❓WHAT HAPPENED: A State Department press officer was terminated over his handling of Trump administration policy statements involving Israel and Gaza.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Shahed Ghoreishi, U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem officials, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s aides, and investigative reporter Laura Loomer.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The termination occurred over the weekend, following incidents last week involving the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem and the State Department in Washington, D.C.
💬KEY QUOTE: “The agency has zero tolerance for employees who commit misconduct by leaking or otherwise disclosing confidential deliberative emails or information.” – State Dept. spokesman Tommy Pigott
🎯IMPACT: The firing highlights the Trump administration’s strict enforcement of officials adhering to policy.
The State Department has dismissed Shahed Ghoreishi, a press officer responsible for shaping public messaging on Israel and Gaza. Ghoreishi, an Iranian-American contractor with the Bureau of Near East Affairs, came under scrutiny after drafting a media response that sparked backlash from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
The controversy began when Ghoreishi included language in response to an Associated Press (AP) inquiry stating that the U.S. “opposes the forced relocation of Palestinians in Gaza.” The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem reportedly rejected that line, prompting further internal reviews.
Additionally, Ghoreishi raised objections to the use of the term “Judea and Samaria” to describe the West Bank, language favored by some Israeli officials and supported by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
Ghoreishi complained that his firing raises questions about “whether our Israel-Palestine policy is about to get even worse—including an unwillingness to take any stand against ethnic cleansing,” adding: “The future looks bleak.”
Investigative reporter Laura Loomer has publicly accused Ghoreishi of ties to pro-Iran groups—which he denies—writing on social media, “While working at the State Department, Shahed [Ghoreishi] expressed anti-American, anti-Israel, anti-Trump, and anti-Rubio views, all while maintaining deep ties to jihadi Islamic groups like the National Iranian American Council (NIAC)—a group labeled as a mouthpiece for the Ayatollah and enablers of Iranian terrorism.”
“Every single Jihadi MUST be removed from the U.S. State Department as a matter of protecting our national security. There has been zero media on this because I doubt the State Department wants to draw attention to the fact that a jihadist pro-Iranian regime operative was working inside the Trump State Department for the last 7 months,” she added.
Deputy State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott stated, “The agency has zero tolerance for employees who commit misconduct by leaking or otherwise disclosing confidential deliberative emails or information.”
Ghoreishi’s removal comes amid a broader purge of officials deemed disloyal to President Donald J. Trump. Earlier this year, for instance, Trump dismissed General Timothy Haugh, the head of U.S. Cyber Command. “NSA Director Tim Haugh and his deputy Wendy Noble have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired,” Loomer said of his removal on social media.
Reports suggest that multiple National Security Council staff members were also removed after failing informal “loyalty checks” tied to Loomer’s vetting. One U.S. official described the aftermath as a “bloodbath,” following Loomer’s delivery of a dossier on suspect staffers.
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