Biden staffer who resigned over Israel funding trolled after it emerges her father works at Raytheon

WASHINGTON, DC: Lily Greenberg Call, a 26-year-old progressive Biden staffer who resigned from her position at the Interior Department on Wednesday, May 15, faced quite a backlash on social media following a controversial revelation about her family.

Greenberg Call cited President Joe Biden's support for Israel's military actions in Gaza as the primary reason for her resignation, accusing him of using Jewish identity to justify American policy in the conflict.

Apparent contradiction

"I can no longer in good conscience continue to represent this administration amid President Biden's disastrous, continued support for Israel's genocide," Greenberg Call wrote in her resignation letter. Her resignation marks the first instance of a Jewish political appointee resigning publicly due to US support for what some protestors call 'Israel's genocide.'

Despite her strong condemnation of Israel's "violations of international law" with "American weapons," an eyebrow-raising personal detail has emerged - Greenberg Call's father, Thomas Call, is a senior executive at Raytheon Applied Signal Technology, a major defense contractor supplying arms to Israel, including technology for the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Thomas Call holds the position of chief engineer at the company, now known as RTX Corp.

Raised in a well-off family in Oakland, California, Greenberg Call attended the San Diego Jewish Academy, where tuition fees reach nearly $40,000 annually. During her high school years, she served as president of the Israel advocacy club, reflecting her early pro-Israel stance.

Her views underwent a significant transformation after she attended the University of California, Berkeley, a known hub of liberal activism. In a May 2022 essay for Teen Vogue, Greenberg Call attributed her change in perspective to interactions with Palestinian-Americans and her involvement in Democratic politics.

She worked on the presidential campaigns of both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, which deepened her political engagement, the New York Post reported.

In her resignation letter, Greenberg Call expressed disappointment with an administration she initially believed aligned with her progressive ideals. "However, I can no longer in good conscience continue to represent this administration," she reiterated.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Greenberg Call pointed to specific remarks made by Biden, which she found particularly troubling.

At a White House Hanukkah event, Biden stated, "Were there no Israel, there wouldn't be a Jew in the world who was safe," and at a recent Holocaust Memorial event, he commented that the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 were driven by an "ancient desire to wipe out the Jewish people."

Greenberg Call argued that these comments wrongly make Jews the face of American military actions, a position she found deeply offensive given her family's history with state-sponsored violence.

"He is making Jews the face of the American war machine. And that is so deeply wrong," Greenberg Call said. "I think the president has to know that there are people in his administration who think this is disastrous. Not just for Palestinians, for Israelis, for Jews, for Americans, for his election prospects."

Greenberg Call's resignation follows a series of similar departures by administration staffers. She is the fifth mid- or senior-level official to resign in protest of the Biden administration's support for Israel's military campaign against Hamas, and the second political appointee to do so, after a Palestinian heritage official in the Education Department resigned in January.

Lily Greenberg Call's Raytheon connection sparks backlash on social media

However, the revelation of her father's position at Raytheon has triggered a wave of backlash on social media. Critics labeled her a hypocrite, pointing out the apparent contradiction between her anti-Israel stance and her family's financial ties to a major defense contractor.

One user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, "How’s your rich Israel supporting father at Raytheon, nepobaby? Don’t you love that your dad gets money essentially from Israel to make your entire family millionaires and extremely rich?"

Another comment read, "Right this minute, her Daddy just cut her off!! She's a total embarrassment!! She [needs] to take her a-- to Gaza and sweep the streets."

"The self-loathing is strong in this one," someone else chimed in.

"So, daddy issues once again," another quipped.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.