Israel expressed concerns to the Trump administration after a media blitz by Adam Boehler, the special envoy for hostage affairs, defending his recent talks with Hamas on Sunday, Hebrew media outlets reported.

Jerusalem asked Washington for clarifications after Boehler gave a series of interviews to American and Israeli media following criticism of the direct negotiations with the terrorist group. 

After Israeli officials expressed their concerns, the Trump administration reportedly responded that the talks with Hamas would not happen again – though Boehler told CNN: “You never know. Sometimes, you’re in the area and you drop by.”

When Israeli Channel 13 reporter Neria Kraus asked Boehler about his reportedly “tough conversation” on the matter with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who is leading the Israeli negotiating team, the Trump envoy chuckled and said, “I don’t really care about that that much.”

Asked by Jake Tapper on CNN, “Do you understand why [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, Dermer, others might be upset?” Boehler answered that he did, but “at the same time, we’re the United States. We’re not an agent of Israel. We have specific interests at play.”

Boehler said it “feels a bit odd,” and that Hamas members are “not so good people,”  when asked by Tapper what it was like to meet with “antisemitic murderers.” But at the same time, Boehler said that Israeli concerns are borne out of the possibility that Boehler would meet them and think “they don’t have horns growing out of their head … They’re actually pretty nice guys.” 

After the complaints from Jerusalem, Boehler clarified his “pretty nice guys” remark, writing on X: “I want to be clear as some have misinterpreted. Hamas is a terrorist organization that has murdered thousands of innocent people. They are by definition bad people. And as POTUS has said, not a single Hamas member will be safe if Hamas doesn’t release all hostages immediately.” 

Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Boehler said negotiators had “very productive talks” and that Hamas “provided some very interesting views.” He posited that Hamas saw “a long-term truce where we forgive prisoners, where they would be disarmed, a truce where they would not be part of the political policy, and a truce where we would ensure that they are in a place where they can’t hurt Israel.”

Boehler also used language equating Israeli hostages, most of whom were taken from their homes or a music festival, to Palestinian prisoners detained due to security offenses and, in some cases, convicted on multiple counts of murder. 

On Channel 13, Boehler criticized Israel for “exchanging massive amounts of hostages” in reference to the number of Palestinian prisoners Israel has freed for each hostage. 

On Channel 11 and in The Jerusalem Post, Boehler referred to the potential to free more hostages as prisoner exchanges.

The equivalence Boehler drew was disturbing to Israeli officials, Jewish Insider has learned.

While the Israeli government has not commented publicly on Boehler’s latest remarks, Knesset Law, Constitution and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman, a close confidant of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, criticized Boehler.

“Whoever is quoting what Hamas says and negotiating with Hamas directly is making a huge mistake that endangers the hostages,” Rothman said. “I’m not arguing about the importance of saving hostages and not about the need to free them all … I think Adam Boehler and anyone who is negotiating with Hamas is doing significant damage to [the effort to] return the hostages.”

Danielle Cohen contributed to this report.