Many now wonder if Biden can fulfill a campaign pledge to reopen the American Consulate in east Jerusalem. Pressure is mounting in Israel against the White House on this issue and Israeli officials vow they will do all they can to stop the U.S. move.
Professor Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), a conservative think tank, told The Media Line that Israel is staunchly opposing the reopening of the diplomatic mission.
“There is no precedent in the world where a country has an embassy and opens a consulate for another country or political entity. This has simply never been done,” he said.
Inbar says such a move by the Biden administration is an encroachment on Israel’s sovereignty, as the U.S. argues that east Jerusalem is an occupied territory and therefore, under international law, does not fall under Israeli control.
