Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Al-Maliki criticized United States President Joe Biden on Thursday for moving too slowly to reverse all of the Trump administration's adverse policies against the Palestinians and not using Washington's "special" relationship to pressure Israel to abandon what he claims is Jerusalem's "rejection of a two-state solution and peace negotiations."

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Al-Maliki told the United Nations Security Council there were hopes that the end of Donald Trump's administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government "would be enough to pave the way for renewed momentum for peace."

But while the Biden administration reversed several "unlawful and ill-advised" Trump policies, he said it has been slow to act, especially on the US commitment to reopen its consulate in east Jerusalem which would restore Washington's main diplomatic mission for the Palestinians in the contested city.

After Biden took office a year ago, the Palestinians thought the United States "could try to move the Israeli position toward us," Al-Maliki told reporters later. "But we have seen that the Israeli position has been able to move the American position a little bit towards them – and this is really what troubles us very much."

Tor Wennesland, the UN Mideast envoy, told the council that six Palestinian men were killed by Israeli security forces, another died in unclear circumstances, and 249 Palestinians were injured, including 46 children, in the West Bank in the past month. He said 15 Israelis were injured in attacks by Palestinians.

UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan accused Al-Maliki of making "regurgitated accusations and baseless claims," and of ignoring the more than 200 terror attacks carried out by Palestinians against Israel in the last month, including rock throwing incidents and grenades and Molotov cocktails.

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Israel continued its public opposition on Saturday to a plan by the Biden administration to reopen a US consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem, a move it sees would undermine its sovereignty in the capital. 

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"My position, and it was presented to the Americans ... is that there is no place for a US consulate which serves the Palestinians in Jerusalem. We are voicing our opinion consistently, quietly, without drama," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters. 

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, speaking next to Bennett, proposed that if the US insists on reopening its mission, it should do so in the West Bank.

"If they [the US] want to open a consulate in Ramallah, we have no problem with that," he said.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, rejected Lapid's comments.

"We will only accept a US consulate in Jerusalem, the capital of the Palestinian state. That was what the US administration had announced and had committed itself to do," he told Reuters.

The US embassy was not immediately available for comment. 

The consulate was closed in 2018 by then-US President Donald Trump. However, seeking to repair ties with the Palestinians, the Biden administration has said it would reopen the consulate, although it has not given a date.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month Washington would "be moving forward with the process of opening a consulate as part of deepening of those ties with the Palestinians", however Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Brian McKeon has pointed out that according to US and international law, Washington cannot go ahead with the move unless the Israeli government gives its consent first. 

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Three-dozen Republican senators introduced a bill on Tuesday that aims to block the Biden administration's plan to reopen the US consulate for the Palestinians in Jerusalem.

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Upholding the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Law Act of 2021 was introduced by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and co-sponsored by 34 additional Republicans. It calls on the Biden administration to uphold the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and not reopen the US Consulate to the Palestinians, which was merged into the US embassy when it was relocated to Jerusalem in May 2018.

"[US] President [Joe] Biden continues to push forward his inflammatory plan to establish a second mission in Israel's capital city of Jerusalem – one for the Israelis and a second one for the Palestinians – despite the fact that this plan violates the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 and is completely opposed by the government of Israel," Hagerty said in a statement.

"It is regrettable that the Biden administration insists on making moves that divide the United States and Israel when our two nations should be laser-focused on stopping Iran's terror-sponsoring regime from going nuclear; on countering growing threats from Hezbollah, Hamas and other Iran-backed terrorist groups; and on strengthening and expanding the historic Abraham Accords that truly have increased peace in the Middle East," the statement continued.

In June, Hagerty also joined a group of Republican colleagues led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to press the Biden administration to adhere to US law and refrain from reopening the Mission of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in Washington, DC, and the US Consulate General in Jerusalem for the Palestinians.

The Biden administration has announced plans to reopen the consulate in Jerusalem as part of its larger effort to reestablish ties with the Palestinians that had largely been severed under the Trump administration.

However, the plan remains a point of contention with Israel, with both Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid voicing their opposition. It is unclear if and when the United States would move forward with the plan, which could lead to a strain in ties.

