By Khaled Abu Toameh, JPost—
The Palestinian Authority on Sunday condemned Israel for opposing the reopening of the US Consulate in Jerusalem, which had previously served as a de facto diplomatic mission to the Palestinians.
The PA repeated its call to the US administration to immediately reopen the consulate.
Last Friday, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh urged the US to fulfill its promises to the Palestinians and speed up the reopening of the consulate.
“We think it’s a bad idea,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told reporters last week in response to the US plan to reopen the consulate. “Jerusalem is the sovereign capital of Israel and Israel alone, and therefore we don’t think it’s a good idea.”
The PA Foreign Ministry said in a statement: The Israeli stance “does not serve the peace process and disrupts American and international efforts to build confidence and relaunch negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.” Continue Reading….
