Hans Wechsel, the head of the State Department’s Office of Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem, plans to leave his position at the end of March, four people with knowledge of Wechsel’s decision confirmed to Jewish Insider on Tuesday.

Wechsel, a career diplomat who has been posted in the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Turkey and previously held the position of director of counterterrorism for the Middle East and South and Central Asia, will return to Washington following his departure from Jerusalem. He told employees in a staff meeting on Tuesday about his decision to leave the position, which he assumed in August 2024.

An individual with knowledge of the staff meeting said that Wechsel told staff that he “didn’t like the direction the ship was heading.”

The Office of Palestinian Affairs was created by the Biden administration in 2022, following the decision by the first Trump administration to close the consulate in Jerusalem, which had primarily worked with Palestinians, and move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Once consolidated as part of the embassy in Jerusalem, the Palestinian affairs unit reported to the U.S. ambassador to Israel. Following the Biden administration’s decision to break out the unit, the newly created Office of Palestinian Affairs reported directly to the State Department’s Near Eastern Affairs Bureau in Washington.

The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch contributed reporting.