Josh Paul resigned from a senior position at the US State Department back in October to protest the US position vis-à-vis Israel's war in Gaza. In an interview with FRANCE 24, he said he did so because of the scale and scope of the conflict. "It was clear (...) that this would be far beyond anything we had seen before," he declared. Paul also said that the Biden administration "is ignoring American laws that apply to arms transfers and to security assistance" and noted a "lack of appetite" at the State Department to address Israeli human rights violations.
Paul had worked for 11 years at the State Department on arms transfers and security cooperation. Following his resignation, he recently joined the think tank Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) as a fellow.
"When I raised concerns (...) about the use of American weapons to kill so many civilians, I was told that there was no room for any discussion or debate; it was simply our job to keep approving weapons as quickly as we could," the former State Department official explained.
Paul went on to say that the Biden administration "is ignoring American laws that apply to arms transfers and to security assistance".
He expressed hope that the Biden administration would restrict US weapons sales to Israel in the event of an Israeli offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. "It's certainly possible," he said. But "the time to cut off those weapons is now, not in the wake of the operation [in Rafah]".
Read more'We are failing again': UN, US resignations highlight splits over Israel's Gaza assault
Asked about recent declarations by the US State Department that five Israeli army units were found responsible for gross human rights violations but still would continue receiving US military aid, he said this sent "mixed messages".
Paul said he was "deeply sceptical" that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would soon report to Congress that Israel in some instances is not in compliance with National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM-20), which was adopted by President Biden in February. Under it, US weapons recipients are required to provide assurances that they will not violate international humanitarian law, including restricting humanitarian assistance.
"The evidence so far is that the Biden administration has repeatedly said it does not believe Israel is violating international humanitarian law," he said.
Paul added that when it comes to Israel, the determination on allegations of human rights violations against security forces was made by the US Secretary of State personally, while it is done at a much lower level for other countries.
"There was never any appetite at the political level of the State Department, under any administration, to take action when it came to Israeli violations of human rights," he declared.
