US to fold Palestinian affairs office into embassy in Israel
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The merging of the US Office of Palestinian Affairs effectively brings it under the authority of US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - The Trump administration will fold the office that manages Washington's relations with Palestinians into the US Embassy in Jerusalem, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on May 6.
The merging of the US Office of Palestinian Affairs effectively shuts down the direct line the office had to the State Department headquarters in Washington and brings it under the authority of US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
On Secretary of State Marco Rubio's orders, Mr Huckabee will "merge" the office's responsibilities into other sections of the embassy in the coming weeks, Ms Bruce told a press briefing.
"This decision will restore the first Trump term framework of a unified US diplomatic mission in Israel's capital that reports to the US ambassador to Israel," Ms Bruce said.
President Donald Trump outraged the Arab world and stoked international concern by recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017 and moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem the following year.
His administration closed a US Consulate General that served Palestinians, but his successor Joe Biden established the Office of Palestinian Affairs.
The direct reporting line to Washington was seen as an important mechanism for the US to manage fragile ties with the Palestinians independent from the close alliance with Israel.
The office in Jerusalem was Washington's point of contact with the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in the occupied West Bank, and with Palestinian populations in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza.
Ms Bruce said the move did not reflect any change in the US "commitment to outreach" to Palestinians.
News outlet Jewish Insider reported in March that then chief of the Office of Palestinian Affairs, Mr Hans Wechsel, had told staff he would resign at the end of March due to disagreement with the Trump administration's direction. The State Department's website now lists career foreign service officer Lourdes Lamela as the acting chief.
Under Mr Biden, a special representative for Palestinian Affairs also sat within the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs in Washington.
Mr Rubio has not announced a new envoy for the Palestinians. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of that post. REUTERS
