Naftali Bennett will hold a press conference at the Knesset of the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on April 21, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 via JTA)
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that reopening the US consulate in Jerusalem could destabilize the government.
- The consulate in East Jerusalem has been closed since 2019.
- It had It has long been an independent office responsible for overseeing diplomatic relations with the Palestinians.
Israel has stated that the United States’ plan to reopen its consulate in Jerusalem is a “bad idea” that could destabilize the government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
The previous administration of US President Donald Trump expressed support for Israel’s claim to Jerusalem as its capital by moving the US embassy there from Tel Aviv and closing the consulate, which has traditionally been a base for diplomatic contacts with Palestinians.
This is one of several measures taken by the Trump administration to anger Palestinian leaders, who want East Jerusalem to become the capital of the future nation.
President Joe Biden has pledged to restore US-Palestinian relations and support a two-state solution. In May, Secretary of State Anthony Brinkett announced that the United States will reopen the consulate that has been closed since 2019.
The consulate is located in occupied East Jerusalem and has long been an independent office responsible for overseeing diplomatic relations with the Palestinians.
“We think this is a bad idea,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said at a news conference on Wednesday when asked about the reopening.
He said:
Jerusalem is the sovereign capital of Israel and Israel, so we think this is not a good idea.
“we know, [Biden] The government has different views on this, but since it happened in Israel, we are sure that they will listen to our opinions very carefully. “
The Palestine Liberation Organization official Wasel Abu Youssef said that Israel is trying to maintain the status quo and prevent any political solution.
The U.S. Embassy did not immediately comment.
Israel sees the entire Jerusalem as its indivisible capital—a position that has not been recognized internationally.
It occupied the eastern part of the city and the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East War, and has occupied these territories since then.
Bennett is a nationalist with a cross-party coalition and opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state. Lapid said that the reopening of the consulate may disturb the Bennett government, which ended Benjamin Netanyahu’s long term in June.
He said:
Our government has an interesting but delicate structure. We think this may destabilize the government. I think the US government does not want this to happen.
Lapid said that the differences between the Palestinians also cast doubt on the prospects of diplomacy. “I am a faithful believer in the two-state solution… but we have to admit that this is not feasible under the current circumstances.
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