US merger of Israeli embassy with Palestinian mission in Jerusalem seen as “hostile” by Palestinian authority

The consulate in Jerusalem mostly served Palestinians

Palestinian officials have denounced as hostile the US move to merge its consulate in Jerusalem, which mostly served Palestinians, with the embassy controversially inaugurated last year. The overhaul has been scheduled for Monday.
The US State Department on Sunday formally set a date for the previously announced merger of its embassy in Jerusalem with the consulate, which was operating as the de facto American embassy to the Palestinian Authority.

In a bid to assure Palestinians that the decision would not deal another blow to the already barely existent interactions between Ramallah and Washington, the State Department said that the US would “engage in a wide range of reporting, outreach and programming in the West Bank, as well as with Palestinians in Jerusalem” through a newly devised Palestinian Affairs Unit (PAU) inside the US embassy, which would be located at the same place as the consulate.

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