Today, Rep. María Elvira Salazar (FL-27) along with 23 Senators and 36 other House colleagues released a joint statement denouncing the Biden Administration's recent decision to create an Office of Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem, which is an effort to circumvent Congress and formalize direct U.S. diplomatic channels with the Palestinians in Israel’s capital.
“It is shameful the Biden Administration has opened what amounts to be a separate U.S. diplomatic office to the Palestinians in Israel’s capital. This decision is wholly inconsistent with the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 that Congress passed into law and has repeatedly reaffirmed with overwhelming bipartisan support over the years. We strongly supported the Trump Administration’s decision to fully and faithfully implement the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 by formally recognizing Jerusalem as the eternal and undivided capital of Israel, by moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and by closing the U.S. Consulate General for the Palestinians in Jerusalem and merging its functions into the U.S. Embassy’s ‘Palestinian Affairs Unit’ within one diplomatic mission under the authority the U.S. Ambassador to Israel. The Biden Administration’s disregard and disdain for that law, however, undermines our nation’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and signals support for dividing Jerusalem.
“Let there be no misunderstanding: this unprecedented arrangement—to turn the Palestinian Affairs Unit into a ‘U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs’ that will no longer report to the U.S. Ambassador to Israel but instead report directly to the State Department in Washington, D.C, and to appoint a Special Envoy to the Palestinians—is an effort to open an unofficial and de facto U.S. consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem. In fact, the Biden Administration admits this decision is one step closer to opening an official U.S. consulate, a plan it refuses to stop pushing despite the Government of Israel’s adamant opposition and Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Brian McKeon’s admission to Congress in October 2021 that the United States, under international law, would ‘need to get the consent of the host government to open any diplomatic facility.’
“The Biden Administration’s decision is outrageous, wrong, and not how America should treat Israel, one of our closest allies in the world. As sponsors of the Upholding the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Law Act of 2021 to withhold funding for a U.S. consulate to the Palestinians in Israel’s capital, we unequivocally oppose the Biden Administration’s decision and will use every tool at our disposal to stop it in the 117th Congress and afterwards.”
The statement was signed by Senators Bill Hagerty (TN), Thom Tillis (NC), Marco Rubio (FL), Bill Cassidy (LA), Ted Cruz (TX), Mike Lee (UT), John Hoeven (ND), Chuck Grassley (IA), Tim Scott (SC), Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS), Roger Marshall (KS), John Cornyn (TX), Roger Wicker (MS), Steve Daines, Josh Hawley (MO), John Barrasso (WY), Tom Cotton (AR), Rick Scott (FL), Mike Braun (IN), Kevin Cramer (ND), Deb Fischer (NE), Todd Young (IN), and James Lankford (OK) in addition to Representatives Lee Zeldin (NY-01), David Kustoff (TN-08), Steve Scalise (LA-01), Elise Stefanik (NY-21), Robert Aderholt (AL-04), Rick Allen (GA-12), Troy Balderson (OH-12), Jim Banks (IN-03), Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Mike Bost (IL-12), Ken Buck (CO-04), Dan Crenshaw (TX-02), Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25), Jake Ellzey (TX-06), Chuck Fleischmann (TN-03), Andrew Garbarino (NY-02), Garret Graves (LA-06), H. Morgan Griffith (VA-09), French Hill (AR-02), Bill Johnson (OH-06), Jim Jordan (OH-04), Young Kim (CA-39), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Bob Latta (OH-05), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02), Ralph Norman (SC-05), John Rose (TN-06), Chip Roy (TX-21), Adrian Smith (NE-03), Chris Smith (NJ-04), Greg Steube (FL-17), Claudia Tenney (NY-22), Tom Tiffany (WI-07), Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02), Ann Wagner (MO-02), and Dan Webster (FL-11).
Original source can be found here.
