State Department official resigns; most Americans oppose Israel’s Gaza war, new poll finds
Israel has agreed to reschedule talks on Rafah that it called off in protest just days ago; State Department official Annelle Sheline resigned and a new Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans now disapprove of Israel's Gaza war.
TEL AVIV — Israel has agreed to reschedule talks on Gaza that it called off in protest just days ago, an apparent effort to mend a growing rift with Washington over the war that was highlighted Wednesday by the resignation of a State Department official and new polling showing that a majority in the United States now disapprove of its ally’s conduct.
The official, Annelle Sheline, who was focused on human rights issues in the Middle East, told NBC News she felt she had no choice but to publicly resign as the death toll in the Gaza Strip has soared past 32,000 people and as warnings of an imminent famine in the Palestinian enclave reach a fever pitch.
Sheline said she decided to quit in protest over ongoing U.S. diplomatic and military support for Israel.
She said in a phone interview Wednesday that she no longer wanted to be affiliated with a government that she said was “enabling what has credibly been described as a genocide,” a charge both Israel and the U.S. have vehemently rejected.
“I have a young daughter,” Sheline said. “Someday reading about this in school, she might ask, what did I do?” she said. “I want to be able to tell her that I tried to do as much as I could.”
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