President Biden is pressing forward with plans to set up a US embassy for Palestinians in West Jerusalem. He’s doing this despite Israeli complaints this would breach their independence and break the norms of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Undoing everything Trump worked so hard to achieve
In 2017, President Trump acknowledged Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Then, in 2018, Trump relocated the US consulate from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, completing a pledge made by both Republican and Democrat governments, but never followed through on.
Despite predictions of bloodshed, the decision led to improved ties between Israel and the Arab nations. In 2020, the Trump administration mediated over the Abraham Accords, which brought Israel and many neighboring Arab states together.
In 2020, then-candidate Biden pledged to “reopen the US embassy in East Jerusalem,” which is really in West Jerusalem (where Israel has administered since 1948) in order to please the Democrat Party’s burgeoning far-left, pro-Palestinian element.
When the new consulate in Jerusalem opened, the facility was converted into an extension of the main embassy. In exchange for that or other electioneering pledges, Biden did not request any compromises from the Palestinians.
When Pres Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, the left was outraged, certain that a massive Arab uprising would follow.
Still waiting…
— Bobdad (@Captbobdad) October 25, 2021
It would be almost unique for the US to open a new consul in a location where the US already maintains an embassy. This would give the idea the US is adamant on dividing Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians.
Israel might block the whole deal
Jerusalem has ruled out establishing a US consulate in Jerusalem, despite the fact it has the authority to do so under the Convention, which both the US and Israel are parties.
“A diplomatic post may be created in the area of the receiving country, only with that state’s permission,” according to Article 4.
The US Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel and called for Jerusalem to remain an undivided city..
From Israel: “When We Are Our Own Worst Enemy” https://t.co/XObrjnmHTj
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— Jews Down Under-Shirlee (@JewsDownUnder) October 24, 2021
Israel’s new foreign secretary, Yair Lapid, is considered as associated with the Democrat Party in the United States. Lapid is also reported to have given the idea Israel would agree to this.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, on the other hand, stated he will never agree to enable the US to divide Jerusalem. According to a source in Israel Hayom, the Biden government is already planning to proclaim the consul, erect a new sign on the structure, and use the diplomatic mission to handle Palestinian problems, rather than the embassy.
Thomas Nides is the new US envoy and has been lauded as a friend of Israel by liberals and the mainstream media. Nides is now poised to follow through with Biden’s directives, perhaps sparking a diplomatic row between the two nations.
Israel is apparently exploring a range of steps. Some of these steps may include shutting down the building’s services, slapping penalties on the US, and other measures that Israeli politicians will not discuss openly. It’s not looking good.
