Biden administration attorney investigated after mocking Israel for Hamas-held hostages

The Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating an employee who posted a video on social media deriding efforts by Israel to release Hamas-held hostages, according to the agency.

Shekeba Morrad, a Veterans Affairs lawyer, has since deleted a clip on Instagram in which she said, “We just want our hostages back. Give us our two hundred hostages,” in a sarcastic tone, the watchdog group Canary Mission found. Hamas took 240 hostages during its deadly Oct. 7 attack against Israel, although 173 are still estimated to be in Gaza amid a temporary ceasefire and prisoner swap between the terror faction and Israel, Israeli officials say.

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“We cannot imagine the trauma that those who have been held hostage by Hamas, including our fellow Americans, have experienced,” Terrence Hayes, a spokesman for Veterans Affairs, told the Washington Examiner. “There is no place at VA for antisemitism or any expression of bigotry or hatred.”

Hayes added, “We are aware of this incident, are investigating the matter, and will take any appropriate action.”

The revelation that Morrad’s conduct is under review comes as the federal government faces scrutiny from lawmakers over some of its employees boosting Hamas on social media. The Washington Examiner first reported in mid-October that the Department of Homeland Security placed Citizenship and Immigration Services Adjudication Officer Nejwa Ali on leave after a Daily Wire article unearthed her prior work for the now-defunct U.S. office for the Palestinian Liberation Organization, a coalition including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has since called on DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to fire Ali.

Similarly, Foreign Affairs Officer Sylvia Yacoub in the State Department‘s Near Eastern Affairs Bureau recently accused President Joe Biden of “genocide” in connection to the U.S. government’s efforts to aid Israel after being attacked, Axios reported. Meanwhile, on Nov. 15, multiple top Biden officials hosted a meeting with 13 “national Muslim, Arab, and Sikh organization leaders,” including Lina Assi, an advocacy manager for the Palestine Legal organization and longtime celebrator of terrorism.

The Education Department, which led the meeting, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Another participant in the Nov. 15 meeting was Johaer Jilani of the Muslim Students Association, a student who, in July 2020, asserted that he “wouldn’t be surprised if Israel is behind [Jeffrey] Epstein’s pedophilia ring.”

As for Morrad, the Veterans Affairs attorney appears to have been previously registered to practice law in New York, according to open records, which note she attended Syracuse University. Morrad was identified in August 2022 Veterans Affairs advisory committee documents as a “staff attorney” for the office of general counsel.

She was also quoted in a December 2021 Axios article on Afghanistan refugees as a “lawyer in the D.C. metro area and volunteer helping to coordinate resettlement efforts.”

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More than 1,200 people in Israel have died in connection to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, according to Israeli officials. Tuesday marks the fifth day of the ceasefire, and CIA Director Bill Burns is in talks with Qatar on a more extensive hostage deal, U.S. officials say.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said on Tuesday that Hamas is set to release over 20 hostages in the next two days.