Last week the Biden administration tapped Mira Resnick, an official who has helped facilitate weapons shipments to Israel, as the State Department’s point person on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The HuffPost‘s Akbar Shahid Ahmed reported that Resnick will replace Andrew Miller as the department’s new deputy assistant secretary for Israeli-Palestinian affairs. Miller quit the position in June, citing family obligations. He was regarded as a critic of the Netanyahu government and Biden’s policy in the region.
Prior to joining the State Department, Resnick spent over a decade working for pro-Israel Democrats, including former Representatives Eliot Engel (D-NY), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Ron Klein (D-FL), and Steve Israel (D-NY).
Resnick currently oversees $40 billion in U.S. weapons shipments as regional security in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. In that role, she’s helped speed up the delivery of emergency air defense munitions to and worked with the Netanyahu government to allow Israeli citizens to donate military equipment to the IDF.
“I’ve been interested in foreign policy for as long as I can remember,” she told The Hill in 2023. “The U.S.-Israel relationship was a private focus in my household because of my Jewish background, but also because we were just a politically aware family.”
Annelle Sheline, a former State Department official who resigned over Gaza in March, told HuffPost that the move represented a “doubling down” of the administration’s policy toward Israel.
“Miller was known as someone who understood the nuances of the situation and did his best to try to push back on the administration’s determination to facilitate genocide. Whereas DAS Resnick will eagerly support it,” said Sheline.
Earlier this month Biden approved another $20 billion in additional weapons sales to Israel, including 50 F-15 fighter jets and advanced air-to-air missiles.
The green light came just days after health officials in Gaza announced that the death toll had reached more than 40,000, although this is undoubtedly a massive undercount based on the amount of Palestinians who are currently missing.
“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to U.S. national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives,” the State Department said in a press release at the time.
In recent months activists across the country have been pushing for U.S. lawmakers, including Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, to embrace an arms embargo on Israel.
“Adopting an arms embargo against Israel’s assault on Gaza is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic move to defeat Trump and MAGA extremism,” reads an open letter to Harris from the Not Another Bomb campaign. “It is difficult for the Democratic candidate to champion democracy while arming Netanyahu’s authoritarian regime. Supporting Israel’s war on Gaza undermines our fight against MAGA extremism and contradicts our core values of human rights and justice.”
“By taking a strong stand against Netanyahu’s authoritarian policies, the Biden-Harris administration can unify the Democratic Party and regain the trust of key voter bases, including young people, Arabs, and Muslims,” it continues. “This decisive action will reinforce the administration’s commitment to democracy and human rights, contrasting sharply with the far-right extremism embodied by Trump and his supporters. It sends a clear message that the Democratic Party stands for peace, justice, and the protection of all people, thereby strengthening the coalition needed to secure victory in the 2024 elections and beyond.”
In a Twitter post earlier this month, Harris’s national security adviser, Phil Gordon, dispelled reports that Harris was receptive to such calls.
“[Harris] has been clear: she will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups,” wrote Gordon. “She does not support an arms embargo on Israel. She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law.”
Last week the pro-Palestine Uncommitted Movement was denied their request for a speaker at the Democratic National Convention (DNC).
“The scandal is that there are forces within Democratic party leadership who do not want us to talk about Palestinian human rights,” said Uncommitted leader and Democratic delegate Abbas Alawieh. “They’re out of step with the majority of the Democratic base, the majority of Democratic voters who believe that Palestinian human rights are a priority.”
Clear conflict of interest. As it is for Blinken.
Let’s imagine: what if the Arabs of Hevron did not decimate their Jewish neighbors in 1929? What if the Arabs in the Land of Israel had not joined the surrounding Arab countries in their effort to “send the Jews into the sea?” The leadership of the Yishuv asked them to stay, to build a peaceful country together. What if the Arabs did not dedicate themselves to destroying Israel and killing all of her citizens? What if the Palestinians had not missed every opportunity to have a state of their own, because they live under the crazy idea that they will get all of Israel? We could have trusted each other.
This is great news. Now, if a hostile Arab country or terror organization attacks Israel, the Jewish state will receive the weapons needed for self-defense. And, if Israel needs to carry out a first strike to disable an enemy’s army, Israel will have the necessary weapons. Message to Israel’s enemies: build your countries and leave Israel alone. That way, no one will be hurt. Thank you, President Biden. The Democratic base is pro-Israel.