New Jewish Narrative Calls for Firing of Jerusalem Embassy Aide David Milstein

Written By Noam Shelef

October 8, 2026 —  New Jewish Narrative today called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to fire David Milstein, senior adviser to U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, following a bombshell New York Times investigation documenting his repeated suppression and distortion of information provided by American diplomats to the administration.

According to the Times report, Mr. Milstein:

  • Blocked an urgent embassy report on Israel's record settlement approvals in March, which diplomats saw as an affront to President Trump's stated red line against West Bank annexation;

  • Rewrote a cable warning of “mass casualty events” at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution sites to instead declare the operation a success;

  • Held back an embassy report finding that investigations into the killings of nine Palestinian Americans had stalled, with no one charged, and pushed instead for a response telling Congress that Israel was handling the investigations properly;

  • Prevented staff from relaying Israeli military commanders' warnings that settler violence could spark a new uprising, while authoring a cable praising the government for "cracking down."

Officials told the Times that reporting from the embassy's Palestinian affairs section fell from several cables a week to a few a month, and that White House and State Department officials resorted to bypassing official channels to learn what was actually happening.

Hadar Susskind, President and CEO of New Jewish Narrative, said:

"David Milstein has betrayed the American people by putting the interests of the Netanyahu government above those of his own country. An embassy's job is to tell Washington the truth, including the parts that they don’t like. 

"By the Times' account, Mr. Milstein has turned the embassy into a filter that protects the Netanyahu government from scrutiny, at the expense of American policymakers, members of Congress, and the families of American citizens killed in the West Bank. That isn't support for Israel. It's a disservice to both countries and he must be removed from his post immediately."

New Jewish Narrative is a national Jewish organization that champions peace, justice, and human dignity – in Israel, Palestine, and across the United States.

Noam Shelef