200 congressional Republicans have signed a letter to President Joe Biden, opposing the official opening of the US embassy in east Jerusalem.
This previously served as a de facto Palestine consulate before being closed for good by the Trump presidency once Israel’s capital was declared in 2018.
Republicans Don’t Mince Their Words
“We write today to voice our strong objection to your government’s plan to reopen the US consulate general in Israel’s permanent capital, Jerusalem, to enable distinct diplomacy engagement to the Palestinians,” the House Republicans wrote.
Restarting the US consulate general in Jerusalem, per the congressmembers, “would be incompatible with the Jerusalem Ambassador Act of 1995 by encouraging partition of Jerusalem.”
The letter noted, “your government would establish a confusing situation in which the United States would effectively have two different diplomatic missions in Israel’s capital.”
“The United States consulate general in Jerusalem, which opened in 1844, was never designed to serve as a point of contact for Palestinians in Israel’s capital.”
Relaunching the consulate would also “praise and look the other way to the Palestinian authority participating in the real hurdles to peace,” according to the report.
Trump's historic Israel policies will endure https://t.co/sdZ6srZxE6
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) January 21, 2021
Only 12 conservatives did not sign the petition, which came just days after 35 Republican senators attempted to submit measures to prohibit the United States from restoring the embassy post.
Last week, a senior State Department spokesman, GOP Sen. Bill Hagerty, stated President Biden would be unable to restore the embassy without Israel’s permission. Hagerty made this claim, citing the Jerusalem Consulate Act of 1995, which prohibits the US from making any moves that would split Jerusalem.
Biden Divides, Rather Than Unites
“It is disappointing the Biden government continues to make efforts that separate the US and Israel. This comes at a time when our two countries should be laser-focused on preventing Iran’s terror-supporting government from going nuclear,” Hagerty said in a statement.
71% of Americans think the country’s headed in the wrong direction.
The real question:
Who are the 29% that think things are going well?
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) November 1, 2021
The Convention on Rights and Duties of States of 1963 was passed overwhelmingly by the United States Congress. This also prohibits any country from establishing a consulate without the authorization of the host nation, as stated in a Breitbart News piece at the time.
Both the Biden government and Israeli authorities have been pressed to restore the embassy by congressional Democrats.
Palestinian authorities have characterized the embassy as “the seedling of the American Embassy to the prospective Palestinian state, and a declaration about almost everything connected to the administration’s attitude on Jerusalem,” according to the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.
Here’s the thing: there already is a Palestinian state, and its capital is not Jerusalem. How much longer are Democrats going to push that agenda that freeing the Palestinians is a top priority when they are already free?
Correction, they are oppressed by their own government, the PLA and Hammas.
