[ad_1]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States will amalgamate the US Consulate General with its new embassy in Israel in a single diplomatic mission to Jerusalem, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday. Attention of the Palestinians.
PHOTO FILE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Applauds at the Signing Ceremony of the New US Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel, May 14, 2018. REUTERS / Ronen Zvulun / File Photo
"This decision is motivated by our global efforts to improve the efficiency and profitability of our operations," said Pompeo in a statement. "It does not mean a change in US policy in Jerusalem, the West Bank or the Gaza Strip."
US President Donald Trump scandalized the Arab world and fueled international concern by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December and by moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May.
The consulate general in Jerusalem is the highest mission of the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as their capital.
Pompeo announced that the United States would create a new Palestinian affairs unit within the embassy in Jerusalem to continue to inform, sensitize and schedule events in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as with the Palestinians in Jerusalem.
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat denounced the decision to eliminate the consulate. This is the latest proof that the Trump administration is working with Israel to impose a "Greater Israel" rather than a two-state solution.
The decision has nothing to do with efficiency, Erekat said, "and a lot with pleasing an ideological American team ready to dismantle the fundamentals of American foreign policy and the international system, so to reward Israeli violations and crimes. "
Pompeo said the Trump government was engaged in a peace effort between Israel and the Palestinians.
Palestinian leaders suspended their relations with the US administration after the move of the embassy and therefore had no official contact with the consulate in Jerusalem.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the most thorny conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians and Palestinian leaders have accused Trump of sowing instability by upsetting decades of US policy.
Palestinians, enjoying broad international support, seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they wish to establish in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel considers the entire city, including the eastern sector that it captured during the annexed 1967 Middle East War, as "its eternal and indivisible capital," but this is not internationally recognized. The Trump administration avoided this description and noted that the definitive boundaries of the city should be decided by the parties.
Report by Doina Chiacu in Washington; Other reports of Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem; Edited by Frances Kerry and Bill Trott
