[ad_1]
The United States has downgraded its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians, placing it under the authority of the United States Embassy in Israel.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the consulate general, a separate office for relations with the Palestinians, would be replaced by a new unit in charge of Palestinian affairs at the controversial new US embassy in Jerusalem.
This decision will make the US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, that Palestinians are loath to support Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the main interlocutor of the Palestinian leadership.
The change, quickly condemned by the Palestinians, follows a series of setbacks suffered by US President Donald Trump, who radically transformed US policy in Israel.
The pro-Israel lawyers hailed this decision, saying it confirmed that the United States recognized all of Jerusalem as part of Israel.
"This decision is motivated by our global efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations, and does not signal a change in US policy," said Pompeo in a statement.
He added that the United States "still does not take a stand" on how a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians would take shape.
Palestinian leaders rejected Mr. Pompeo's explanation of "effectiveness".
The decision has "much to do with the pleasure of an ideological American team willing to dissolve the foundations of US foreign policy and the international system, in order to reward Israeli violations and crimes," said chief negotiator Palestinians, Saeb Erekat. .
"The Trump administration is part of the problem, not the solution," he added.
For decades, international powers have maintained separate and autonomous representations to Israel and Palestinians, thus supporting the eventual creation of an independent Palestinian state.
They insisted that the status of Jerusalem, which Israelis and Palestinians consider their capital, be negotiated between the parties as part of any final agreement.
Last December, President Trump overthrew long-standing US policy and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, forcing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to boycott his administration.
The embassy was officially transferred on May 14th.
Since then, the Trump administration has forced the Palestinians to complete their mission in Washington and slashed hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, with the aim of forcing them to the negotiating table.
Mr. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, along with Mr. Friedman and peace envoy Jason Greenblatt, has been working for months on an ever-secret peace proposal, which Palestinians are concerned about. it is too one-sided towards Israel.
This decision virtually puts an end to all direct diplomatic contacts between the United States and the Palestinians, analysts said.
Ofer Zalzberg of the think tank International Crisis Group said the United States would be the only major power without a separate and independent representation office for Palestinians.
"Other countries have done everything possible to avoid having the same representatives in Israel and the Palestinian Authority," he told AFP.
Robert Danin, a former senior US government official dealing with Israeli-Palestinian issues, said the decision was a victory for the "absolute right" supporters who sought to eliminate the Palestinian consulate general "for decades."
The Consulate General "is the spectator of Palestinian politics and society, and its independence from the United States embassy in Israel has provided Washington with solid, unadorned reporting and analysis," he said on Twitter.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert defended the move, saying the new Palestinian affairs unit within the embassy will maintain contacts with Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and in Jerusalem at the same level as before the change.
"We attach importance to our relations with the Palestinian people and we look forward to continuing the partnership and dialogue with them and, we hope, in the future, with the Palestinian leadership." , she said via Twitter.
[ad_2]Source link
