200 Republican lawmakers to Biden: don’t reopen consulate in Jerusalem

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WASHINGTON – Republican lawmakers are uniting in their opposition to the reopening of the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, turning what was once assumed to be a low-hanging fruit for the Biden administration into a hot-button wedge issue.

Two-hundred House Republicans, led by Rep. Lee Zeldin (one of two Jewish House Republicans), signed onto a letter arguing that reopening the consulate shuttered by the Trump administration in 2019 would be inconsistent with U.S. law, which recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital.

“Your administration would create a misguided situation in which the U.S. would essentially have two separate diplomatic missions in Israel’s capital,” the letter, signed by all but 12 members of the Republican caucus, stated in a letter to President Joe Biden. “The U.S. consulate general in Jerusalem that was established in 1844 was not intended to serve as an outreach to the Palestinians in Israel’s capital.”

The lawmakers added that the Israeli government opposes the move, and that it would “reward and turn a blind eye to the Palestinian Authority engaging in the real obstacles to peace.”

The letter comes days after 35 Senate Republicans introduced legislation seeking to prevent the United States from reopening the consulate. They also center their argument around the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. That law does not prohibit other diplomatic facilities from operating in Jerusalem, and Congress and the administration alike have made clear they do not intend to move the U.S. Embassy from Jerusalem.

GOP Congressman Lee Zeldin speaking in the Capitol two years ago. Jacquelyn Martin/AP

Sen. Bill Hagerty (Tennessee), the lead sponsor on the Senate bill, made waves last week after pushing Brian McKeon, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, to acknowledge that Israeli consent is needed to reopen the consulate.

It is a known formality, however, that any host country must give explicit permission to any country seeking to establish any diplomatic presence on its lands.

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Both efforts are the latest examples of the Republican Party attempting to portray the Biden administration’s policy as skewed against Israel.

Biden originally planned to reopen the consulate as part of the restoration of ties between the U.S. and the PA, cut during the Trump presidency. The consulate historically served not only the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who reside in Jerusalem, but also Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza who required U.S. consular services.

However, Israeli officials and sources close to the Biden administration have said the U.S. has been forced to slow down its plans due to a separate Biden priority: helping the fragile Israeli governing coalition survive its first few months in office and preventing another election.

In the time the administration has stalled, Israeli and Republican opposition has grown more vocal and emboldened.

The U.S. Consulate building in Jerusalem, whose operations were moved over to the U.S. Embassy in 2019. Ariel Schalit/AP

Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, have publicly and privately pressed both the administration and Israeli officials to let the process move forward. Palestinian officials have described the consulate as “the seed of the American Embassy to the future Palestinian state, and a statement about everything related to the administration’s position on Jerusalem.”