‘We could all sense from the outside that there was no voice in the U.S. telling them to stop.’
Daily Collegian (2025)
On Feb. 20, over 100 people attended a webinar hosted by The Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy featuring former government officials who resigned in protest.
For over 75 years, there has been an ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. However, since the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, public awareness and discourse surrounding the conflict has increased dramatically. Students, professionals and lawmakers have banded together to voice their opposition to the continued U.S. support and funding of Israel.
Last year, Annelle Sheline, former foreign affairs officer at the Department of State, Harrison Mann, former senior officer in the Middle East Department of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Alexander Smith, a former contractor for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), resigned from their positions in protest of the unwavering U.S. support of Israel.
Each former government official explained their motives for resigning and their critical views of the country’s support of Israel.
Sheline announced her resignation in March 2024. In her resignation letter, Sheline said, “Whatever credibility the United States had as an advocate for human rights has almost entirely vanished since the war began.”
She elaborated on this statement explaining that many NGOs would turn to the Department of State when...
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