Army officer resigns in protest of US support to Israel
An Army officer assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency resigned in protest over the United States’ support for Israel, which he said had “enabled and empowered” the killing of Palestinian civilians.
The officer, Maj. Harrison Mann, announced his resignation and explained his reasons for leaving the service in a post on social media site LinkedIn on Monday. According to his biography on the site, he has specialized in the Middle East and Africa for about half of his 13-year career and previously served at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia.
“The policy that has never been far from my mind for the past six months is the nearly unqualified support for the government of Israel, which has enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians,” Mann wrote in the post, which noted that he had previously emailed his comments to co-workers April 16. “This unconditional support also encourages reckless escalation that risks wider war.”
Reached by phone Monday, Mann confirmed that he was the author of the post but declined to comment further, referring questions to the DIA’s office of corporate communications.
It is unclear whether other military officers have resigned in protest of U.S. foreign policy since the deadly Hamasled attacks in Israel in October ignited the war, but the resignation of an active-duty officer in protest of U.S. foreign policy is probably uncommon – especially one in which the officer makes public the reasons for doing so.
A spokesperson for the Army was not immediately able to confirm whether other officers had resigned for similar reasons since the war began.
As the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen, the Biden administration has faced waves of internal dissent for supporting Israel in the war. In October, Josh Paul, a State Department official in the bureau that oversees arms transfers, resigned in protest of the administration’s decision to continue sending weapons to Israel.
Mann said he had planned to leave the Army “at some point” but that the Israel-Hamas war led him to submit his resignation on Nov. 1 and leave his assignment at the DIA early.
It is unclear when his separation from the Army will be completed.
In his note, Mann said he had continued to carry out his duties at the DIA without voicing his concerns, hoping that the war would soon be over.
“I told myself my individual contribution was minimal, and that if I didn’t do my job, someone else would, so why cause a stir for nothing?” he wrote.