๐ขNYT: Huckabee aide David Milstein suppressed and rewrote U.S. Embassy reports critical of Israel
โค David Milstein, 36, a top aide to Ambassador Mike Huckabee, has repeatedly blocked or rewritten embassy actions critical of Israel since arriving in April 2025, according to a dozen people who work with him in Jerusalem and Washington, and 15 U.S. officials interviewed by the New York Times, which also reviewed dozens of cables and memos.
โค The Times report highlights a late-March memo criticizing Israelโs approval of a record number of settlements in the occupied West Bank, which Milstein reportedly nixed. Milstein also reportedly stymied reporting that Israel was failing to curb settler violence, and authored a cable praising Israelโs โunprecedented new initiativesโ under the title โGovernment Cracks Down on Escalating West Bank Violence.โ
โค Milstein also helped quash a report on the deaths of Palestinian Americans, following a push by lawmakers led by Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen. The report initially found little progress and no charges filed related to the deaths, yet Milstein instead pushed for a letter saying Israel was handling the cases properly, sources said.
โค As dozens of Palestinians were being killed near aid distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the summer of 2025, American diplomats in Israel drafted a cable warning against the GHF distribution system and said it risked more โmass casualty events.โ According to the Times, Milstein rewrote the cable to declare GHFโs operation a success while overlooking the mass casualties.