WASHINGTON – A group of 16 Senate Republicans led by Sen. Marco Rubio sent a letter to US President Joe Biden, urging him not to reopen the PLO office in Washington, and the US Consulate-General in Jerusalem.
They said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s announcement about the move to reopen the two offices “is deeply concerning.
“It is particularly misguided at a time when the Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas along with the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hamas, incited and supported recent violent riots, rock throwing, and other terror attacks in Jerusalem.
“This was escalated by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad firing more than 4,000 rockets that rained down terror on Israeli civilians,” they added. “We urge you to adhere to US law and ensure both of these diplomatic missions remain closed.”
They argued that reopening the diplomatic mission to the Palestinians in Israel’s capital “would wrongly indicate that the US supports dividing the capital city of our close ally and would only reward the Palestinian leadership’s continued hostility toward Israel.
“While we are committed to working with you on constructive ways to engage with the Palestinian people, we oppose any efforts by your administration to provide rewards and incentives to the Palestinian leadership or Hamas for their abhorrent support of violence and terrorism, their efforts to press the ICC to illegitimately investigate Israel, and other efforts to circumvent direct negotiations with Israel,” the letter reads.
“We urge your administration... to craft policies that support our ally, Israel, and assist the Palestinian people.”