UPDATED PETITION! Select, sign, support PRO-ISRAEL petition to defend Israel’s right to defend her borders. We will auto-fax 535 Congressmen/Senators. We’ve delivered 520,000 petitions for Israel. Can you help reach 750,000? Free option here.
“President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during their White House meeting that he will not abandon his plan to reopen the U.S. consulate [for Palestine] in Jerusalem, setting up a major point of contention between the administrations,” reports Axios.
Why it matters: The consulate handled relations with the Palestinians for 25 years before being shut down by Donald Trump. Senior officials in Bennett’s government see the consulate issue as a political hot potato that could destabilize their unwieldy coalition.
Behind the scenes: Biden raised the consulate issue several times in his bilateral meeting with Bennett and in the expanded meeting with their aides, Israeli and U.S. officials briefed on the meetings tell me.
Biden stressed that he made a campaign promise to reopen it and that Secretary of State Tony Blinken had already gone on the record with a pledge to follow through.
Bennett made clear that he opposed that policy but proposed that officials from both sides meet to work toward a solution.
Several conservative ministers, including Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar, say the reopening of the consulate would be an infringement on Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. It’s also a prime point of attack for Benjamin Netanyahu, who is now opposition leader.
The Israeli government would have to give its approval for the consulate to be reopened. And if even one member were to defect over the issue, the government could collapse.
“If the Biden administration wants to see Netanyahu abandoning his Pilates classes and going back to the Prime Minister’s Office, this is the best way to do it,” one senior official quipped.
The official said the Israelis had expressed their concerns about the destabilizing potential of the consulate issue several times to the Biden administration.
The Biden administration previously agreed to delay the reopening of the consulate until after the Nov. 4 deadline for Bennett to pass a budget.
Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 2017 and later merged the consulate into the new U.S. Embassy there.
The Palestinians also consider Jerusalem to be their capital. East Jerusalem, the location of the former consulate, is typically viewed as the future capital of any Palestinian state.
[Dr. Chaps’ comment: I visited the US Embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, and it’s east of the 1967 borders. Thus, clearly east Jerusalem belongs to Israel, not any non-existent state of Palestine. Let all people there come to the same Embassy to deal with America. Biden is wrong to create two.]
Let’s petition Congress to stand with Israel!
SELECT HERE TO SIGN URGENT PETITION DEFENDING ISRAEL’S RIGHT TO PROTECT HER OWN BORDERS, (WE WILL AUTO-FAX YOUR PETITION TO 535 U.S. CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS!) Free option here.
