Humeyra Pouk, Matt Spetalnick and Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken stated Wednesday that the Biden administration will continue with plans to reopen Jerusalem’s consulate. This is despite Israeli resistance.

Blinken reiterated a pledge he originally made months ago on re-establishing the consulate, which had long been a base for diplomatic outreach to the Palestinians before it was closed by President Joe Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, in 2018.

But Blinken, speaking at a Washington news conference with visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, stopped short of setting a date for reopening the consulate, which would strain relations with Israel’s new ideologically diverse government.

“We’ll be moving forward with the process of opening a consulate as part of deepening of those ties with the Palestinians,” Blinken said at the State Department.

Biden’s administration sought to restore relations with Palestinians, which were severely damaged by Trump.

Trump moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, in 2018, and subsumed it into the consulate. This is a complete reverse of an Israeli-plagiarism.

Biden’s administration has stated that it will open the consulate and leave the Embassy in its place.

Israel views Jerusalem in its entirety as the capital. Palestinians would like East Jerusalem, which was taken by Israel during a 1967 war, along with West Bank, Gaza Strip and West Bank, to become the capital of the new state that they want.

Blinken spoke in response to a reporter’s question after a trilateral meeting that marked the latest sign of the Biden administration’s embrace of the so-called Abraham Accords, which were widely seen as a diplomatic success for Trump.

After decades of animosity, the UAE was one of four Arab countries that decided to resume normal relations with Israel late last year. Morocco, Sudan, and Bahrain soon followed.

Palestinian officials claimed that they feel betrayed and betrayed in their dealings with Israel. They did not demand progress toward the creation a Palestinian State.

Trump was criticised for promoting Arab relations with Israel, while neglecting Palestinian aspirations to statehood.

ABRAHAM ACCORDS

Officials from the Biden Administration have stated that the Abraham Accords cannot be substituted for a two state solution between Israelis & Palestinians. This principle is a U.S. policy that Trump abandoned and which the Democratic President has restored to it.

Officials from the United States have stated that it is not possible to push for an Israeli-Palestinian resumption in peace negotiations. These talks collapsed in 2014. Washington is reluctant to do anything that might weaken an Israeli government, even though it regards them as more cooperative than Benjamin Netanyahu’s.

Washington’s decision to open the consulate would spark tensions between Washington, its Middle East close ally, and Washington.

Israel has said it would oppose the move, asserting its sovereignty over Jerusalem and arguing that far-right Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government would be destabilized by the reintroduction of a diplomatic foothold for the Palestinians in the city.

Blinken expressed optimism that the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries would lead to “forces for progress” for Israelis and Palestinians. He reaffirmed his support for two-state solutions and stated that both parties “equally merit to live safe and secure.”

Bin Zayed agreed with Lapid when he praised the close ties they have formed and promised to visit Israel in the near future. He also stressed that peace can only come about if both the Israelis’ and Palestinians “talk terms”.

Lapid stated that Palestinians were, as all other people, entitled to a decent standard of living and that Israel would work with them to achieve this goal. However, he did not provide any specifics.

Bennett and Lapid, who are centrists, agreed to a power-sharing agreement that would end Netanyahu’s 12 year tenure as prime minister. In 2023, Bennett will be replaced by Lapid as Prime Minister under the agreement.