Biden-era officials who quit over Gaza urge 2028 candidates to denounce policy architects

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - US officials who had resigned from former President Joe Biden's administration over his Gaza policy said on Wednesday that Democratic presidential candidates for the 2028 race should denounce that policy and its architects.

• Twelve former US officials who quit the Biden administration between late 2023 and mid-2024 over US support for Israeli attacks on Gaza signed a joint statement

• "We call on candidates for the 2028 Presidential Nomination to commit to not hire any administration official directly responsible for enabling Israel's military actions in Gaza," they said in the statement released on Wednesday.

• A video released with the statement showed images of Biden-era officials like former Secretary of State Antony Blinken and former national security adviser Jake Sullivan, among others.

• The Democratic Biden administration had faced protests from some progressive lawmakers and activists over the Gaza policy.

• Progressive Democrats like US Representative Rashida Tlaib and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani have opposed US support for ‌Israel ⁠over Israeli attacks in Gaza and Lebanon, the US-Israeli war on Iran and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's close ties to Republicans, leading to an erosion of Democratic backing for Washington's ally.

• The 12 former officials said the 2028 presidential candidates should "acknowledge the complicity of the United States government in Israel's genocide in Gaza."

• Multiple rights groups, experts, scholars and UN inquiries have assessed that Israel's devastating assault on Gaza amounts to genocide.

• Israel has called its actions self-defense after a deadly attack by Hamas-led militants on Israel in October 2023.

• Blinken and Sullivan have expressed concerns about civilian killings in Gaza even as the Biden administration maintained diplomatic and military support for Israel.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Aurora Ellis)