Josh Paul, who resigned from his position at the US State Department, stating that he could no longer support the pro-Israel attitude, made critical statements. Paul, who resigned from the Director General of the “Weapons Supply to Allies and Partners” unit at the US Department of State, on the grounds that “the transfer of lethal weapons to Israel exceeded its limits”, spoke about the issue on PBS channel’s “Just Foreign Policy” program.
“LAWS ARE ESPECIALLY LEFT AMAZING, THE SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK”
Paul reminded that within the framework of the Leahy Law, weapons cannot be sold to states and groups determined to violate human rights, and evaluated the processes in the “Weapons Supply to Allies and Partners” unit of the USA, which oversees such violations.
Pointing out that it should be questioned whether acting within the framework of the law is sufficient, Paul argued that “some US laws in force on the issue are left particularly vague and therefore the system does not work.”
Stating that his unit reported many human rights violations during investigations in this scope, Paul stated that higher-level officials ignored the reports and did not sign them.
“NO ISRAELI MILITARY UNIT HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS”
Paul pointed out that the investigations could not be concluded without the signed approval of the relevant unit officials, and that the USA did not impose sanctions on the purchase and sale of weapons against the relevant military formation without a verdict that human rights were violated.
Explaining the deadlock in the security inspection, Paul said: “No Israeli military unit has been found guilty of human rights violations. The system (of security inspection) is not working.” he commented.
Emphasizing that some current US laws on the subject “are left particularly vague”, Paul said: “We are absolutely acting within the framework of the law. The real question is, is this enough?” posed the question.
Regarding the fact that arms purchases and sales with Israel continue in practice despite the inspection unit detecting violations of the Leahy Act, Paul said, “We definitely do not comply with the policy of commercial arms exchange.” he said.
RESIGNATION OF JOSH PAUL
Josh Paul, who served as the General Manager of the “Weapons Supply to Allies and Partners” unit at the US State Department, announced the previous day that he resigned, stating that he could no longer support the pro-Israeli attitude of the US administration.
In the letter containing the reason for his resignation published on LinkedIn, Paul stated that he had made moral compromises during his 11-year term in office, but that he had exceeded the limits of “lethal weapons transfer to Israel”.
“We cannot be both anti-occupation and support the occupation,” said Paul, adding that Israel’s policy with US support has caused great harm to both Israelis and Palestinians. (AA)
