The Russian Ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, confirmed that American attempts to talk to Russia from a position of strength are doomed to failure, and unfriendly actions will be met with a harsh response.
Antonov said: “Attempts to conduct a dialogue with our country “from a position of strength ” are doomed to failure from the beginning. Until this approach stops, we cannot talk about even the slightest stability of Russian-American relations. Washington must understand that any unfriendly measure will be met with a tough response.” And appropriate.”
He stressed that the United States does not conduct a normal dialogue with Russia at all and “has reduced contacts at all levels, believing in its ability to solve many international problems without Russia, including resolving regional crises.”
He added: "The tragic consequences caused by the so-called American leadership, we see, for example, in the events in Ukraine and the Middle East . Even local observers have begun to describe Joe Biden's foreign policy as bankrupt."
An American memorandum reveals internal anger in the American administration over Biden’s policy towards Israel
US State Department employees have harshly criticized President Joe Biden's administration's handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.
According to a memo obtained by Politico , State Department officials strongly criticized the Biden administration's handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, stressing that the United States must be prepared to criticize the Israelis publicly.
The letter indicates a growing loss of confidence among American diplomats in President Joe Biden's approach to the Middle East crisis.
Politico reported that the letter reflects the feelings of many American diplomats, especially in the middle and lower ranks, according to conversations with several ministry employees in addition to other reports.
The news site indicated that if these internal disputes intensify, this may make it more difficult for the Biden administration to formulate policy towards the region.
According to Politico, the memorandum includes two main requests: that the United States support the ceasefire, and that it balance its private and public messages towards Israel, including directing criticism of Israeli military tactics and treatment of the Palestinians, which the United States generally prefers to keep secret.
The document states that the gap between America's private and public messaging "contributes to regional public perceptions that the United States is a biased and dishonest actor that, at best, does not advance American interests around the world, and at worst harms them."
The letter also stated, "We must publicly criticize Israel's violations of international standards, such as the failure to limit offensive operations to legitimate military targets."
She adds, "When Israel supports settler violence and illegal land seizures or uses excessive use of force against Palestinians, we must publicly declare that this conflicts with our American values so that Israel does not act with impunity."
The memo was classified as "sensitive but unclassified."
The website reported that it is not clear how many people signed it, and when, and it is also not clear whether the document has been reviewed in any way other than the copy it obtained.
However, the arguments in it highlight the thinking of many people in a State Department that has long been troubled by the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
According to Politico, the ministry refused to comment directly on the memo, as is usual in such communications.
The website explained that multiple opposition memorandums about this war are being distributed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an attempt to collect signatures. These communications may or may not be secret, but their contents are rarely leaked.
The Ministry's opposition channel is a well-established medium that allows employees to freely express their dissatisfaction on a policy matter without fear of reprisal.
The memo obtained by POLITICO was written by two mid-level employees who worked in the Middle East, said one administration employee who viewed the document and was not identified to discuss a sensitive topic.
On the other hand, the memorandum acknowledges that Israel has a “legitimate right and obligation” to defend itself, but it says that the extent of the loss of human lives among Palestinians so far is unacceptable, most of whom are civilians and children killed by Israel in the days following the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation.
The document said that the United States' "tolerance" of such a high civilian death toll "generates doubt in the rules-based international order that we have long defended."
The report believes that the United States must hold both Israel and Hamas responsible for their actions.
The memo's demands are unlikely to reach Biden or his senior aides, at least not anytime soon.
The president, Blinken, and others ruled out calling for a ceasefire, and supported Israel's desire to dismantle Hamas, which is based in the Gaza Strip.
Blinken: There are no plans to evacuate Gaza of all its residents
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said during talks in Ankara that there are no plans for a complete evacuation of residents from the Gaza Strip, and that some kind of cessation of fighting could be discussed for a period of time.
This was reported by Hurriyet newspaper, at the conclusion of the US Secretary of State’s discussions in Turkey on November 5 and 6.
According to the newspaper, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan indicated during discussions with Blinken that Ankara was waiting for an urgent ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, and drew attention to the fact that the United States was bringing harm to its international reputation because of the position it had taken.
According to the newspaper, the United States is still reluctant to pronounce the word "truce" and prefers to use the phrase "temporary ceasefire." But a temporary cessation or suspension of the conflict seems necessary to free the hostages, get out of Gaza, and begin some steps toward a settlement. Blinken and his accompanying delegation in Ankara said that they would strengthen efforts to prevent the killing of civilians and increase the volume of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
The newspaper noted that the American side assured Turkish officials that there are no plans for a complete evacuation of the residents of Gaza, and indicated that “everyone will remain in their places.”
The negotiations between Blinken and Fidan took place in Ankara on November 6, and lasted about two and a half hours.
Axios: The war in Gaza creates tensions in American workplaces
Israel's war in Gaza sparks a divisive debate within American workplaces, with sharp differences of opinion, creating pressure on workers and officials alike.
According to the American website "Axios", Arab and Muslim employees feel that their pain is not recognized, and they fear retaliation at work. Meanwhile, Jewish employees have concerns about anti-Semitism.
The website explained that this situation adds more complexity to workplace laws related to diversity, equality, and inclusion that have become common in recent years, as managers may be forced to separate colleagues who stand on two different sides on most issues.
The polarization of opinions reached social networking sites, which employees used to express their positions on the war on Gaza, and these opinions led to a series of dismissals or other disciplinary or punitive measures in the workplace by employers concerned about their employees’ opinions about the conflict. According to the site.
Axios reported that at a human rights nonprofit in New York, a group conversation about the war between Israel and Hamas became so heated that the CEO had to send an email demanding civility.
“I have never seen the level of extreme stress, pain and hurt among employees in the same organizations as I see now,” Joel Emerson, co-founder and CEO of Paradigm, a consulting firm, told Axios.
Some workplaces have begun to make exceptional decisions to keep pace with the changes accompanying the conflict, according to Axios, who explained that the Salaam Hotel chain conducted listening sessions in companies with employees to talk about the war and to discuss combating stereotypes and building empathy when you disagree with someone.
The site indicated that for a long time, corporate cultures were relatively isolated from politics, but the matter has changed since at least 2020, after the killing of a young man of African descent, George Floyd, at the hands of members of the American police, as companies allowed conversations about social justice or racism. , or posted messages on social media to express their solidarity.
But the situation in the Middle East turned out to be much more difficult, as Salam Hotel told the site that the war on Gaza affected people and strengthened division in an unprecedented way.
The war also divided groups that were usually on the same side. In Hollywood, for example, “a bastion of progressive politics,” the war revealed divisions that many did not know existed, the New York Times reported.
Politico explained that so far, most dismissals appear to have been due to expressing pro-Palestinian views, as the US-based advocacy organization Palestine Legal reported that it had responded to more than 260 cases of targeting people's "livelihoods or jobs."
But fears of restricting freedom of expression are now increasing, according to the newspaper, which believes that the widespread expression of personal political beliefs by employees means that this trend may not continue around one issue or one side of the conflict for a long time.