Biden Era Resignees Demand 2028 Candidates Bar Israel Enablers

The 2028 presidential race is approaching, and a group of former government insiders is issuing a specific warning to contenders on how they staff their teams. A dozen officials who resigned from the Biden administration over the handling of the war in Gaza have published a joint letter. They are asking candidates to avoid hiring people they deem responsible for enabling Israeli military actions.

The signatories represent a mix of government sectors, with a heavy concentration from the State Department, intelligence agencies, and the military. The group includes both Arab American and Jewish American former officials. Their central argument is that individuals who shaped policy during the conflict should not return to positions of influence.

"The most basic level of accountability, the most minimal level of consequences, is to ensure that those who have wreaked so much harm from within the highest levels of our Government cannot return to it," the letter states. The authors argue that senior officials who they believe misrepresented facts to the public and suppressed internal dissent should not hold roles that shape foreign policy.

This call for exclusion comes as several high-ranking former Biden officials have publicly reassessed their tenure. Matthew Miller, the former State Department spokesperson, sparked debate in June of last year when he told a Sky News podcast that Israel had committed war crimes. He stopped short of calling it a genocide but noted that the failure to hold soldiers accountable was damaging to the country's democratic identity.

Jake Sullivan, the former national security advisor, faced criticism two months after Miller’s comments. Sullivan told The Bulwark podcast that he would support Congress withholding military aid to Israel. He pointed to the breakdown of the March 2025 ceasefire as a reason for such a vote. This stance contrasted with his time in the White House, where he lobbied Democratic lawmakers against blocking arms transfers.

Kamala Harris, the former vice president and potential candidate, also acknowledged administrative shortcomings. Speaking in South Korea earlier this month, she admitted to horrific conduct by Israel. She stated that the administration fell short of its moral obligations and should have acted more forcefully and sooner.

The letter asks 2028 contenders to acknowledge US complicity in the conflict through arms, funding, and diplomatic support. It does not limit its critique to Democrats, noting that criticism of the US-Israel relationship has grown within right-wing circles. Polls indicate that Israel's favorability in the United States is currently at a historic low.

During his final television interview as president in January 2025, Biden revealed a specific instruction he gave to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden said he told Netanyahu not to indiscriminately bomb civilian areas just ten days after the October 7, 2023, attacks. Netanyahu responded by citing US history, including the bombing of Berlin and the use of nuclear weapons.

Despite those conversations, the Biden administration committed nearly $30 billion to Israel through separate congressional bills. No other country has matched that level of financial support. The administration did not use that spending power to enforce a ceasefire until President Trump’s Middle East envoy pressured Netanyahu to accept a deal that had been proposed for over a year.

Israel broke that ceasefire in less than two months. A formal agreement was not locked in until October 2025, following backchannel communications between the Trump administration and Hamas. Since that agreement, Israel has killed more than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza, including 19 children this month. Bishara Bahbah, a Democrat turned Trump supporter who helped shuttle messages between Steve Witkoff and Hamas officials, said his recent attempts to keep the ceasefire a White House priority have been rebuffed. He described his feelings about the situation as like shit.