The Biden administration wants to open a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem. It’s a big mistake — for numerous reasons.
First, it’s illogical: A consulate is nothing more than a satellite office to an embassy. There’s already a US embassy in Jerusalem, and there’s no other country in which the United States maintains both an embassy and a consulate in the same city.
Second, it’s a waste of taxpayer money because the US embassy already provides consular services on a non-discriminatory basis to Palestinians and Israelis alike.
Third, fourth and fifth — legally speaking — a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem would violate American, Israeli and international law.
For starters, America’s Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 provides that “Jerusalem should remain an undivided city” and, “the capital of the State of Israel.” That Act was passed by overwhelming bipartisan consensus, with then-Sen. Joe Biden as the first co-sponsor of the bill.
Opening the consulate would also be illegal under the 2018 Taylor Force Act, another law passed by a massive bipartisan congressional consensus, which put a hold on any assistance that directly benefits the Palestinian Authority until it stops paying terrorists to kill American and Israeli citizens. As recently as March, the State Department confirmed that the PA had not done so.
Meanwhile, Articles 4, 7 and 8 of the 1963 Vienna Convention of Consular Relations require the receiving state to give consent and approval before a foreign consulate may be established. Simply put, this is not the United States’ call to make.
And Israel can’t legally approve: As Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh recently explained, opening a Jerusalem consulate is important to him precisely because it would send the message that Jerusalem is not a unified city. Yet Israel’s Basic Law stipulates that “Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel.” Taking steps to undermine that would be unconstitutional.
Sixth, such a move could destabilize Israel’s shaky governing coalition, a scenario the Biden administration is said to be wary of. No Israeli government of any political inclination has ever allowed the opening of a diplomatic mission that’s not to open to Israelis, and Likud, the opposition party, has already proposed a bill to bar creation of such missions in Jerusalem.
Seventh, opening a consulate could represent a return to the tried and failed paradigm of rewarding Palestinian intransigence. In 1967, Israel recaptured and reunified Jerusalem in a clearly defensive war, regaining control over an area it already had rights to. Since then, Israel has ceded sovereignty over 87 percent of the territory it legitimately won, and has repeatedly offered plans for peace and division of the rest. In recent history (including deals proposed in 2000, 2008, 2014, and 2020), Israel has offered up to 99.3 percent of the remaining disputed territory in exchange for peace, and various offers would even have divided the city of Jerusalem. Each time the Palestinians said no.
When the United States finally recognized the undivided city as Israel’s capital, other nations realized that the world would not be held hostage forever waiting for the Palestinians to compromise before recognizing Israel’s efforts and moving on to other issues. Shortly thereafter, the Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. Opening the consulate would reverse the momentum and convince the PA to keep up its inflexibility.
If the Biden administration wants to symbolically affirm its willingness to engage with the Palestinians, it can do so in a way that is not illegal, immoral or politically fraught. For example, with Israel’s permission, Team Biden could open a consulate in Abu Dis, a suburban neighborhood that belongs to the Palestinian governorate of Jerusalem but is located just outside the Israeli municipal city limits. Or it could open it in Ramallah, the actual seat of the Palestinian government.
Either option would signal that, while Washington wants good relations with the Palestinians, its recognition of Israel’s undivided capital isn’t going to change.
Mark Goldfeder is director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center.