Netanyahu: ‘Israel’ must fight US plan to reopen consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Former Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday called on the current government to oppose the Biden administration’s plan to reopen the US consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem.

“Once again, the Bennett government ‘contains’ [the situation] even when it means dividing our capital, Jerusalem. The State of Israel must oppose this move in every way possible,” Netanyahu tweeted.

כראש הממשלה נתניהו הביא להכרה אמריקנית בריבונות ישראל בירושלים ופעל להעברת השגרירות האמריקנית אליה. ממשלת לפיד – בנט- סער מביאה להקמת קונסוליה אמריקנית (המיועדת להיות השגרירות בפועל) לפלסטינים בירושלים! pic.twitter.com/T66yXMk693

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) October 15, 2021

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday that Washington will be moving forward with its plan of reopening its consulate which served Palestinians in Jerusalem.

“We’ll be moving forward with the process of opening a consulate as part of deepening those ties with the Palestinians,” Blinken stated at the State Department as speaking to the press after hosting a trilateral meeting with Israeli occupation Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

Last May, the Biden administration announced that the U.S. would be reopening the Consulate General in Jerusalem that handled relations with the Palestinians.

Biden said he would keep the US embassy in Jerusalem “to engage the Palestinians.”

The consulate dates back to 1844 and served for 25 years as the U.S. diplomatic mission to the Palestinians.

However, in 2018, outgoing President Donald Trump merged the consulate into the US embassy in Jerusalem, after he moved the US embassy to ‘Israel’ from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem after his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.

Several Israeli officials opposed the US plan, including Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Israeli occupation Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Bennett proposed to the US President Joe Biden that the American Consulate reopened on the outskirts of Ramallah or in the occupied West Bank town of Abu Dis, but the United States has said it is not interested in the plan.

In a conversation with Editor-in-Chief Yaakov Katz at the Jerusalem Post Conference, Sa’ar also said that he strongly opposes the opening of a US consulate that handled relations with Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem, adding that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is on the same page.

“I spoke with [Prime Minister Naftali Bennett] a couple of times on the issue. We are on the same page, and we don’t see differently,” Saar added. “Someone said it’s an electoral commitment. But for us, it’s a generation’s commitment. We will not compromise on this.”