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Previous reports had indicated that the Biden administration was waiting for the Israeli government to pass a budget so as to avoid possibly triggering new elections that could bring former Prime Minister and current opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu back into power.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The Biden administration wants to reopen a consulate for Palestinian affairs in Jerusalem as part of its efforts to reverse former US President Donald Trump's policies and achievements. Trump subsumed the consulate into the US embassy when he moved it from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018 – a move that was hailed by every friend of Israel and that finally fulfilled the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which explicitly states, "Since 1950, the city of Jerusalem has been the capital of the State of Israel."

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The Biden administration's plan, however, would divide the united capital of Jerusalem and push any chance for peace with the Palestinians farther away, as well as break diplomatic norms, violate US law and damage America's special relationship with Israel.

Last week, Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Israel "cannot and will not agree to divide Jerusalem by permitting a US-Palestinian consulate to open." He clarified that it would "violate Israeli and US law, and betray the commitment of both countries to Israel's eternal and undivided capital."

This is a sharp contrast to the stance US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has taken, especially as he announced in May that America would reopen the Jerusalem consulate it had used in the past to engage with the Palestinians. The question is: Why would the Biden administration want to insult its closest ally in the Middle East to placate the Palestinians, who are offering nothing in return? What does it gain in the short or long term other than dividing the capital of the Jewish state?

Former Jerusalem mayor and current Likud MK Nir Barkat told Jewish News Syndicate that the Biden administration's plan to unilaterally open the consulate in the heart of Jerusalem "will destabilize the Middle East, damage Israel's security and give a prize to radical Islam by dividing the Jewish capital."

Barkat suggested that if Biden's team wants to improve relations with the Palestinians, "they should send a diplomatic mission to Ramallah and demand that they stop supporting terrorists, change their education system, and instead of violence, focus on peace for future generations."

Barkat has been busy over the last few months lobbying against the consulate and has also been pushing to outlaw it.

In September, he met with US senators and congressmen during a trip to Washington and asked them to oppose the opening of the consulate. His main message to them, reiterated on his Twitter feed, was "we cannot allow the opening of a Palestinian consulate which would divide Jerusalem – the eternal, united and undivided capital of the Jewish people."

'A terrible idea'

Others have expressed their opposition as well.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that opening a US consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem was "a terrible idea for the United States, Israel and the Palestinian people."

Matan Peleg, chairman of Im Tirtzu and a signatory to a letter sent by 150 bereaved families to Blinken this week, wrote: "If the secretary of state wants to promote 'peace,' the last thing he should do is set up a special American consulate for Palestinians in the capital of Israel."

"Apart from the fact that this tramples Israeli sovereignty and lacks any minimal respect for a friendly nation, it also signals to the Palestinians that the path of recalcitrance and resistance is acceptable, and pays off. This step will encourage nothing but terrorism," he said.

According to Itamar Marcus from Palestinian Media Watch, "American law is quite clear. The US 'Jerusalem Embassy Act' repeatedly stresses the unity and indivisibility of Jerusalem as Israel's capital."

In an article recently published in Newsweek, attorneys Nathan Lewin and Alyza D. Lewin wrote that while many consider the consulate to be "a minor administrative change," it is actually "nothing less than a devious scheme to reverse US recognition that Jerusalem is in Israel. … This is not about dividing Jerusalem. It is about denying Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem."

However, Thomas Nides, who was confirmed by a Senate committee this week to be incoming US Ambassador to Israel, seemed to support opening the consulate when he said in September during his confirmation hearing, "That consulate has existed, in one form or another, for almost 130 years."

'They never have any conditions for anything'

The Biden administration's desire to reopen the consulate raises a lot of questions, as well as eyebrows, and appears to suggest that the United States is not neutral on the matter and is intentionally taking the Palestinian side.

Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US policy in the Middle East at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, told JNS that the Biden team's effort is "a very hostile move."

"It's not just hostile to Israel," he said. "These moves are irrational and are also bad for the Palestinian people. This is very strange and unusual."

