President Joe Biden is facing another revolt among some of his allies, this time from within his own campaign staff who are demanding their boss call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, according to an anonymous letter first obtained by Politico.
Biden has continuously given Israel the United States’ unwavering support since Hamas launched its Oct. 7 terrorist attack on the country, raping, kidnapping and murdering more than 1,400 Israelis. Since then, Biden’s pro-Israel stance has come under fire from members of his party, his administration and now his campaign. In a letter first obtained by Politico, 17 anonymous staffers of Biden’s re-election campaign reportedly argue Biden is complicit in genocide while urging the president to cut off unconditional military aid to Israel
“As your staff, we believe it is both a moral and electoral imperative for you to publicly call for a cessation of violence,” the staffers wrote in the letter, which was anonymously signed and posted on Medium. “Complicity in the death of over 20,000 Palestinians, 8,200 of whom are children, simply cannot be justified.”
Vanessa Brito works on placing campaign signs supporting President Joe Biden into the back of a pickup truck before the third Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County on November 08, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The staffers encourage Biden to “advocate for de-escalation in the region” of the Israel-Hamas war while also taking “concrete steps to end the conditions of apartheid” that the individuals caused the conflict, the letter says.
Volunteers of Biden’s staff are quitting in “droves” because of Biden’s pro-Israel stance, the staffers allege in the letter.
“It is not enough to merely be the alternative to Donald Trump. The campaign has to shift the feeling in the pits of voters’ stomachs, the same feeling that weighs on us every day as we fight for your reelection. The only way to do that is to call for a ceasefire,” the letter states.
Biden’s own campaign staff says he’s complicit in genocide, that volunteers are quitting “in droves,” and they’re not sure he can win https://t.co/AAoYeZdbGC pic.twitter.com/JS5L64VusQ
— Philip Letsou (@philipletsou) January 3, 2024
While Biden has committed the United States’ support to Israel, the president announced the United States would be giving $100 million in aid to Gaza and the West Bank for Palestinian civilians. Vice President Kamala Harris is reportedly pushing the president to display more public empathy towards Gaza and the Palestinians amid the backlash, Politico reported. The White House scoffed at the report, ensuring there was no “daylight” between the two leaders.
The campaign staffer’s letter echoed similar sentiments previously penned by members of Biden’s administration and Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign team. A coalition of State Department staffers penned a letter in November to demand the president call for a ceasefire. Members of the Democratic party have warned Biden’s pro-Israel stance could cost the president young Americans votes in the 2024 election. (RELATED: Intern Rebellion: White House Underlings Stir Up Division Over Biden’s Foreign Policy)
“We joined this campaign because the values that you — and we — share are ones worth fighting for. Justice, empathy, and our belief in the dignity of human life is the backbone of not only the Democratic Party, but of the country. However, your administration’s response to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing in Gaza has been fundamentally antithetical to those values — and we believe it could cost you the 2024 election,” the letter read.