Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Matt McKeon also said in response to a question by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.): “I believe we still regard Jerusalem as a final-status question. But I want to get you a more precise answer for the record.”
JNS
(November 4, 2021 / JNS) Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Matt McKeon confirmed on Wednesday that the administration is seeking to reopen the U.S. Consulate for Palestinians in its original location in Jerusalem.
McKeon was grilled by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus, during his testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and asked whether he was involved in planning the reopening of the consulate.
McKeon confirmed that he was, telling Zeldin that the administration was contemplating opening the consulate at a facility already owned by the United States on Agron Road in Jerusalem in the western half of the city.
“Already having a site that the United States owned is an important factor in this because having to go find a different site could be a challenge,” he said. “The main purpose of this consulate—and the main reason we want to use the one on Agron Road—is that [it] is the mechanism through which we have engaged the Palestinians in the past and for well over a century before it was closed. That’s what’s driving our decision-making on that.”
Zeldin asked whether the administration believes that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.
McKeon confirmed that it was the administration’s position, though he did not want to weigh in on Zeldin’s follow-up question as to whether officials also believe the city should remain undivided.
McKeon said that he does not deal with such policy issues every day.
“I believe we still regard Jerusalem as a final-status question,” he said. “But I want to get you a more precise answer for the record.”
Zeldin pointed out that the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) voted for, states that Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital of Israel. He also cited a recent video where the Palestinian Authority said the purpose of putting an embassy in Jerusalem was to divide the city.
“So the Palestinian Authority wants the U.S. government to do this,” stated Zeldin. “Their intent, their purpose, their motivation is to divide Jerusalem.”
Earlier this week, more than 200 House Republicans sent a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden expressing strong opposition to reopening the consulate.
It was closed under the Trump administration and replaced by a Palestinian Affairs Unit as a branch of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, though continued to operate from the same building on Agron Road.
@2596
Thank you for bringing up this topic which is too often seen as a separate issue. It is an excellent point you make and an interesting observation that should not be left out of the discussion of a united Jerusalem.
I believe that the presence of the Arabs currently residing in these neighborhoods who have actual ownership, rather than squattership, rights, should be respected. They should be enticed to part with their possession of these lands under such motivating projects as the Jordan Option, but their ownership rights should be a reflection of those of any of us, and I think this is imparitive, but do let me know if you disagree. Those not in legal possession of such property rights should be removed from their illegal possession, and sooner than >50yrs as with Sheik Jarrah.
These areas of Jerusalem were walled off following the terrorist bombing campaigns of some 20 yrs ago and in the following rule of Sharon, Olmert, Netanyahu and now Bennett, it has been deemed that the security concerns were too great to remove the boundaries, even as the neighborhoods became rank with lawlessness and disrepair. Such security issues have been maintained as the purpose behind the lack of political will to lift this barrier within the heart of our lands and return Jerusalem, in whole, to an undivided physical reality.
Either there is no East Jerusalem or Jerusalem remains divided in spite of the resolution of the consulate dispute. It has in the past 20yrs been deemed politically inconvenient to address the matter, and discussions of clever men have been sought to partition the capital city and cede the inconvenient portions to be either independently established cities, themselves, or added to the neighboring Arab controlled cities such as Rammallah and Bethlehem. Whatever we do, we should never, I believe, allow ourselves to be self-deluding of the true intent of such divisions. If these neighborhoods are too troublesome and too problematic to hold as part of the eternal Capital, what has all the political cat-dancing over the years been about?
Furthermore, It would be intellectually dishonest to leave these areas under partition eternally and claim that we have not done what we have clearly done. Having maintained such constructed divisions in place over the years has had the effect of having created a new reality as depicted in the dramatization Ted shared earlier today(https://www.israpundit.org/israels-civiul-administration-is-encouraging-illegal-arab-construction-in-area-c/). Such realities become a point of fait accompli even by the Israeli govt, as was evident last January when the Israelis allowed the PA to respond to a point of dispute among the inhabitants of the segregated Jerusalem neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are not under the authority of the PA, and involving their authority for any reason only serves to further entrench a reality that has been too long left divided. Has enough Jewish blood not been sacrificed to create the Jewish state and bring Jerusalem in whole under Jewish control?
It is an obvious point of contention that resolving this matter would create complicating topics of discussion with our many international ‘friends’. Moderating to foreign demands is a sum losing proposition that we will lose with only the issue of time acting to make our defeat inevitable with these never ending requirements to satisfy friends who make unfriendly demands upon this imbalanced relationship.
It has been long enough, too long actually, for these slivers of the heart of the Jewish state to remain divided from the rest of the capital. What assets to maintain security should be made available to defend the Capital as needed, but security measures of the Capital should not require us to ignore the necessity of a united Capital, or it can only be united Capital with a divided memory. ‘If I forget thee oh Jerusalem..’
Such are my own thoughts on the matter. I am curious for input of others on this topic, if any has thoughts to share…
I agree with you, Peloni, considering “the ancient Jewish city of Jerusalem”. But what about Kafr’Aqab, the Qalandiya and the Sua’afat RC-s, Um Tuba or a part of Abu Dis?
They are all inside the borders of Jerusalem today (though mostly outside the security barrier). Do you consider these parts of Jerusalem ancient Jewish, too?
Would not be better without the more them 100 thousand Arab residents living there — in practice without Israeli rule?
Here’s a more precise answer: the ancient Jewish city of Jerusalem is the property of the Jewish people by right of heritage and possession, and it stands as the united capital of the Jewish State, and the Jewish people have no interest or intent of dividing it or betraying their heritage simply to appease their great friend, the US, which has time and again betrayed their friendship with the Jewish people by forcing them towards untenable positions with terrible consequences for which the US neither respected the sacrifice entered into by Israel to achieve peace, nor respected Israels right to withdraw from the unending failed cycle of Peace Processing that only led to betrayed proposals and dead Jews.