Eugene Kontorovich: Israel Hayom
Point of fact: Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro made it clear prior to the last U.S. election that opening a separate consulate to the Palestinians would signal U.S. support for a Palestinian capital in that city.
"The Biden administration is trying to partially undo one of Israel’s greatest diplomatic achievements of recent decades — the recognition of Israel’s sovereignty over all of Jerusalem by the United States, followed by numerous other countries. The good news is unlike with many diplomatic attacks, the Israeli government has the power to stop this one.
"The United States is pushing to open up a new diplomatic office in Jerusalem — one that would be directed to the Palestinian Authority. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem already provides consular services to the Palestinians. It is unheard of for a country to have an independent consulate in the same city where it already has an embassy. The point of creating a separate consulate is to undermine former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem. But under international law, the United States would need Israel’s permission for this move.
"The United States does not want to open a consulate merely to have a place for diplomatic liaisons with the P.A. If that were all they wanted, they could easily accomplish it by opening a mission in Abu Dis or Ramallah — where most other countries conduct their relations with the P.A. Or they could reopen the Palestinian mission in Washington, D.C., which Trump also closed.
"By instead demanding that Israel accede to a consulate in Jerusalem, the administration is showing that this is not just about having a convenient place for coffee with P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas.". . .
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