A group of Democratic lawmakers on Friday expressed their support to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for US President Joe Biden’s plan to reopen the US consulate in Jerusalem, which served as a de facto mission to the Palestinians.
The matter is set to become a point of conflict between Washington and Jerusalem, which opposes the measure.
“In our meetings today in Israel with Prime Minister Bennett and other officials, we emphasized the importance of reopening our consulate in Jerusalem to better serve the Palestinians. This commerce was before it was brutally closed by President Trump. The embassy was open for over 100 years,” tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy, who is in Israel as part of a congressional delegation to the Middle East by three other progressive senators, Chris Van Hollen, John Osoff and Richard Blumenthal.
Adding to Murphy’s tweet, Van Hollen wrote on Twitter, “Yes, we had good meetings and raised this issue. It was also a commitment @POTUS made and important to keep his word, follow through and reverse Trump’s damaging decision. “
Trump moved to close the consulate in 2019 and integrate it with the embassy that was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem after he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Trump described it as an efficiency measure, but saw it as a degradation of the real level of relations with the Palestinians.
Democratic US Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 25, 2018 (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Most of the staff at the historic mission on Agron Street continue to do the same job at the same location, although under the larger umbrella of US relations with Israel under a newly designated Palestinian Affairs Unit.
Biden has backed the withdrawal of the shutdown.
Asked about his position on the matter, Bennett told a group of American Jewish leaders on Friday that Jerusalem alone is the capital of the state of Israel, while refusing to comment further.
The prime minister has not even said he would block the move, noting that a foreign country needs Israeli authorization to open a mission on its territory. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also objected to the idea when it was first presented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in May.
But an official in the room said Netanyahu did not even go so far as to say that he would not sign the case if the US went ahead with it.
The group of Democratic lawmakers also met with President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Ram’s chairman Mansoor Abbas, Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Ram Ben-Barak.
After meeting with the group on Friday, Herzog tweeted, “Bilateralism is a sacred pillar of the US-Israel alliance. It is a pleasure to welcome a delegation of US Democratic Senators to Jerusalem. Had an open discussion with Senators @ChrisMurphyCT, @SenBlumenthal, @ChrisVanHollen & @ossoff about our shared interests and values.
Bipartisanship is a sacred pillar of the US-Israel coalition. It is a pleasure to welcome a delegation of US Democratic Senators to Jerusalem. open discussion with senators @ChrisMurphyCT, @senblumental, @ChrisVanHollen And @ossoff About our shared interests and values. ????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/GQjXj4BUwd
— Isaac Herzog Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) September 3, 2021
After meeting with Lapid on Thursday, Murphy tweeted, “We expressed our hope for the success of the new government and our strong support for the future of the two states.”
Earlier this week, Lapid warned that restoring a de facto mission to the Palestinians could break Israel’s fragile coalition government.
“We think it’s a bad idea and we’ve told the US that we think it’s a bad idea,” Lapid said.
Lapid said the reopening “would send the wrong message not only to the Palestinians in the region, but to other countries as well, and we don’t want that.”
“And besides, our government has an interesting but fragile structure and we think it could destabilize this government and I don’t think the US administration wants that to happen,” the secretary of state said, referring to the coalition, Including right-wing, centrist, left and Arab parties.
In a statement in response to Lapid’s remarks, the US embassy in Israel said, “The US will proceed with the process of reopening our consulate in Jerusalem.”
