Reopening the Consulate… PA and US Administration on Shaky Grounds
Jerusalem24 -The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported today, Monday, that there is a crisis between the Palestinian Authority and the administration of US President Joe Biden, regarding the reopening of the consulate in Jerusalem, as well as the offices of the Liberation Organization in Washington.
The Palestinians believe that this is an Israeli maneuver and that the American position is affected by Israel. A senior official in PLO told the Israeli newspaper, “We are disappointed with the American position. We see that this issue is separate from any conditions, and it should not be linked to any conditions… It cannot be, there will be a situation in which any of the Palestinian leadership can stop paying the salaries of martyrs and prisoners… You call them salaries and we call them allocations for each family of a martyr and a prisoner.”
Another Palestinian source expressed his dissatisfaction with the US conditions, saying that it was “an attempt by Israel to shuffle the cards. This is unfortunate and unacceptable.”
According to the newspaper, the Palestinian leadership does not want to show these differences with the US administration and is trying to manage the crisis as calmly as possible, and there is a prevailing belief among some leaders that the crisis can be resolved and that the Biden administration may surprise everyone by opening the consulate in one way or another when conditions are ripe.