The Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating an employee who posted a video to social media mocking Israel’s efforts to secure the release of hostages being held by the terror group Hamas, the agency told the Washington Free Beacon on Tuesday.
Shekeba Morrad, an attorney working for the federal government, posted—and deleted—a video on her Instagram account in which she derides Israel’s calls for the Iran-backed terror group to release around 250 hostages, according to a watchdog group that tracks anti-Semitism online.
"We just want our hostages back. Give us our two hundred hostages," Morrad says in the video, which was published Monday evening on X, formerly Twitter, by Canary Mission.
https://twitter.com/canarymission/status/1729258801545597355?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1729258801545597355%7Ctwgr%5E93d23e61ce7d4565dbd3e9aa16e7be0df1c0b4fa%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffreebeacon.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D1830837action%3Dedit
A Veterans Affairs spokesman confirmed to the Free Beacon that the agency is investigating the incident and that it does not tolerate anti-Semitism.
"We are aware of this incident, are investigating the matter, and will take any appropriate action," said Terrence Hayes, the department’s press secretary. "There is no place at VA for anti-Semitism or any expression of bigotry or hatred."
Morrad joins a growing chorus of Biden administration employees who oppose Israel’s defensive operations in the Gaza Strip aimed at rescuing hostages still being held by the terror group.
At the State Department, career foreign service officer Sylvia Yacoub has used her social media profiles to lambast the Biden administration for supporting Israel, accusing the president of being complicit in Israel’s so-called genocide, the Free Beacon reported earlier this month.
Morrad, who lists herself in online profiles as an appellate attorney at the Office of General Counsel for the Department of Veterans Affairs, posted the video in question on Nov. 12, according to Canary Mission.
It gained traction on social media, with pro-Israel observers condemning the rhetoric, and the video was subsequently deleted.
The war has been paused for the past five days as Israel and Hamas negotiate over the hostages. Eleven Israelis were released on Tuesday, and Israel says it will continue to abide by a ceasefire agreement if an additional 10 hostages are released each day.