Gaza War Resignees: 2028 Candidates Should Avoid Hiring Officials Who Enabled Israel

Twelve former officials from the Biden administration have published a letter advising all candidates for the 2028 presidential election to avoid hiring their peers. The group argues that those who enabled Israel's conduct in Gaza should not return to government roles or influence foreign policy decisions.

The signatories include officials from the State Department, intelligence agencies, and the military. The group is mixed in terms of ethnicity, including both Arab Americans and Jewish Americans. They state that basic accountability requires preventing these individuals from holding positions of influence in any future administration.

The letter asserts that senior officials who ignored facts and suppressed internal dissent have no business shaping policy. It calls for these individuals to be excluded from institutions where they might educate future leaders or formulate foreign policy strategies.

Recent admissions from high-profile former aides support the resignees' stance. Matthew Miller, the former State Department spokesperson, told Sky News in June of last year that Israel committed war crimes. He stated he did not believe it was a genocide, but that Israel was failing as a democracy by not holding soldiers accountable. Miller noted that at the peak of the assault, up to 300 Palestinians were killed daily in the enclave.

Jake Sullivan, the former national security advisor, said in an interview that he would support Congress withholding military aid to Israel. He cited the breakdown of the March 2025 ceasefire as making that vote a credible position. Sullivan previously lobbied Democratic members of Congress against blocking arms transfers to Israel, even as international pressure grew.

Kamala Harris admitted to horrific conduct by Israel during her time as vice president. She acknowledged that the administration fell short of its moral obligations to human rights and international law. Harris stated that the United States should have acted sooner and more forcefully during the conflict.

The letter asks 2028 contenders to acknowledge US complicity in the genocide and human rights abuses. It points to the provision of arms, funding, and diplomatic support as evidence of this involvement. The authors note that criticism of the US-Israel relationship has grown across the political spectrum, with polls showing Israel's favorability in the US at an all-time low.

During a January 2025 interview, President Biden revealed he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to indiscriminately bomb civilian areas ten days after the October 7, 2023 attacks. Netanyahu responded by citing the US bombing of Berlin and the dropping of nuclear weapons. Despite this exchange, the Biden administration committed nearly $30 billion to Israel through separate congressional bills. This figure is far higher than support from any other country.

The administration did not use its financial leverage to secure a ceasefire until later. According to Qatari mediators, a ceasefire deal had been on the table for more than a year before Trump's envoy pressured Netanyahu to accept it. Israel broke that agreement less than two months after it was signed. A formal ceasefire was finally locked in during October 2025 through backchannel communications with Hamas. Since then, Israel has killed more than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza, including 19 children this month.

Bishara Bahbah, a Democrat turned Trump supporter who helped shuttle messages between Steve Witkoff and Hamas officials, said his attempts to keep the ceasefire a White House priority were rebuffed recently. When asked how that made him feel, he replied: Like shit.