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By Natalie Venegas
Weekend Reporter
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A U.S. Army major assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency announced on Monday that he had resigned his commission in protest over the Biden administration's response to the Israel-Hamas war.
"The policy that has never been far from my mind for the past six months is the nearly unqualified support for the government of Israel, which has enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians," Army Major Harrison Mann wrote in a post on LinkedIn. "This unconditional support also encourages reckless escalation that risks wider war."
Context
Division remains over the U.S. response to the Israel-Hamas war, which began after the Palestinian militant group launched thousands of missiles from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever air strikes in Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Associated Press said. The rising death toll has led to international calls for a ceasefire.
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What We Know
Mann, who specialized in the Middle East and Africa for about half of his 13-year career and previously served at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, said he had planned to leave the Army "at some point" but that the Israel-Hamas war led him to submit his resignation in November.
"My work here—however administrative or marginal it appeared—has unquestionably contributed to that support. The past months have presented us with the most horrific and heartbreaking images imaginable—sometimes playing on the news in our own spaces—and I have been unable to ignore the connection between those images and my duties here. This caused me incredible shame and guilt," Mann said in his post.
Mann's resignation comes as the Biden administration on Friday said Israel's use of U.S.-supplied weapons in Gaza may have violated international humanitarian law.
The findings came in a U.S. State Department report to Congress, which noted that due to wartime conditions, officials had not found specific instances that showed Israel had violated terms of U.S. weapons agreements.
The report was mandated by Biden and comes after his recent decision to pause the shipment of bombs to Israel and review future military shipments. The findings of the report are not related to that decision, which Biden said he made as a response to Israel's move to invade the Gaza city of Rafah.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment.
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Views
Mann's resignation comes after a March 2024 Gallup poll shows that many Americans have changed their views on the war since November. In November 2023, 50 percent supported Israel's military action, and as of March, only 36 percent did.
A February 2024 Pew Research Center poll found 36 percent of Americans favor providing U.S. military aid to Israel, while 34 percent oppose it. Another 14 percent neither support nor oppose military aid, and the remaining 15 percent are unsure. The poll also shows that only 20 percent of Americans favor a major diplomatic role for the U.S. in resolving the war, 35 percent prefer a minor role, and 27 percent believe the U.S. should play no role.
Meanwhile, Biden continues to face bipartisan division over the U.S response to the war, most recently several Republican leaders have rebuked Biden's decision to pause additional aid for Israel, including House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, who said on Wednesday that Biden was "not complying" with Congress' wishes.
However, pro-Palestinian protests have continued to erupt across the nation, specifically in college campuses, as tensions escalate, with many calling for a lasting ceasefire amid the rising death toll, particularly among civilians.
What's Next?
Although Mann's resignation paperwork was submitted in November, it is unclear when his separation from the Army will be completed.
Update 5/13/24, 3:10 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 5/13/24, 3:35 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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