US Envoy Accused of Altering Reports on Israeli Settlements and Violence

David Millstein, a senior advisor to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, has been accused by U.S. officials of suppressing and altering embassy reports concerning Israeli settlements, settler violence, and the killing of Palestinian Americans. These actions allegedly aimed to present Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in a more favorable light, creating a gap between on-the-ground reporting and information reaching Washington. This discrepancy prompted some U.S. officials to bypass standard diplomatic channels for direct information. The "New York Times" reported that Millstein, since taking his post in April 2025, interfered with embassy reports on West Bank and Gaza policies, preventing or modifying content, according to former colleagues. Three U.S. officials stated Millstein blocked a report on Israel's retroactive approval of 34 West Bank settlements, which embassy staff viewed as potentially violating President Donald Trump's red lines on West Bank annexation. Despite an urgent report prepared by embassy staff on this decision, it did not reach decision-makers due to Millstein's intervention.

Millstein also reportedly suppressed reports on the Israeli government's failure to address settler violence in the West Bank. Instead, an embassy cable praised Israel for its "iron fist" approach, contradicting other assessments embassy staff sought to convey. Furthermore, Millstein allegedly prevented the transmission of a detailed report on the deaths of nine Palestinian Americans killed by settlers and Israeli security forces, at a time when Congress was seeking information on these cases. This obstruction hindered lawmakers' efforts to obtain details from the embassy.

Sources indicate Millstein began requiring his personal approval for reports from the Palestinian Affairs unit shortly after arriving in Jerusalem. This led to a sharp decline in the number of weekly dispatches to only a few per month, with some staff hesitant to file new reports for fear of suppression or rewriting. While former ambassadors also used political advisors to influence reports, current and former colleagues described Millstein's interference as exceeding the norm, with exceptional efforts to portray Israel positively by blocking, altering, or delaying reports until they lost their relevance.

During the summer of 2025, after dozens of Palestinians died attempting to access food near distribution sites in Gaza, an embassy cable warning of the aid distribution mechanism's "chaotic and deadly" nature and potential for "more mass casualty events" was reportedly rewritten by Millstein to present the operation as a success, downplaying the casualties. The "New York Times" report, based on interviews with 15 U.S. officials and dozens of internal documents, highlighted that the discrepancies between media reports and official embassy dispatches raised suspicions in Washington. On at least two occasions, Washington officials bypassed diplomatic channels to communicate directly with embassy staff for a clearer picture of developments. Experienced diplomats warned that suppressing or distorting information could raise serious concerns about the integrity of diplomatic work and decision-making. Many officials who spoke to the paper, including strong supporters of U.S.-Israel relations, expressed fears that Millstein's actions could weaken professional diplomacy, with some believing his interventions contradicted Trump's stated policies.

Ambassador Huckabee, in response to the "New York Times," dismissed the report's findings as lacking factual basis. The U.S. State Department stated its employees remain focused on advancing President Trump's "America First" agenda, while the White House referred questions to the State Department.