Senior US Embassy official in Jerusalem suppressed diplomatic cables to shield Netanyahu govt: report

Embassy personnel drafted an alert warning that the move risked violating US President Donald Trump's explicit red line against annexation.

Milstein quashed the memorandum, framing the land acquisitions as a domestic matter before sending a revised text claiming the move addressed unspecified humanitarian needs of occupiers.Milstein similarly altered reporting on surging violence in the occupied West Bank.

When Israeli military commanders warned that attacks by occupiers could trigger a widespread Palestinian uprising, he blocked the dispatches suggesting that Israel failed to take action.

Instead, an embassy cable authored under his name praised Netanyahu's initiatives and claimed authorities were actively combatting the unrest.The aide also suppressed a detailed embassy inquiry into the killings of nine Palestinian Americans by Israeli forces and occupiers, effectively thwarting accountability requests from members of the US Congress.

Despite findings showing investigations stalled without criminal charges, the mission forwarded an alternative letter claiming active cooperation with Israeli authorities.Milstein also edited dispatches regarding aid distribution by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to describe the operations as successful, removing diplomatic warnings that the process was "chaotic, deadly," and risked "mass casualty events".Staff members noted that the interventions caused reporting from the embassy's Palestinian affairs section to drop from several weekly….

The US State Department said its personnel remain focused on advancing the administration's foreign policy priorities.

Senior US Embassy official in Jerusalem suppressed diplomatic cables to shield Netanyahu govt: report Anadolu Agency | Updated 17 minutes ago | David Milstein, a senior US Embassy aide, repeatedly blocked assessments meant for top policymakers.