By Ariel Kahana, Israel Hayom—
Behind closed doors in the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry, and the US State Department, high-ranking officials are trying to make Jews agree to divide their capital city without the people being divided noticing.
No, no one involved is saying it. Some on the Israeli side are also trying to oppose it. But America is exerting pressure. Quietly, but still pressure. And without the Israelis noticing, it is also trying to get Jerusalem to make a move that effectively means dividing Jerusalem. That is the only message that arises from the US administration’s intent to reopen the Palestinian consulate on Agron St.
To help it go down easier, the Americans (and some Israelis) are saying that “nothing is happening” and that “all we’re doing is going back to the situation that existed until 2019.” This is simply inaccurate. The Trump Administration’s closure of the consulate was part of a move toward American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Anyone can understand that if a foreign entity opens a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem tomorrow, this means that the city is not only the capital of Israel, but also the capital of that same entity – and certainly when it comes to the Palestinian Authority, which is trying to get its hands on our capital.
A step like this goes against the Vienna Convention. Nowhere else in the world sees an embassy and a consulate operating in the same city, certainly not for two different national entities. Opening the consulate goes against both Israeli and American law, because both the Knesset and Congress passed laws, years ago, that anchor united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Continue Reading….