He noted that both the United States and the Palestinians would like to roll back Trump's policies and this is one of them.

"The Biden administration has already gone back on issues such as funding for the Palestinian Authority, they restored funding for UNRWA, they are talking about reopening the PLO office in Washington, and they are talking about the two-state solution and starting a diplomatic process," Gilboa added.

Gilboa noted the Biden administration's argument that this move will encourage the Palestinians to return to negotiations.

He rejected this argument outright, noting that former US President Barack Obama "was the most pro-Palestinian president, maybe in history, at least since Carter, and the Palestinians still refused to come to the table," he said.

Gilboa lambasted the Biden administration for its "typical error in American diplomacy."

"They do all kinds of things without any conditions," he said, noting, for example, the US appeasement-oriented diplomatic approach at the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Council and with regard to Iran.

For instance, he said, America can restore funding to the PA while also demanding certain changes, "and they never do it," he said. "They never have any conditions for anything. At least require some concessions from the other side. It's poor diplomatic management and not just poor policy."

"Just connect the dots and see how many failures they have in intelligence," he said. "Afghanistan is a failure. China is a failure. So maybe the Palestinian issue is also a failure."

Gilboa suggested that the United States is trying to link the Palestinian issue, the Abraham Accords and Iran.

"They are saying to Israel, 'You need to cooperate on the Palestinian issue in order for us to be more favorable to your advice on Iran.' This is very dangerous," said Gilboa. "If this logic exists, it doesn't make much sense."

He also pointed to the timing, which he said is "always important."

Israel's shaky government coalition looks poised to pass a budget in November – the country's first in over two years – and any political challenge before that could topple it.

"They would get [Benjamin] Netanyahu back, unless they want him to come back, and this does not seem to be the case," he said.

Even after the approval of the budget, "it makes no difference" since it could still topple the government, according to Gilboa.

'You move the ball into their court'

He also said he doesn't believe recent news reports that Foreign Minister Yair Lapid agreed to the consulate.

Gilboa recalled an incident between former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and former US President George H.W. Bush when Bush claimed that Shamir committed to halting construction in Judea and Samaria. Shamir said he never made that kind of a concession.

"I believe him," said Gilboa. "There is a history of American manipulation here. To say that Lapid agreed – and he is saying, 'No, I did not agree' – I believe him and not the State Department because it doesn't seem logical."

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Turning back to the consulate, Gilboa noted that most diplomatic delegations to the Palestinians are in Ramallah, not in Jerusalem.

The solution here, according to Gilboa, is for Israel not to say "no," but to offer the Biden team an alternative. "The US can open the consulate in Ramallah or in Abu Dis," he said. "This way, you move the ball into their court."

According to Gilboa, opening a consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem would mean "some reduction in the status of the existing Jerusalem embassy. There is no state in the world where there is an embassy and a consulate in the same place," he said.

He also noted the international understanding that countries do not open diplomatic representation without the complete endorsement of the host country. Israel opposes it, and yet, the Biden administration is allegedly fixated on forcing Israel to allow it.

"This is not how things work," said Gilboa. "This is going to be a violation of diplomatic protocols. The American proposed action without Israeli consent is a total violation of all kinds of rules."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Besides reopening a diplomatic mission to the Palestinians in west Jerusalem, the Biden administration is also looking to open a consulate branch in east Jerusalem, Israel Hayom found out Wednesday from sources involved in the matter. 

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According to reports, Washington has already held talks with Palestinian leaders with regard to this. 

The US consulate used to be located on Nablus Road in east Jerusalem but was moved to the western part of the capital in 2010. The mission operated from there until its closure by former US President Donald Trump in 2019. 

For years, it assisted the Palestinian Authority in establishing governing bodies and security services and liaised with the Palestinian leadership in east Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip. It also provided the US State Department with information on Israeli building of settlements in Judea and Samaria, a move Washington opposed for many years, except during the Trump administration. 

According to Al-Quds daily, the Biden administration plans to reopen the consulate – despite pushback from Israel – within the next few weeks. 

The move was commended by PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh who expressed hope it would "lay the foundation for a future US embassy in the Palestinian state."

