US press officer fired after rejecting pro-Israel policy language
Shahed Ghoreishi, an American contractor, was terminated over the weekend after challenging policy directives that favoured Israel's hardline positions.
He angered embassy officials in Jerusalem and aides to Secretary of State Marco Rubio by drafting a response to an AP query that included: 'the US does not support the forced relocation of Gazans'. The line was struck out by the embassy.
Ghoreishi also objected to the embassy's description of the occupied West Bank as 'Judea and Samaria,' terminology promoted by Israel's far-right leaders and repeatedly used by US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and that seeks to erase Palestinian ownership of the land.
His dismissal comes as Washington faces condemnation for aligning with Israel's settlement agenda and military operations in Gaza.
After being sacked, Ghoreishi was targeted by right-wing commentator Laura Loomer, who accused him of not fully backing Trump's Middle East policies.
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