"If Iran gives an order to launch missiles [into Israel] from Lebanon, we must attack Tehran," former Jerusalem mayor and current Likud MK Nir Barkat told Israel Hayom's Editor-in-Chief Boaz Bismuth, at the Israeli-American Council conference in Florida on Saturday. 

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Barkat, who is currently in the United States on a public diplomacy tour, stressed that "when we talk about the Iranian threat, we are all one people – the opposition and the coalition in Israel as well as the US. Iran is governed by a radical Islamic regime that wants to obtain nuclear weapons in order to use them, that is their goal. There's no point in talking to people who want to push you into the sea."

Barkat added, "We also need to be aware of the existing threat. There are about 250,000 missiles around our borders. We need to tell the Iranian regime that for every missile fired at Israel from one of its proxies, our target will be Tehran. We need to be prepared for the first war with Iran, and the only way to prevent a war is to prepare for it seriously. The Iranians need to understand that we will attack forcefully. I want them to be afraid before they press the button to attack Israel."

In the last few months, Barkat led the efforts to prevent the reopening of the United States' Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem. He garnered the support of 200 members of Congress who sent a letter to President Joe Biden opposing the move. In addition, 36 senators submitted a bill to block the reopening.

"Opening the consulate would divide Jerusalem, and that is why we will never let that happen," Barkat said.

With regard to internal Israeli politics, the lawmaker said, "When we [Likud] return to power, we will promote Israel much faster, because the [current] government has no vision. There are elements from the Left, the Right, Arabs, they have completely different angles. We need a government with a clear vision to promote the Golan, the Negev, the Galilee and Judea and Samaria."

When asked about the polls that predict his victory in the Likud leadership race after Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Barkat said, "I am part of the Likud, and we are a democratic party in a democratic state. For me, the day Netanyahu decides to leave, primaries will open and I will run and win."

Barkat was also asked whether Netanyahu constitutes an asset or a burden for the Likud now, to which he replied, "I said before that we are a democratic party and we are a democratic state, so the people who need to determine assets or burdens are the Likudniks and the people of Israel – they will decide. They are the ones who decide at every election, as they did last time, and whatever they decide, we will accept."

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Democratic members of the US Congress are expected to ask US President Joe Biden not to open the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem.

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The move is the initiative of senior representatives from the moderate wing of the Democratic party.

While they said their request would be made public, at this stage, the representatives asked to remain anonymous to bolster the chances of their success.

The Democratic representatives voiced their opposition to the consulate's reopening at a meeting with Binyamin Regional Council Head Israel Gantz and adviser for US-Israel ties Ruth Lieberman. At the meeting, the two explained the opening of the consulate would send a message of support for the future division of Jerusalem and explained such a move was contrary to accepted diplomatic policy and in violation of Israeli and US law.

The representatives said they would demand Biden halt efforts to reopen the US diplomatic mission to the Palestinians, noting both the president and the Democratic party had more important issues to contend with at this time, chief among them Biden's massive infrastructure spending plan to boost the US economy.

To date, all efforts to block the reopening of the consulate have been led by Republicans. Last week, 35 Republican senators introduced a bill to stop the move, although they were unable to garner Democratic support for the legislation.

Binyamin Regional Council head Gantz told Israel Hayom, "The members of Congress we met with understand the significance of opening the consulate – harm to Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem and harm even to US sovereignty as the transfer of the [US] Embassy [to Jerusalem] at the time was in effect the declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital."

Lieberman added: "It turns out the consulate issue is not a partisan one.

"We succeeded in spurring senior members of Congress from the Democratic party who will not hesitate to express their opposition to the move. They believe the opening of the consulate is a dangerous step for Jerusalem," she said.

The two Israeli officials also met with 60 Republican members of Congress. In that meeting, the Israelis presented US officials with evidence of "the Palestinian takeover of the territory" as well as the need to develop the area for the benefit of all residents.

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In further proof the US intends to re-open a diplomatic mission to the Palestinians in Jerusalem once the Knesset authorizes the state budget, sources with ties to the White House told the Palestinian Al-Quds daily Washington planned to go ahead with the move despite pushback from Israel and some in the US Congress.

