Republicans introduce bill to stop Jerusalem consulate for Palestinians
BY CHRISTINE DOUGLASS-WILLIAMS
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:
In the face of the Biden administration’s lack of support for Israel — from its open rebuke of Israeli settlement policies in Judea and Samaria to establishing a Jerusalem consulate to Palestinians — some Republicans have introduced a bill to stop the latter, which is welcome news.
Although Biden has said he won’t reverse Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, he proceeded with a move that would in effect symbolically neutralize Trump’s gesture. Reopening the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem is inappropriate, given the Palestinian goal to annihilate Israel. It provides a further opportunity for the Palestinians to target Israel and exacerbate divisions in Jerusalem. We can hope that Israel will block Biden’s plans.
Biden’s overall stance on Israel has far-reaching implications; he is encouraging jihad and antagonism against Israel. America’s stance will likely have an adverse impact in the next round of Palestinian jihadist rocket fire against Israel, which is inevitable, so that when Israel defends itself, pro-Palestinian protests, accompanied by antisemitic flareups, will likely gain even more momentum, as was already seen in May during Operation Guardian of the Walls.
Also, last month, the Squad “
“GOP bill seeks to stop Jerusalem consulate for Palestinians” by Lahav Harkov, Jerusalem Post, October 26, 2021:
US Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, along with 33 other Republican senators, introduced a bill on Tuesday meant to block the Biden administration from opening a consulate serving Palestinians in Jerusalem.
The Upholding the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Law Act of 2021 is meant to ensure the full implementation of the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act and stop what Hagerty views as the Biden administration’s attempted subversion of that law.
US President Joe Biden has said he will not reverse former president Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
However, Biden promised in his election campaign that he would reopen the consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem, which was merged into the US Embassy to Israel in 2018, when Trump implemented the 1995 law and moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other US officials have said they will reopen the consulate, which was historically in a building on Agron Street in downtown Jerusalem.
The US would need Israel’s approval to open a consulate, and the current Israeli government opposes the move.
Hagerty said: “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 Trump administration kept its promise to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish State, and Congress must do everything in our power to strengthen our posture,” he added.
The new act quotes the 1995 law, which states, “Jerusalem should remain an undivided city,” and calls for it to be recognized as the capital of Israel and the relocation of the US Embassy.….