Nadine Osman
More than 800 serving civil servants from the US and Europe have signed a statement warning that their governments are complicit in “one of the worst human catastrophes of this century” while overruling their expert advice in favour of “political and ideological considerations.”
The statement, seen by the BBC, is the latest sign of significant levels of dissent within the governments of some of Israel’s key Western allies.
The statement is signed by civil servants from the US, the EU, and 11 European countries, including the UK, France, and Germany.
It says Israel has shown “no boundaries” in its military operations in Gaza, “which has resulted in tens of thousands of preventable civilian deaths; and… the deliberate blocking of aid… putting thousands of civilians at risk of starvation and slow death.”
“There is a plausible risk that our governments’ policies are contributing to grave violations of international law, war crimes, and even ethnic cleansing or genocide,” it said. The identities of those who signed or endorsed the statement have not been made public, but according to sources, nearly half are officials have at least a decade of experience in government.
The coordination by dissenting civil servants in multiple governments was unprecedented. “It’s unique in my experience watching foreign policy in the last 40 years,” said Robert Ford, a former American Ambassador to Algeria and Syria. He likened it to concerns within the US administration in 2003 over faulty intelligence leading up to the invasion of Iraq.
“[Then there were] people who knew better, who knew that intelligence was being cherry-picked, who knew that there wasn’t a plan for the day after, but nobody said anything publicly. And that turned out to be a serious problem,” he said.
“The problems with the Gaza war are so serious and the implications are so serious that they feel compelled to go public,” he said.
The officials argue that their governments’ current military, political, or diplomatic support for Israel “without real conditions or accountability” not only risks additional Palestinian deaths but also jeopardises the lives of Hamas hostages and Israel’s regional security.
“The [military] operation has not contributed to Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas and has instead strengthened the appeal of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other negative actors.”
One senior British official who has endorsed the statement spoke of “growing disquiet” among civil servants.
He cited the UN’s International Court of Justice’s preliminary ruling that Israel must prevent acts of genocide as a fallout from the ruling.“The dismissal of South Africa’s case as ‘unhelpful’ by our Foreign Secretary puts [the international rules-based] order in peril.”
“We have heard ministers dismiss allegations against the Israeli Government seemingly without having received proper and well-evidenced legal advice. Our current approach does not appear to be in the best interests of the UK, the region, or the global order,” said the official.
The statement suggests that while Israel’s military operation has resulted in unprecedented destruction of lives and property in Gaza, there is no workable strategy to remove Hamas as a threat, nor for a political solution to ensure Israel’s security in the long term.
It calls for the US and European governments to “stop asserting to the public that there is a strategic and defensible rationale behind the Israeli operation”.
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