Israel has rejected the idea of reopening the United States (US) consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem and instead suggested that the mission should be in the West Bank’s capital of Ramallah. The Palestinian Authority (PA) condemned Israel for rejecting the move.
During a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said, “There is no place for an American consulate that serves the Palestinians in Jerusalem,” noting that Israel’s position has been conveyed to Washington. “We are expressing our position consistently, quietly and without drama, and I hope it is understood. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel alone,” he declared.
Lapid backed Bennett’s position and said that “sovereignty in Jerusalem belongs to one country—Israel” and suggested that the US could set up their mission in Ramallah. “If the Americans want to open a consulate in Ramallah, we have no problem with that,” Lapid said. He added that Israel’s position is “not a question of politics” but rather an “Israeli objection on principle for opening a consulate in Jerusalem,” since there already exists an American embassy in the city.
In a statement on Saturday, the PA’s Foreign Ministry slammed Israel’s position and said the reopening of the consulate is part of the international community’s commitment to ending Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories. “East Jerusalem is an inseparable part of the occupied Palestinian territory and is the capital of the state of Palestine,” the statement read. It added that “Israel, as the occupying power, does not have the right to veto the US administration’s decision.”
PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told Reuters that the PA rejects Lapid’s suggestion. “We will only accept a U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, the capital of the Palestinian state,” he proclaimed.
Israel’s position was also condemned by the PA’s civil affairs minister, Hussein al-Sheikh, who noted that the comments were “a new challenge from the Israeli government to the Biden administration, which has already announced repeatedly its decision to open the US Consulate in East Jerusalem.”
Since October, Israeli and American officials have been discussing plans to re-open the US’s consulate to Palestine in Jerusalem. According to reports, the US has been withholding any decision on the matter until Israel’s budget vote was concluded in order to avoid a political crisis in Israel.
Israel’s parliament on Thursday approved the budget, the first in three years, by a razor-thin margin. With the successful vote, Israel’s coalition has managed to stay afloat and avoid a fifth round of elections in just two years.
After coming to power in January, US President Joe Biden promised to reverse ex-President Donald Trump’s decision to downgrade ties with Palestine in 2018 and close the US consulate in Jerusalem. However, the Biden administration has not provided a date for the reopening of the consulate.
Both Israel and Palestine view Jerusalem as the capital of their states. Palestine claims East Jerusalem as part of its territory and wants it as the capital of a future state. On the other hand, Israel, which annexed East Jerusalem following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, claims all of Jerusalem as its eternal capital.
Israel Rejects US Consulate For Palestinians in Jerusalem, Suggests West Bank Instead
The Palestinian Authority condemned the move and said the reopening of the consulate in Jerusalem is part of the international community’s commitment to ending Israel’s decades-long occupation.
November 8, 2021
The US consulate, which served Palestinians from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, was closed by the Trump administration in 2018. SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS