Israel’s deputy overseas minister stated on Sunday that the Biden administration might shelve its plan to reopen a US diplomatic mission for Palestinians in Jerusalem after Israel voiced opposition to such a transfer, based on a report by Reuters.
The Jerusalem consulate was subsumed into the US Embassy that was moved to the contested metropolis from Tel Aviv in 2018 by the administration of former President Donald Trump – a reversal of US coverage hailed by Israel and condemned by Palestinians.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this month reiterated Washington’s plan to reopen the consulate as a part of efforts to restore Palestinian ties. He didn’t give timelines.
“I consider that I’ve good motive to assume this won’t occur,” Deputy International Minister Idan Roll advised Israel’s Ynet TV.
Report: Israeli foreign minister misled Blinken on US consulate in Jerusalem
“The People perceive the political complexity,” Roll stated, including:
We now have superb relations … We do not consider in shocking them. I do not assume they may attempt to shock us.
US Embassy spokespeople couldn’t instantly be reached for remark
Israel deems all Jerusalem its undivided capital and says it might not consent to reopening the consulate. The Palestinians need town’s east for their very own future, hoped-for state.
Reopening the consulate may weaken nationalist Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and undermine his fragile cross-partisan authorities, Israeli officers have argued.
