Likud MK Nir Barkat submitted a bill on Wednesday that would bar the United States from reopening its consulate in Jerusalem for Palestinians.

According to Barkat, the bill is necessary to prevent a dangerous precedent that could lead to the division of Israel’s capital city of Jerusalem. “This is a matter of the unification of Jerusalem,” he told Channel 12 News. “Before we know it, all types of European consulates will open in Jerusalem and it will become the consular capital for the Palestinians.”

The bill would not just apply to the US but would ban any country from establishing a diplomatic mission in Jerusalem that is not an official mission to the state of Israel.

Former President Donald Trump merged the US consulate with the US embassy in 2019. Following President Biden’s announcement in May that the US will reopen the consulate, US officials have been pushing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid to allow for the reopening. Bennett asked for the matter to be delayed, fearing the move will shake up his fragile coalition.

“The bill comes in the wake of the Bennett-Lapid government’s intention to succumb to international pressure by establishing a consulate for the Palestinians in Jerusalem,” Barkat said. “Apart from the political danger, the measure poses a security risk and will allow Palestinians to freely enter Jerusalem. We will not allow the government to undermine Jerusalem’s status as the united capital of Israel.”

In the bill, Barkat cites Basic Law: Jerusalem, which was passed by the Knesset in 1980 and establishes the status of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the seat of its government and forbids the transfer of authority to a foreign body within the capital city.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)