State Department employee fired after questioning talking points on Israel and Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has fired a press officer who was responsible for drafting Trump administration talking points about policy toward Israel and Gaza after complaints from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.

Officials said Shahed Ghoreishi, a contractor working for the Bureau of Near East Affairs, was terminated over the weekend following two incidents last week in which his loyalty to Trump administration policies was called into question.

Ghoreishi, who is Iranian American, also was targeted Wednesday following his dismissal by right-wing personality Laura Loomer, who accused him of not being fully supportive of the administration’s policies in the Middle East.

According to Ghoreishi and two current U.S. officials, Ghoreishi drew the ire of a senior official at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and then top aides to Secretary of State Marco Rubio for drafting a response to a query from The Associated Press last week. The question related to discussions between Israel and South Sudan about the possible relocation of Palestinians from Gaza to South Sudan.

The draft response included a line that said the U.S. does not support the forced relocation of Gazans, something that President Donald Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff have said repeatedly.

However, according to Ghoreishi and the officials, that line was rejected by the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, leading to questions about policy back in Washington. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel changes.

Ghoreishi also said he questioned a statement from the embassy that referred to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria,” the Biblical name for the Palestinian territory that some right-wing Israeli officials prefer. Mike Huckabee, U.S. ambassador to Israel, also has repeatedly backed referring to the West Bank by Judea and Samaria.

The ouster shows the lengths that the Trump administration has gone to ensure what it sees as Israel in the war against Hamas. The administration this week also revoked security clearances for 37 current and former national security officials, including many who had signed a 2019 letter critical of Trump that was recently highlighted by Loomer.

“Despite a close working relationship with many of my dedicated and hardworking colleagues, I was targeted following two events last week when I attracted the ire of the 7th floor and senior officials in Embassy Jerusalem: stating we are against forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza as President Trump and special envoy Witkoff have both previously claimed and cutting a reference to Judea and Samaria,” Ghoreishi said, referring to the floor where top leaders have offices at the State Department.

“Both of these had been consistently approved at the senior level in the past, so it begs the question why I was suddenly targeted without a direct explanation and whether our Israel-Palestine policy is about to get even worse — including an unwillingness to take any stand against ethnic cleansing. The future looks bleak,” he said.

State Department spokespeople declined to comment on his firing, calling it an internal personnel matter.

Without addressing the specifics, deputy State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement that the agency “has zero tolerance for employees who commit misconduct by leaking or otherwise disclosing confidential deliberative emails or information. Federal employees should never put their personal political ideologies ahead of the duly elected President’s agenda.”

The firing was first reported by The Washington Post.

Loomer claimed Wednesday that she had a hand in Ghoreishi’s removal from the State Department. She said he was affiliated with pro-Iran groups and jihadists, which Ghoreishi denies.

Just days ago, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review soon after Loomer had posted videos on social media of children from Gaza arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas.