The US will reopen its Jerusalem Consulate soon, this time solely to serve Arabs of the Palestinian Authority, according to a report by i24TV news and multiple other news outlets quoting a “high ranking Israeli official.”
The move comes despite the strong objections of the Israeli government, which this week announced the establishment of a new hareidi-religious neighborhood in Jerusalem, the area of the abandoned Atarot airport. Some 10,000 homes are to be built in the new neighborhood.
The US government deeply opposes any new Israeli construction in “disputed” post-1967 areas. The reunification of Jerusalem after the Six Day War precludes any compromise on activities in the Israeli capital, however.
“We have no problem doing everything in coordination [with the US] as much as possible, if they want,” said Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, a member of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s ‘Yamina’ party. “But we’re not changing our policy,” she added.
The Biden Administration is firmly committed to reopening the consulate to deal with “Palestinian affairs” despite its closure in 2019 by the previous Trump Administration when the US Embassy moved from Tel Aviv to the Israeli capital.
At that time, the existing US Consulate in Jerusalem was merged with the Embassy.
Biden is a strong supporter of the so-called “two state solution” although it presents no real “solution” at all, inasmuch as the Palestinian Authority government is vocal, dedicated sponsor of deadly terrorism against Israelis.
