State Dept. Employees Called for 'More to Punish Israel'

In private meetings that frequently devolved into venting sessions, State Department employees "overwhelmingly" called for "more to punish Israel," according to Jewish Insider.

When Asia expert Kurt Campbell started his new job in February as the deputy secretary of state, he began a series of listening sessions with staff members.

"It was overwhelmingly calls, including from people I respect, [that] we need to do more to sanction Israel, we need to do more to punish Israel, we need to be more seriously considering ways in which we can sanction them, condition aid, cut off aid, reduce weapons flows," one foreign service officer with two decades of Middle East experience told the Insider. "There were people whose issues don't have anything to do with the conflict … who were making the case for why we need to do more to bash Israel."

Since Hamas' unprovoked attack on Israel on Oct. 7, tensions over the ensuing war in Gaza have simmered at institutions across the country, including colleges and universities, corporations and the federal government. At the State Department, at least two officials have resigned in protest of President Joe Biden's support for Israel and dozens reportedly signed onto dissent cables sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken last fall.

With Iran's unprecedented direct attack on Israel on Saturday, the conflict in the Middle East has expanded and led to a strike on Iranian soil by the Israel Defense Forces on Friday.

On Thursday, the United States and United Kingdom hit Iran with a new round of sanctions in response to Tehran's weekend attack on Israel. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted 16 people and two entities in Iran that manufacture the engines of the drones that were used in the April 13 attack. OFAC also sanctioned five companies involved in steel production and three subsidiaries of Iranian automaker Bahman Group, which is accused of materially aiding Iran's military.

The foreign service officer who spoke with the Insider anonymously said there is a "failure of leadership in the U.S. Department of State right now to reinforce internally what the policy is and why the president has taken it," as well as "to put into context what Israel is dealing with, whether it's Hamas' tactics on the ground, or the fact that it's actually a two-front war, with Iran lurking in the background."

In addition to the alleged "failure of leadership" at the State Department, the Washington Examiner reported that at least three recent members of an Iran-controlled influence network visited the Biden White House 10 times since 2022.

A spokesperson for the State Department told the Insider that leadership values the opportunity to hear from employees of all political stripes.

"One of the strengths of our government is [that] different people working within it have different political beliefs, different personal beliefs, and different beliefs about what United States policy should be," the spokesperson said. "We encourage all individuals to make their opinions known through appropriate channels. State Department leadership has spoken to this on several occasions, and these listening sessions are just one of the opportunities available for our workforce to convey their valued opinions."

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