U.S. lowers status of Palestinian Affairs Office in Jerusalem
In a move seen as downgrading American-Palestinian ties, the U.S. has decided to fully merge the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs (OPA) back into the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, the State Department announced on Tuesday.
“This decision will restore the first [U.S. President Donald] Trump term framework of a unified U.S. diplomatic mission in Israel’s capital that reports to the U.S. ambassador to Israel,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce explained to reporters.
The first Trump administration shut down the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem in 2019 and folded its consular services and diplomatic work under the embassy, which was opened in the Israeli capital. When the Joe Biden administration was unable to get Israel to agree to allow the consulate’s reopening, the State Department created the OPA. The OPA had its own independent reporting channel to Washington that was separate from the embassy.
Critics said this separate channel led to inconsistent U.S. messaging and undermined Israeli sovereignty over the city.
But Bruce said the merger was part of a broader reorganisation to ensure that diplomatic efforts work more cohesively. “It really is actually very similar to what’s happening here with the bureaus and our reorganisation. It is making sure that the issues that are important – all working together,” she said.
The U.S. consulate in Jerusalem was opened in 1844, and for years, it operated like any other consulate. But in 1993, Israel and the Palestinians signed the Oslo Accords, and the consulate evolved into a de facto U.S. embassy for the Palestinians while the U.S. embassy to Israel was located in Tel Aviv.
Israeli officials argue that a more appropriate location for a consulate serving Palestinians would be Ramallah. The U.S. has maintained a cultural outreach centre in Ramallah called America House Ramallah since 2014.
