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Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein and ZOA Director of Research & Special Projects Elizabeth Berney, Esq. released the following statement:
Unfortunately, the U.S. State Department just clarified that the Biden administration is “committed” to opening an illegal “Palestinian” consulate in Jerusalem. This dashed the recent, previous sliver of good news, reported by The Times of Israel and Israel National News, based on statements from senior Biden administration officials, that the Biden administration had finally given up its plans to open an illegal “Palestinian” Arab consulate in the heart of Jerusalem (but was instead planning other unsavory alternatives).
At a U.S. State Department press briefing yesterday afternoon, a questioner asked about the Times of Israel report that “you guys have shelved, once and for all,” opening the Palestinian consulate. State Department spokesman Ned Price responded that this part of the Times of Israel report “is not accurate. We remain committed to opening a consulate in Jerusalem.” The hostile-to-Israel questioner then asked what the holdup was. Ned Price responded that there are some steps that have to be taken and “unique sensitivities . . . and we are working through the issue with our Palestinian and Israeli partners.” (So now the Palestinian Authority terror regime is a U.S. “partner”?)
ZOA, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others have repeatedly explained that opening a U.S. consulate for Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem – over the opposition of Israel’s current and previous government – is wrong and illegal under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963) – which requires the consent of the host country to open a consulate, and is illegal under the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 – which recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and a united, undivided city.
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