Boehler withdraws nomination as US envoy for hostage affairs

Adam Boehler has pulled his nomination as special U.S. presidential envoy for Hostage Affairs in Gaza, an unnamed senior Trump administration official announced on Friday.

“Adam Boehler is President Trump’s Special Envoy and will continue his work to bring all Americans home through a whole of government approach. President Trump is following through on his promise to Americans and Adam is committed to his agenda,” a U.S. official told the Times of Israel.

Boehler will reportedly continue to oversee, at a lower level, efforts to secure the release of dual U.S.-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander and the remains of four deceased dual American-Israeli hostages

He will also support Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, in diplomatic efforts to secure the release of all remaining hostages.

Witkoff recently admitted that the Alexander is a priority for the Trump administration but stressed that Washington is committed to securing the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza. 

Boehler caused tensions with the Israeli government by initiating separate direct talks with the Hamas terrorist organization regarding hostages with U.S. citizenship. 

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who was born in the United States, reportedly “lashed out” at Boehler, arguing that the envoy was undermining Israel’s negotiation position with Hamas. 

“I understand the consternation and the concern. I wasn’t upset,” Boehler responded after the tense conversation with Dermer. 

“At the same time, we’re the United States. We’re not an agent of Israel. We have specific interests at play,” Boehler emphasized, adding more fuel to the tensions with the Netanyahu government in Jerusalem.

Boehler also argued that “the most productive [approach] is to realize that every piece of a person is a human and to identify with the human elements of those people and then build from there,” a remark that was not received well in Jerusalem.

He appeared to blur the distinction between innocent Israeli hostages in Gaza and convicted terrorists in Israeli prisons by referring to the Israeli hostages as “prisoners” while calling the convicted terrorists “hostages.”

He defended his discussions with Hamas officials, claiming that “dialogue doesn’t mean giving things.” However, Israeli officials fear that Hamas interpreted Boehler’s initiative as weakness and will demand the release of an even larger number of convicted terrorists from Israeli prisons. 

“Israel is our best ally,” Boehler argued in an effort to ease tensions with the Israeli government. However, senior Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are reportedly furious at Boehler. 

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to downplay the controversy regarding Boehler's talks with Hamas.

“Well, that was a one-off situation in which our special envoy for hostages, whose job it is to get people released, had an opportunity to talk directly to someone who has control over these people and was given permission and encouraged to do so,” Rubio told media representatives. “He did so; as of now, it hasn’t borne fruit."

On Friday, Hamas claimed it was prepared to release the Alexander and the remains of four deceased dual American-Israeli hostages in exchange for continued Israeli releases of convicted terrorists.