by AP and Israel Hayom Staff
Days after insisting PLO's Washington office must close, U.S. State Department says instead it has advised the office to limit its activities in next 90 days "to those related to achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace" between Israel, Palestinians.
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The PLO's Washington
office
Photo: AP
U.S
President Donald Trump's administration has backtracked on its decision
to order the Palestinian Liberation Organization's office in Washington
to close, instead saying it will merely impose limitations that it
expects will be lifted after 90 days.
Last week, U.S. officials said the PLO mission could not stay open
because the Palestinians had violated a provision in U.S. law requiring
the office to close if the Palestinians call on the International
Criminal Court to prosecute Israelis. The move triggered a major rift in
U.S.-Palestinian relations that threatened to scuttle Trump's ambitious
effort to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
The United States delayed shuttering the
office for a week while saying it was working out the details with the
Palestinians, before abruptly reversing course late Friday, as many
Americans were enjoying the long Thanksgiving Day weekend. State
Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez said the U.S. had "advised the PLO
office to limit its activities to those related to achieving a lasting,
comprehensive peace between the Israelis and Palestinians."
Vasquez said even those restrictions will
be lifted after 90 days if the U.S. determines the Israelis and
Palestinians are engaged in serious peace talks. In an effort led by
Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, the White House has been
preparing a comprehensive peace plan to present to both sides in the
coming months.
"We therefore are optimistic that at the
end of this 90-day period, the political process may be sufficiently
advanced that the president will be in a position to allow the PLO
office to resume full operations," Vasquez said.
The reversal marked a serious departure
from the administration's interpretation of the law only a week earlier.
Officials said then that one way or another, the office had to close
because Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had called on the
ICC to investigate and prosecute Israelis. That same law, though, says
that the president can let the office reopen after 90 days despite an
ICC push if serious Israeli-Palestinian talks are deemed to be underway.
Asked how the Trump administration explains
its new interpretation of what must happen if the Palestinians call for
an ICC investigation, Vasquez said, "These actions are consistent with
the president's authorities to conduct the foreign relations of the
United States."
There were no indications that the Trump
administration had initially moved to close the office as part of a
premeditated strategy to strengthen its hand in eventual peace talks.
Instead, officials explained the move by
saying Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in a strict interpretation of
the law, determined that Abbas' speech had crossed the legal line.
The chaos that ensued, with the U.S. unable
for several days to explain if the office was truly closing and when,
indicated it had caught much of the government off guard.
The move led the Palestinians to issue an
angry response last weekend threatening to suspend all communication
with the U.S. Additionally, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat
accused the U.S. of bowing to pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's government "at a time when we are trying to cooperate to
achieve the ultimate deal."
Vasquez said the original position had
never been intended to create leverage or impose pressure. The State
Department said that the administration is actively working to pursue
lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace.
The requirement about the mission closing
stems from a little-known provision in U.S. law that says the U.S.
cannot allow the Palestinians to have a Washington office if they back
the ICC's move to investigate or prosecute Israeli nationals for alleged
crimes against Palestinians.
Speaking at the United Nations in
September, Abbas said that the Palestinians had "called on the
International Criminal Court to open an investigation and to prosecute
Israeli officials for their involvement in settlement activities and
aggressions against our people."
The PLO is the group that formally
represents all Palestinians. Although the U.S. does not recognize
Palestinian statehood, the PLO maintains a "general delegation" office
in Washington that facilitates Palestinian officials' interactions with
the U.S. government.
The United States allowed the PLO to open a
mission in Washington in 1994, after then-President Bill Clinton waived
a law that said the Palestinians could not have an office. In 2011,
under the Obama administration, the U.S. started letting the
Palestinians fly their flag over the office, an upgrade to the status of
their mission that the Palestinians hailed as historic.
Israel opposes any Palestinian membership in U.N.-related organizations until a peace deal has been reached.
The Israelis and Palestinians are not
engaged in active, direct negotiations. But Trump's team, led by
Kushner, is working to broker a deal aimed at settling the intractable
conflict.
The Trump administration has not disclosed
details about its effort to achieve an agreement that ostensibly would
grant the Palestinians an independent state in exchange for an end to
its conflict with the Israelis. Kushner and other top Trump aides have
been shuttling to the region to meet with Palestinians, Israelis and
officials from Arab nations.
AP and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2017/11/26/us-changes-course-allows-plo-office-to-remain-open/
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