Biden official resigns over administration’s handling of war in Gaza

A Biden administration official resigned over the administration’s stance on the war in Gaza.

Tariq Habash, formerly a special assistant with the Department of Education, resigned from his position Wednesday. In his resignation letter, obtained by the Washington Post, Habash referenced his former strong support for the president but said President Joe Biden’s actions concerning Gaza made it impossible to support him anymore.

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“I joined the Biden Administration nearly three years ago to fight for a more just America, to fix the broken student loan system by providing relief to millions of Americans, and to address systemic inequities across higher education that disproportionately affect underserved students and families,” he said, adding that he was one of the first political appointees to the Department of Education.

Mohammed Hajjar/AP

“But now, the actions of the Biden-Harris Administration have put millions of innocent lives in danger, most immediately for the 2.3 million Palestinian civilians living in Gaza who remain under continuous assault and ethnic cleansing by the Israeli government. Therefore, I must resign,” he added.

He further denounced the “conflation” of support for Palestinians with antisemitism. According to the letter, he is the only Palestinian-American appointee in the Department of Education.

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“Today, I resigned from the Biden-Harris Administration. I cannot represent an administration that systematically dehumanizes Palestinians and enables their ethnic cleansing. The President must call for a permanent ceasefire,” he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, about the article.

The resignation underscores growing tensions within the Biden administration, and the Democratic Party in general, over its position on the war. The president’s pro-Israel stance has alienated and frustrated many minority and progressive voters, many of whom have threatened to withhold their votes in retaliation.