According to the Palestinian Media Watch, he also said that by reopening its diplomatic mission to the Palestinians "the US administration is sending a message that Jerusalem is not a united Israeli city and that it does not recognize the annexation of Arab Jerusalem by the Israeli side."

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Nir Barkat, the former mayor of Jerusalem who is now a member of Knesset with the Likud party, is seeking to outlaw the planned reopening of a US diplomatic mission in Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

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Israel's new cross-partisan government led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also opposes the reinauguration of the consulate, potentially buoying Barkat's effort to scupper the move, though it would strain relations with Washington.

The consulate was subsumed into the US Embassy that was moved to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in 2018 by then-US President Donald Trump, steps hailed by Israel and condemned by Palestinians.

US President Joe Biden's administration has said it will reopen the consulate while leaving the embassy in place.

In August, Israel Hayom reported that the Biden administration was working behind the scenes to persuade Israel to reopen the consulate for the Palestinians.

Barkat's bill, which he filed in the Knesset last month and with voting as yet unscheduled, would outlaw opening a foreign mission in Jerusalem without Israel's consent.

"I think that the current Israeli government is weak. It relies on the left, it relies on radicals on our side," he told Reuters. "We must do everything we can to maintain the unity of the city of Jerusalem."

Ahmed Al-Deek, adviser to the Palestinian Authority foreign ministry, said Barkat "represents the position of far-right parties in Israel which seek to block any chance of reaching a two-state solution."

Barkat said polling showed nearly 70% public support for the bill – enough to garner votes from within the coalition. Asked for Bennett's position, his spokesman cast the bill as a PR stunt, saying: "We don't comment on trolling."

US officials have been largely reticent on the issue, saying only that the reopening process remains in effect.

Asked whether precedent existed in US diplomacy for opening a mission over objections of a host country, the State Department's Office of the Historian declined comment.

Barkat's bill recognizes that there are a handful of countries with Jerusalem missions, like the former consulate, that predate Israel's founding in 1948.

In what may signal a bid to persuade Israel to reconsider the former mission as a candidate to rejoin that group, Thomas Nides, Biden's pick for ambassador to Israel, noted in his Sept. 22 confirmation hearing: "That consulate has existed, in one form or another, for almost 130 years."

Barkat was unmoved, saying: "We respect what happened before 1948 [but] never did we give anybody consent to open up a diplomatic mission for Palestinians in the city of Jerusalem."

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Likud Knesset member Nir Barkat is delivering on his promise to "agressively fight" the Biden administration's decision to open a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem, a move he sees would be "disastrous" for Israel. 

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On Saturday, Barkat turned to Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy demanding the government hold an emergency session to discuss the matter.

"Opening such a consulate would cause irreversible damage that would undermine Jerusalem's status as the capital of Israel," Barkat wrote to Levy. 

"I was recently informed that the United States is intending to open a consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem in the upcoming weeks and that the Israeli government was willing [to go along with it], despite the fact that there is already an embassy in the city [that serves both Israelis and Palestinians.]

"In view of the urgency and the gravity of the matter, we would like the Knesset to convene for an emergency meeting," Barkat wrote. 

His demand comes two weeks before Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's meeting with US President Joe Biden, planned to take place in late August. The two are expected to discuss, among other things, the matter of the Palestinian consulate. 

The Biden administration has been working for weeks behind the scenes to persuade Israel to reopen the American consulate for the Palestinians. Israel Hayom learned that administration officials worked to delay a bill proposed by Barkat, which, if passed into law, would essentially prevent the move from materializing. 

The legislation proposed by Barkat, a former mayor of Jerusalem, would ban any country from establishing a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem that is not a mission to Israel. 

Barkat, who in July met with several Republican and Democratic congressmen and senators in Washington to explain the dangers of such a move, told Israel Hayom: "The act of establishing a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem means recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. The administration's consent on this matter is disastrous. I intend to aggressively fight this dangerous decision. It is a red line that cannot be crossed. Jerusalem will remain the capital of unified Jerusalem for all eternity."

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