Rashida Tlaib, State Department Official Accuse Biden of ‘Genocide’ for Israel Support

As Israel continues waging its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, President Joe Biden is increasingly losing support from prominent Democrats and federal officials over his public support for the Jewish state.

Representative Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), one of eight House members in the progressive “Squad” group, posted to X a video that ends with the statement, “Joe Biden supported the genocide of the Palestinian people.” The video was posted on Friday as Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel on friendly terms. Tlaib’s post shows pro-Palestinian marches in several U.S. cities where protesters are calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East.

“Mr. President, the American people are not with you on this one,” she said in the video, adding a direct message to Biden’s reelection efforts. “We will remember in 2024.”

“From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate. My work and advocacy is always centered in justice and dignity for all people no matter faith or ethnicity,” Tlaib later commented under her initial post.

Sylvia Yacoub, a State Department employee, also rebelled against the White House’s Israel policy on social media this week, accusing Biden of being “complicit in genocide” for asking Congress to send more U.S. military assistance to the embattled nation. She called Vice President Kamala Harris’s meeting with U.K. prime minister Rishi Sunak, where both politicians discussed their support of Israel’s right to defend itself and advocacy of humanitarian aid to Gaza, “embarrassingly out of touch.”

Yacoub also sent an internal email within the State Department to gather signatures from other employees for the purposes of dissenting from the Biden administration’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, according to Axios.

“In light of Hamas’s heinous attack on October 7, the ensuing response by the Government of Israel, and the seemingly full endorsement by the U.S. government to the response, we have drafted a dissent cable calling for a significant change in the Administration’s short and long-term policy surround the conflict and path towards regional integration and security,” the email read.

Tlaib’s and Yacoub’s comments are the latest instances of a growing revolt against the Biden administration from within the Democratic party and among the federal ranks. Just last month, a State Department official resigned from his position at the same time that approximately 400 anonymous congressional staffers penned a letter in opposition to further U.S.-Israel aid.

Continuing to back Israel in its fight against Hamas despite fierce pushback, Biden has pledged billions of dollars in U.S. aid as part of a larger $106 billion package to Israel and Ukraine amid their ongoing wars. On Thursday, House Republicans approved $14.3 billion of stand-alone Israel aid; however, the legislation will likely stall in the Senate, given Democratic demands for an all-encompassing bill that Biden wants to sign into law.

During his fourth diplomatic trip to Israel since the Hamas invasion, Blinken tried to convince Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to consider a brief “humanitarian pause” so that food, water, and additional supplies could be sent to Palestinians in Gaza to replenish their dwindling stocks. Netanyahu rejected the idea, refusing to consider it unless all hostages were freed.

Meanwhile, Blinken argued a temporary humanitarian ceasefire would “increase security for civilians and permit the more effective and sustained delivery of humanitarian assistance,” as well as help facilitate the return of hostages from Gaza. Over 240 hostages are thought to remain in Hamas’s custody.