He Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Laws: Biden Counters Trump, Plans U.S. Consulate For Palestinians In Jerusalem

As if our allies needed any further proof that an agreement signed by the United States is as worthless as a milk bucket under a bull, Joe Biden plans to establish a consulate for Palestinians within the city of Jerusalem.

That would be like saying part of Washington DC belongs to China. But China only owns the White House and a chunk of the Congress.

Officials in Israel see this as a betrayal and that Biden is acknowledging that the Palestinians share the ownership of the city.

Former Foreign Ministry Director-General Dr. Dore Gold said:

“It could lead there or it could pave the way. One has to remember that there is the Vienna Convention of 1963 which both Israel and the United States are signatories to, and according to which the agreement of the host state is required to open a consulate. To do so unilaterally without Israel’s agreement would be breaking the rules.”

The Jerusalem Post noted that the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister views the opening of the consulate as tacit recognition that Jerusalem is divided:

American law is quite clear. The US “Jerusalem Embassy Act” repeatedly stresses the unity and indivisibility of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital: “In 1967, the city of Jerusalem was reunited during the conflict known as the Six-Day War … Jerusalem has been a united city administered by Israel… Jerusalem should remain an undivided city… recognized as the capital of the State of Israel.”

The PA sees opening the Consulate in Jerusalem as a rejection of all these statutes of American law. Explaining the international implications of the US reopening the Consulate in Jerusalem, PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh stated that the move is “important” for Palestinians because “the message from this [Biden] administration is that Jerusalem is not one [united Israeli] city and that the American administration does not recognize the annexation of Arab Jerusalem by the Israeli side. We want the American Consulate to constitute the seed of a US embassy in the State of Palestine.” 

Former Jerusalem mayor Likud MK Nir Barkat told Israel Hayom:

Having two diplomatic delegations in one city means the division of Jerusalem. There is no other possible meaning. It is a finger in Israel’s eye. If the Americans take such a unilateral measure, it will not only be a violation of the Vienna Convention, but also an American message that the great United States is not capable of respecting its most loyal partners. It is liable to have a very strong effect on relations with the Americans. 

Steven Ahle