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Biden Pushes for a Palestinian Consulate
From New York Post | July 11, 2022
Headline Prayer
Biden
Pushes for a Palestinian Consulate
Father, we pray against this move from Biden that would only harm and destabilize Israel. We pray that You would instead heal and promote stability in this nation, God.
Biden wants to put a consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem. In addition to being illegal, this could severely hurt Israel’s stability. Join intercessors who are fasting and praying about Biden’s trip. Click
HERE to read more.
Analysis. From New York Post. The Biden administration wants to open a Palestinian consulate
in Jerusalem. It’s a big mistake — for numerous reasons.
First, it’s illogical: A consulate is nothing more than a satellite office to an embassy. There’s already a US embassy in Jerusalem…
Second, it’s a waste of taxpayer money because the US embassy already provides consular services on a non-discriminatory basis to Palestinians and Israelis alike.
Third, fourth and
fifth — legally speaking — a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem would violate American, Israeli and international law.
For starters, America’s Jerusalem
Embassy Act of 1995 provides that “Jerusalem should remain an undivided city” and, “the capital of the State of Israel.” That Act was passed by overwhelming bipartisan consensus, with then-Sen. Joe Biden as the
first co-sponsor of the bill.
Opening the consulate would also be illegal under the 2018 Taylor Force Act, another law passed by a massive bipartisan congressional consensus, which put a hold on any assistance that directly
benefits the Palestinian Authority until it stops paying terrorists to kill American and Israeli citizens….
Meanwhile, Articles 4, 7 and 8 of the 1963 Vienna Convention of Consular Relations require
the receiving state to give consent and approval before a foreign consulate may be established. Simply put, this is not the United States’ call to make.
And Israel can’t legally approve: As Palestinian Authority
Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh recently explained, opening a Jerusalem consulate is important to him precisely because it would send the message that Jerusalem is not a unified city. Yet Israel’s Basic Law stipulates that “Jerusalem, complete
and united, is the capital of Israel….”
Sixth, such a move could destabilize Israel’s shaky governing coalition, a scenario the Biden administration is said to be wary of….
Seventh, opening a consulate could represent a return to the tried and failed paradigm of rewarding Palestinian intransigence….
If the Biden administration wants to symbolically affirm its willingness to engage
with the Palestinians, it can do so in a way that is not illegal, immoral or politically fraught….