Israeli media: US holds off on reopening al-Quds consulate amid pushback
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For now, the US Embassy’s Palestinian Affairs Unit is reporting directly to Washington.
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The then US consulate in al-Quds, before its closing in 2019
Seven months after the US announced its plans to reopen its consulate in occupied al-Quds, Washington has yet to present a clear timeline of when it plans to do so, as the Israeli occupation still pushes back against the reopening.
A US diplomat, a former senior US official and another source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel this week that the Biden administration is no longer pursuing its efforts to resurrect the al-Quds consulate, which former president Donald Trump closed down in 2019.
The State Department's official line is that the Biden administration “will move forward with the process of reopening the consulate in Jerusalem [al-Quds],” but the three sources said that no such process has begun.
This lack of practical steps to reopen the consulate follows significant pushback from the occupation, which refuses the move. "As 'Israel' is already gearing up for a fight with the Biden administration over the latter’s insistence on exhausting the diplomatic route in Vienna" a source said, "the US is not looking to open up a second front by moving forward with the consulate reopening at the moment".
Development: PAU reporting directly to Washington
Critics say the closing of the consulate's Palestinian Affairs Unit (PAU) in al-Quds led to " 'Israel'-centric, biased reporting" that muted the authentic Palestinian perspective from being heard in reports. Moreover, after decades of regular contact with the US consulate, the PA ceased working with the diplomats stationed there, limiting the PAU’s effectiveness from day one.
For the past several months, however, the PAU has been reporting directly to Washington, in a novel development. “It’s not a perfect solution, and we still would like to see the consulate back up and running fully, but since that’s not happening any time soon — if at all — this is an important change as well as one that won’t anger the Israelis,” one informed source commented on the development.
In 2017, Trump announced al-Quds to be “Israel's” capital, and the consulate was later merged into the new US Embassy there, in violation of international law.
