Sun 07 November 2021:
There is no place for an American consulate that serves Palestinians in Jerusalem, Israel’s prime minister said Saturday.
Naftali Bennett, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman held a news conference after the approval of the state budget.
Regarding the US reopening its consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem, which was closed in 2019, Bennett said: “We are expressing our position consistently, quietly and without drama, and I hope it is understood. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel alone.”
Lapid backed Bennett up, saying that “If the Americans want to open a consulate in Ramallah we have no problem with that.” But “sovereignty in Jerusalem belongs to one country — Israel.”
Asked about the issue during a press conference alongside Lapid in Washington two weeks ago, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated the Biden administration’s intention to proceed with the plan. “As I said in May, we’ll be moving forward with the process of opening a consulate as part of deepening those ties with the Palestinians,” he said.
Former US President Donald Trump closed the Consulate General in Jerusalem, which serves Palestinians, on March 4, 2019, after moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the consulate in Jerusalem would be reopened during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in May.
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