200 House Republicans, led by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), have signed a letter opposing President Joe Biden’s plan to put a consulate in Jerusalem to deal specifically with the Palestinians — a move opposed by Israel, and against international law.
The Biden administration’s unilateral effort is an attempt to appease the Democrats’ anti-Israel wing, and to reverse President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which included moving the U.S. embassy there in 2018.
Trump’s decision was pursuant to the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, for which then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) voted. But President Biden has sought to undo Trump’s legacy — even though his Jerusalem move led to the Abraham Accords, a successful peace agreement between Israel and several Arab states.
The letter points out that Biden’s consulate would violate U.S. law and several subsequent resolutions affirming its purpose. It also argues that Biden would “create a misguided situation in which the U.S. would essentially have two separate diplomatic missions in Israel’s capital,” which would “reward and turn a blind eye to the Palestinian Authority engaging in the real obstacles to peace, such as refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State” and supporting terrorists.
After 2018, a building in western Jerusalem that had been used as the U.S. consulate was converted into an annex of the embassy. The U.S. cannot make it a consulate again without Israel’s consent, under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which both the U.S. and Israel are parties, and which the U.S. Senate ratified unanimously in 1969. A State Department official admitted last week that the U.S. lacks the authority under international law to unilaterally declare a consulate.
Most countries that have separate diplomatic missions to the Palestinian photo-state have offices in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinian Authority. Israelis fear that creating a separate consulate in Jerusalem to cater to Palestinians, who are currently served by the embassy, would serve as a prelude to dividing Israel’s capital. Though Biden erroneously referred during the campaign to the consulate site as being in “East Jerusalem,” it is in fact in western Jerusalem, which has never been under the control of any Arab state.
Last week, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced a bill to block funding for any new U.S. consulate in Jerusalem. It received the support of over 35 Republican Senators.
President Biden has claimed that his administration’s approach to international affairs is guided by principles of “diplomacy,” but Israel appears to be the one country to which he denies diplomatic respect.
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
(Read the full letter opposing President Joe Biden’s plan to put a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem below the HD Editor’s Note)
Back in August, Michael Freund who served as deputy communications director under prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his first term made clear that a separate consulate to the Palestinians would “lay the groundwork for dividing Jerusalem.”
“Such a move, if allowed to take place, would not only be a slap in the face to Israel, but it would serve to encourage greater extremism by stoking misguided Palestinian hopes of obtaining a foothold in the city,” Freund insisted. “And lest there be any doubt as to how the Palestinians are interpreting the proposed move, consider the following. On the day following Blinken’s announcement, Hussein al-Sheikh, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, told Palestine TV that the US announcement was a clear message that eastern Jerusalem is part of the ‘occupied Palestinian territories.’”
“Consequently, the Biden administration has succeeded in reigniting the Palestinian illusion that they will gain control over Jerusalem,” he said, “a fantasy that only serves to feed greater extremism and rejectionism.”
“Israel must stand firm on this issue and reject any request by Washington to open a separate consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem,” he warned. “We cannot and must not agree to allow Mr. Biden to lay the groundwork for dividing Jerusalem. No other country in the world would even consider consenting to such a step, which would only undermine the international legitimacy of our rightful claim to our own capital. And neither should Israel.”
To those familiar with Bible Prophecy, this strange obsession the nations of the world have with Israel and its capital is not surprising. In fact, it falls precisely in line with what the Prophet Zechariah in the Old Testament, said would happen after Israel was miraculously re-gathered into her land.
Zechariah speaks of a time when all the nations of the world will have their sights set on the land of Israel, more specifically, on its Eternal Capital, Jerusalem, which they would seek to divide.
Zechariah 12:3 KJV – “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.”
Dear Mr. President,
We write today to express our strong opposition to your administration’s proposal to reopen the U.S. consulate general in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem, that would provide separate diplomatic outreach to the Palestinians.
Reopening the U.S. consulate general in Jerusalem would be inconsistent with the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104–45) by promoting division of Jerusalem. This would be unacceptable, shameful, and wrong. The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 that you supported during your time in the U.S. Senate expressed U.S. policy that “Jerusalem should remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected…Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel.” This law received overwhelming bipartisan support with a vote of 93-5 in the U.S. Senate and 374-37 (with 5 voting present) in the U.S. House of Representatives. After repeated presidential waivers since 1995, the Trump Administration implemented this bipartisan law by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017, opening the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, and merging the U.S. consulate general in Jerusalem with the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem in 2019. This third action formally brought the United States into compliance with the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 by moving the U.S. Ambassador to Israel’s official residence to Jerusalem.
Your proposal would also be inconsistent with the strong bipartisan support that has been reaffirmed in recent years for the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution by a vote of 90-0 in June 2017 commemorating the 50th anniversary of Israel’s reunification of Jerusalem during the Six Day War that “reaffirms the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104–45) as United States law, and calls upon the President and all United States officials to abide by its provisions.”
Your administration would create a misguided situation in which the U.S. would essentially have two separate diplomatic missions in Israel’s capital, including the U.S. Embassy to Israel along with the consulate general for outreach to the Palestinians whose government is based in Ramallah. The U.S. consulate general in Jerusalem that was established in 1844 was not intended to serve as an outreach office to the Palestinians in Israel’s capital. It was only in more recent years that the U.S. consulate general became an outreach office that circumvented the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, reported to the State Department in Washington, D.C, and had jurisdiction over the eastern part of Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Trump Administration fixed this ill-advised situation with the merger but maintained outreach to the Palestinians by establishing the Palestinian Affairs Unit (PAU) within the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. In addition to being inconsistent with U.S. law, it would be entirely unnecessary to reopen the U.S. consulate general in Israel’s capital.
Reopening the U.S. consulate general in Jerusalem would also reward and turn a blind eye to the Palestinian Authority engaging in the real obstacles to peace, such as refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State, supporting terrorism through incitement to violence and providing payments to terrorists and their families, encouraging discriminatory boycotts, divestments, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, and facilitating an illegitimate International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation for false charges against Israel, to name just a few examples.
Finally, we urge you to respect our close ally Israel’s opposition to the reopening of the U.S. consulate general in Jerusalem, especially since Israel’s cooperation is essential. Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett reportedly expressed opposition when visiting the U.S. in August 2021 which has been publicly reiterated by Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid. In May 2021, then Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu stated he was against your proposal as well.
We urge you to therefore not pursue reopening the U.S. consulate general in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.
Sincereley,
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- Lee Zeldin (Member of Congress)
- Kenin McCarthy (House Republican Leader)
- Steve Scalise (House Republican Whip)
- Elise Stefanik (Chair Republican Conference)
- Michael T. McCaul (Republican Leader Foureign Affairs Committee)
- Kay Granger (Lead Republican Appropriations Committee)
- Robert B. Aderholt (Member of Congress)
- Jim Banks (Member of Congress)
- Kevin Brady (Member of Congress)
- Rick W. Allen (Member of Congress)
- Andy Barr (Member of Congress)
- Mo Brooks (Member of Congress)
- Kelly Armstrong (Member of Congress)
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- Vern Buchanan (Member of Congress)
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- Ken Buck (Member of Congress)
- Brian Babin, D.D.S (Member of Congress)
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