Palestinians threaten to downgrade US relations if Trump moves embassy to Jerusalem

A Palestinian official claimed that the Palestinian Authority would downgrade its relations with the US and file a complaint with the UN if Trump moves the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. 

A senior official in Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party said that the PA should downgrade its diplomatic relationship with the United States if President Trump follows through with his plan to move the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“If that takes place, the Palestinian side would have to sever its ties with the official staff of the illegal US embassy in Jerusalem,” claimed Fatah Central Committee member Nasser al-Kidwa, while speaking to the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds. 

“In addition to that, there is the issue of the Palestinian political representative’s office in Washington,” al-Kidwa continued.  “It would also be necessary to close the office.”

The official added that the PA would no longer accept the US as a mediator between Israel and the PA.

“It would be necessary for the Palestinian side to make clear that it no longer officially considers the United States an interlocutor and that it cannot cooperate with it directly or through the Quartet,” he said.

The Quartet, comprised of the US, European Union, UN and Russia was launched in 2002 at the height of the Second Intifada in the spirit of the “Road Map” vision of US President George W. Bush for a two-state solution between Israel and the PA.

Moreover, al-Kidwa suggested that the PA may launch a complaint against the United States of America at the United Nations Security Council. Such an initiative would not go anywhere since the US, as a permanent member of the Security Council, would veto any measures against itself.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

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