A revolt is brewing within the Biden administration over how the White House is handling the Israel-Gaza war, as the civilian death toll and mass Palestinian displacement soars, and as Biden's top officials continue to say "No conditions" have been placed on how Israel uses US-supplied weapons.
Pressure from the press pool is also piling on, with near daily spats and antagonistic back-and-forth exchanges on display in the State Department and White House briefing rooms.
This week there have emerged reports of scathing 'dissent memos' criticizing White House Israel policy being circulated, collecting many hundreds of signatures chiefly from among State Department and USAID staff.
Increasingly, bold public statements from Israeli leaders themselves have introduced huge, obvious contradictions between the White House's rhetoric and that of Netanyahu's government, which is much more open about its intent in Gaza.... WATCH: State Dept claims they aren't pressuring Abbas against invoking the Genocide Convention at the World Court to stop Israel's assault.
On Thursday, CNN issued a new investigative report quoting senior White House staffers as saying they increasingly "Cannot stomach" defending Biden's policy anymore.
One month into the Israel-Hamas war, some senior officials privately say there are aspects of Israel's military operations they simply cannot stomach defending; calls for the US to back a ceasefire are growing among government employees; and others are distraught by the incessant images of Palestinian civilians being killed by Israeli airstrikes, multiple sources told CNN. "It has created great moral anxiety," said one senior administration official.
Already Israel receives at least $3.8 billion in military aid annually, and Biden is now seeking some $14 billion more in assistance this year.
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