A career U.S. diplomat has resigned in protest of Joe Biden's support of Israel.
The shakeup is the latest example of the pressure that Biden has faced over the war in Gaza, which has killed thousands of Palestinians, fueling a left-wing protest movement.
18-year State Department employee Hala Rharrit told NPR that Biden's policy has undermined U.S. interests and credibility in the Middle East.
The Arab language specialist said she refused to do interviews about Gaza for fear of stirring tensions in the Middle East. Her failure to stick to the agenda led to retaliation.
"I was documenting how I was causing a backlash. In reaction to that, there was action taken against me, multiple actions taken against me," she said.
Rharrit, the third State Department employee to resign over the war in Gaza, said she was given an "ultimatum." Eventually she decided to quit rather than contribute to a "failed policy."
Biden recently signed a foreign aid package delivering billions to Israel's military, despite his criticism of the situation in Gaza.
"It became abundantly clear that no matter what I did, no matter what other diplomats did, the policy was the policy," Rharrit said. "And most specifically, our unconditional military aid made it impossible for us to have any credibility on even the good things that we were doing."
Rharritt said many State Department employees share her views about the administration's policy but fear sharing them at work.
"Something that I've never experienced before in my 18 years of service, where people are just extremely uneasy about our policy and also extremely uneasy about the ability to speak about our policy internally. And I've never faced that before."
Addressing Secretary of State Tony Blinken, she urged him to withhold "unconditional" military support for Israel.
"Please stop the violence and unconditional military support. This is causing a generational cycle of violence, secretary Blinken," she said.
"This vicious cycle is only enabling more insecurity, more hate, more destabilization."
A different State Department employee accused Biden of supporting "genocide" in November.
More recently, outrage over Gaza has erupted into a campus protest movement, presenting Biden with a fresh challenge as he battles for re-election.
