A first: US embassy to operate in Judea, Samaria

For the first time, the US Embassy in Israel will open temporary offices in Israeli towns outside the Green Line to offer consular services to US citizens.

By World Israel News Staff

The United States Embassy in Israel is slated to offer consular services in Israeli towns beyond the Green Line, marking the first time that the US State Department has operated in Israeli settlements.

On Tuesday, the embassy announced that starting Friday, it will conduct a series of on-site consular service “outreaches” at seven locations across Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The consular service visits will last only one day each, and will span the Israeli cities of Jerusalem, Haifa, Netanya and Beit Shemesh, inside the Green Line, along with one Palestinian Authority-administered city – Ramallah – and two Israeli communities in Judea: Efrat and Beitar Illit.

“As part of our Freedom 250 initiative and the US Embassy’s efforts to reach all Americans, consular officers will be providing routine passport services in Efrat on Friday, February 27, followed by planned outreaches in the next couple of months to Ramallah, Beitar Illit, Haifa, Jerusalem, Netanya, and Beit Shemesh,” the Embassy said. “We will be on site at each location for one day only!”

This is not the first time the US Embassy in Israel has operated in Judea and Samaria to provide consular services.

However, previous outreach operations were limited to cities administered by the Palestinian Authority.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry celebrated the US Embassy’s decision and lauded US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

“We welcome the historic decision by the US embassy in Jerusalem to extend consular services to American citizens in Judea and Samaria,” the Foreign Ministry wrote on X on Tuesday. “Thank you USAmbIsrael for making the relation[ship] between Israel and the U.S. closer and stronger than ever.”

On Wednesday, the Hamas terror organization released a statement condemning the US Embassy’s decision.

“The American step – providing consular services inside the settlement of Efrat in Gush Etzion, built on land in the West Bank – constitutes a dangerous precedent and a blunt alignment with the occupation’s Judaization plans. It is a practical recognition of the settlement’s legitimacy and of the occupation’s control over the West Bank.”