U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Brian McKeon confirmed Wednesday that America could not open a consulate to the Palestinians in Yerushalayim without Israel’s authorization, the JPost reports.
In a meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) asked him: “Is it your understanding that, under U.S. and international law, the government of Israel would have to provide its affirmative consent before the United States could open or reopen the U.S. consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem?”
McKeon responded: “That’s my understanding – that we’d need to get the consent of the host government to open any diplomatic facility.”
{Matzav.com Israel}
A bigger problem with opening this embassy, is that it would also serve Jewish residents of “the Territories,” i.e. Kiryat Sefer, Beitar Illit, Tel Tzion, Emanuel! Smack in the middle of an arab neighbourhood, serviced fully by arabs, and just filled with arabs. Getting there and back will also be a nightmare. Anyone stopping to think about that?