Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Wednesday said Israel believes the U.S. plan to reopen its consulate in Jerusalem to service Palestinians is a “bad idea,” while arguing that the consulate could fracture the fragile government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
“Jerusalem is the sovereign capital of Israel and Israel alone, and therefore we don’t think it’s a good idea,” Lapid said at a news conference.
“We have an interesting and yet delicate structure of our government and we think this might destabilize this government and I don’t think the American administration wants this to happen,” he said.
Lapid added, “We know that the (Biden) administration has a different way of looking at this, but since it is happening in Israel, we are sure they are listening to us very carefully. I am a devoted believer in the two-state solution ... but we’ll have to admit the fact this is not feasible in the current situation.”
Regarding the U.S. chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, Lapid said, “It was probably the right decision maybe that wasn’t performed in the right manner.”
Wasel Abu Youssef, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization official, told Reuters that Israel is “trying to maintain the status quo and block any political solution.”