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According to the sources cited in the report, the de-facto embassy to the Palestinians will be opened "shortly" after the state budget is passed next month, in other words as soon as either November or early December.

The sources said US President Joe Biden's administration "was furious with Israel's policies" on expanding settlements in Judea and Samaria and was concerned by security tensions in the West Bank, in particular recent confrontations between Palestinians and settlers on Mt. Hebron.

Senior Israeli officials are adamantly opposed to the move, which the political echelon sees as a sign of the future partition of Jerusalem and its possible recognition as the future Palestinian capital.

According to the American sources, in the first stage, the White House plans to reach an agreement with Israel on the issue. Should those efforts fail, the government could take the unilateral step of reopening the consulate once the budget has passes and the government is likely to remain stable.

Israel has argued that if Washington is interested in opening a diplomatic mission to the Palestinians in Jerusalem, it should do so outside of the municipality's jurisdiction, for example, in the neighborhood of Abu Dis. The US has rejected that proposal outright.

Those in favor of reopening the mission argue it did not harm Israeli sovereignty in the city when it served as a de-facto Palestinian consulate in the past.

Former US President Donald Trump shuttered the mission in 2019. It currently serves as the official residence of the US ambassador to Israel.

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Tensions between Israel and the US over Washington's plans to reopen a key diplomatic office to the Palestinians in Jerusalem stem from a lack of coordination between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister and Prime Minister-designate Yair Lapid, according to a diplomatic source with knowledge of the issue.

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Lapid offered US Secretary of State Antony Blinken his preliminary commitment the US would be able to reopen the de-facto embassy to the Palestinians in one of his first phone calls with the senior White House official as foreign minister, the official told Israel Hayom.

In his conversations with Blinken, Lapid noted the government's sensitive political make-up and advised Washington to delay the move until after the Knesset passes a budget, a move Lapid explained would ensure government stability in Jerusalem. Blinken accepted Lapid's position, nevertheless working behind the scenes to advance the move inside the US State Department.

Nevertheless, around one month after the so-called "unity government" was sworn in in Jerusalem, Bennett's advisors began to hold talks with US President Joe Biden's administration on the subject. National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata and Bennett adviser Shimrit Meir visited the White House in Washington in early August in preparation for the premier's visit. In those talks, the two Israeli officials emphasized Bennett's opposition to the opening of the Palestinian consulate was a matter of principle and unrelated to political timing. Bennett would continue to oppose the move after the budget had passed, they explained.

Administration officials were reportedly surprised by Hulata's and Meir's stance as well as disappointed by the inconsistent Israeli position on the issue. "One of the reasons Blinken announced his intention of opening the consulate last week precisely when Lapid was by his side and with the knowledge Israel opposed [the move] was that Lapid had misled him," the source told Israel Hayom.

US presses ahead with Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said that the Biden administration plans to press ahead with its plan as part of efforts to deepen ties with Palestinians,

However, he stopped short of setting a date for reopening the consulate.

Speaking at a news conference with visiting Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Blinken said, "We'll be moving forward with the process of opening a consulate as part of deepening of those ties with the Palestinians."

Lapid has denied the reports, saying he has opposed the opening of a Palestinian consulate from Day 1. He also denied the US planned to unilaterally open the consulate if Israeli officials were unable to reach a decision on the move.

"The prime minister's consistent stance since the beginning of his term has been and remains that there is no room for a consulate in Jerusalem. This position was also relayed during the prime minister's visit to Washington as well as through the strategic adviser in talks with the US administration officials. The foreign minister has consistently expressed [support for] the same position in his talks with the Americans, including during his successful Washington trip," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

The US Embassy in Jerusalem and the US State Department declined to comment.

Likud MK Nir Barkat, who has been involved in the issue over the last two months, reiterated that Jerusalem and Washington had agreed the step would be implemented once the state budget has passed.

"The agreement with Lapid and Bennet is for the Americans not to act before the budget is passed to allow for the government's continued existence, but once the budget passes, the plan is for the new [US] Ambassador [to Israel Thomas R.] Nides to arrive in Israel to unilaterally open the de-facto Palestinian consulate. The objective of opening the Palestinian consulate is to determine on the ground Jerusalem as the capital of Palestinian and advance the establishment of a Palestinian state," Barkat said.

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