US diplomats warn of lasting anti-American sentiment in Middle East

The State Department has received multiple warnings from its posts in the Middle East during recent weeks about the lasting impact from U.S. messaging on the conflict in Gaza, triggering a meeting in Washington with intelligence agencies to evaluate the fallout, according to internal communications reviewed by ABC News and officials familiar with the matter.

One cable from the American mission in Morocco said that former collaborators in the country asserted that the U.S. had become «toxic» because the administration's support for Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack had been widely perceived as a «blank check for the Israeli response.»

«Criticism of the U.S. position has proven unshakeable despite significant adjustments to U.S. messaging to highlight the need to protect civilian lives,» the document, labeled sensitive but unclassified, continues.

The message also noted that Moroccan mass media has rarely covered U.S. initiatives to help Palestinians «including the movement of aid into Gaza or diplomatic pressure for Israel to avoid civilian casualties,» and that the mission's social media accounts have been continuously flooded with «waves of unfollows or negative and abusive comments.»

Diplomats at other posts in the Middle East have voiced similar concerns, according to an official, who said posts in Muslim-majority countries in other areas of the world, such as Indonesia, have also voiced misgivings.

An enduring hit to U.S. popularity in the Middle East could have extensive implications for American diplomacy, including efforts to build a coalition of countries to help rebuild Gaza after the fighting subsides and encouraging the normalization of ties with Israel.

Additionally, the surge of anti-American sentiment could have