Joe Biden was inaugurated just a few hours ago, and the new administration has already made many changes. Here’s one that caught plenty of attention:
BREAKING: Biden Admin Changes U.S. Ambassador to Israel into "U.S. Ambassador to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza" — Day 1 policy shift signals new admin does not consider any parts of these areas as Israeli territory https://t.co/m3O6j2nO68 pic.twitter.com/lcfLqCtZuX
— Adam Kredo (@Kredo0) January 20, 2021
The blowback was immediate:
But seriously, we're doing an Ambassador to Gaza? Which is run by a terrorist group that calls for the destruction of Israel and America. Need to be consistent and nominate Ambassadors to ISIS, al Qaeda, and Hezbollah too. https://t.co/Yhn7zHtRRy
— Noah Pollak (@NoahPollak) January 20, 2021
Gaza is run by a terrorist organization https://t.co/dbVXGE77xf
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 20, 2021
Just two hours into the new Biden Presidency, and it is already throwing Israel, America's closest friend and ally in the Middle East, under the bus. Disgraceful. https://t.co/79C2jKJw8N
— Nile Gardiner (@NileGardiner) January 20, 2021
After being handed a perfect scenario for mid-East peace, Joe Biden is quick to throw Israel under the bus. Shameful. https://t.co/oY933O2yfu
— Matt Mowers (@mowers) January 20, 2021
BREAKING: Biden changes U.S. Ambassador to Israel into "U.S. Ambassador to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza" — already taking away Israel's territory. Joe Biden will be NO friend to Israel! pic.twitter.com/NZTK24Lnhp
— Cassandra (@CassyWearsHeels) January 20, 2021
Recommended
Insufferable.
— Sandy 〽️ (@RightGlockMom) January 20, 2021
But wait — then there seemed to have been a reversal.
After a while, the title was back to how it appeared previous to Trump’s departure from office:
UPDATE: The official account has been changed back to state only, "U.S. Ambassador to Israel." Still no explanation from State on what's happening here. https://t.co/52EzEDDnyC pic.twitter.com/MQ6AfsVJFS
— Adam Kredo (@Kredo0) January 20, 2021
They switched it back pic.twitter.com/lhn8CsLHAC
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) January 20, 2021
One thing is clear: Somebody’s doing some experimenting.
https://twitter.com/MorganLKaplan/status/1351978292929310725
This is going to be a disaster https://t.co/7cX3y0MkhZ
— Aemangus91 (@aemangus91) January 20, 2021
Well… that’s interesting. https://t.co/BHehewtROd
— Joe Koss (@josephkoss) January 20, 2021
All this leads to a question:
Did the Biden admin rename @USAmbIsrael and then change their minds, or did Twitter do it on their own and then backtrack?
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) January 20, 2021
Yeah, we’re a bit confused too.
Too late, we already saw their hand. https://t.co/a1Hkkitb49
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) January 20, 2021
And they showed it big time.
Update:
8/ From US Embassy: "It was an inadvertent edit, and not reflective of a policy change."
— Daniel Estrin (@DanielEstrin) January 20, 2021
Perhaps exaggerated finger quotes are required around the word “inadvertent.”