli military. 

“After seven months and over 35,000 dead Palestinians, 15,000 of them children, mostly killed by American weapons, this one single pause is noteworthy, but it is not a moment to celebrate.”

Paul told MEE: “Rather than a one-off pause of a shipment as a means of exerting momentary and overdue leverage, this needs to be the start of a sea-change in American policy towards the provision of security assistance to Israel. 

“We must enforce our own laws on arms exports and grant military assistance. And we must ask whether our lethal military assistance to Israel brings security, or disincentivizes the true road to peace.”