Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Friday called on the US administration to speed up the reopening of the US consulate general in Jerusalem, which previously handled direct contacts with the Palestinians.

Shtayyeh’s call came during a meeting in Ramallah with a US delegation that included Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee dealing with the Middle East, Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Chris Van Hollen (D- Maryland) and Jon Ossoff (D-Georgia).

In 2019, the consulate was officially incorporated into the United States Embassy, ​​which was moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Palestinian officials criticized the move, which was taken by the administration of former US President Donald Trump.

Last May, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that Washington would reopen the consulate. He made the announcement after meeting with PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

However, Blinken did not give a specific date for the reopening of the diplomatic mission, but said it would be “an important way for our country to engage and support the Palestinian people.”

During the meeting with the senators, Shtayyeh called on the US administration “to accelerate the implementation of its promises, in particular the reopening of the US consulate in East Jerusalem, in addition to withdrawing the Palestine Liberation Organization. and the Palestinian Authority terrorism lists. in the United States, ”the official PA news agency Wafa reported.

THE FIRST Palestinian Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh – refusing to recognize that the Arab states have the right to defend their vital interests. (credit: ALAA BADARNEH / POOL VIA REUTERS)

IN 1987, Congress passed the Anti-Terrorism Act, which, among other things, declared the PLO a terrorist organization and prohibited the opening of PLO facilities on American soil. Despite the ban, Congress allowed the president to issue a waiver on his own, paving the way for the PLO to open a representative office in Washington in 1994.

In 2018, the Trump administration ordered the PLO office to be closed because of the Palestinians’ refusal to engage with the White House on its peace plan for prosperity in the Middle East. The State Department said at the time that the decision was made because the PLO “failed to take steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel.”

The Palestinian Authority is not included in the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.

Shtayyeh was apparently referring to the Taylor Force Act of Congress of 2018, which legislated to stop US aid to the Palestinian Authority until it stops paying allowances to Palestinians who commit acts of terrorism. and the families of deceased terrorists. US counterterrorism legislation that came into effect a year later allows Americans to sue in US courts those who receive US foreign aid, including the Palestinian Authority, for alleged complicity in “acts of war.”

The Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority “stressed the importance of working to open a serious new political path to end the occupation through the Quartet on the basis of international law and the legitimacy and resolutions of the United Nations “, according to Wafa.

The Quartet is made up of the United States, the UN, the EU and Russia.

The Palestinian Authority has said it is ready to resume peace talks with Israel only under the leadership of all Quartet members, not the United States alone.

Shtayyeh reiterated his call for the US administration to put pressure on Israel “and force it to abide by signed agreements, including stopping construction in settlements, stopping Palestinian human rights violations – whatever or by killing, arresting, demolishing property. [or] confiscate land – and end its measures in Jerusalem, ”the agency said.

He discussed with the delegation the importance of directly strengthening bilateral relations between the United States and the Palestinians, and welcomed the decision of the Biden administration to renew financial assistance to the United Nations Office for the work and relief for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) and for development and infrastructure projects. He also praised the United States for helping Palestinians fight COVID-19.

He called on the United States to exert serious pressure on Israel to allow Palestinian elections to be held in Jerusalem.

In April, Abbas annulled the elections for the parliament and the presidency of the Palestinian Authority on the pretext that Israel had not responded to his request to allow the vote in Jerusalem.

He condemned the statements of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on the eve of his recent visit to Washington, saying that they “demonstrate a clear intransigence and persistence in the policy of colonization and the creation of permanent facts on the ground”.

In an interview with The New York Times on the eve of his visit to Washington, Bennett ruled out any progress in the peace process with the Palestinians and said Israel will continue the standard policy of “natural growth” in the settlements.