Michelle ThompsonUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio is shutting down the Office of Palestinian Affairs and incorporating it into the US embassy in Jerusalem, as confirmed by State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce on Tuesday.
Bruce explained, “This move will restore the framework from President Trump’s first term, establishing a unified US diplomatic mission in Israel’s capital that reports to the US ambassador to Israel.” She added that Ambassador Mike Huckabee would oversee the merger in the coming weeks.
She emphasized that the office’s closure was not a reflection of any change in US outreach to the people of the West Bank or Gaza. Bruce compared the decision to the department’s internal reorganization, aiming to streamline efforts and ensure that the embassy’s objectives, foreign aid, and actions work cohesively as one entity.
However, the move appeared to further downgrade US relations with the Palestinian people, particularly as it followed Israel’s recent approval of plans to intensify its military operations in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Monday that there would be no reversal of actions, and that the population of Gaza would be displaced for their own protection. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared that Israel would “finally conquer the Gaza Strip.” Despite Trump’s previous comments encouraging Netanyahu to be “good to Gaza,” Israel’s blockade on Gaza has continued for over three months, with more than 52,000 Palestinians reported killed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health since the war began.
Under the Trump administration, the US closed the consulate general in Jerusalem and turned it into the Palestinian Affairs Unit, which operated under the embassy. This change meant that the Palestinian Authority lost its direct line to Washington, and communication had to go through the US ambassador to Israel, which was seen as a move away from impartiality in dealing with Israeli-Palestinian relations.
David Friedman, Trump’s first ambassador to Israel and a supporter of Israeli settlements, shut down the consulate. This decision shifted the responsibility for Palestinian relations to Friedman, who has been openly critical of a Palestinian state. While the Biden administration expressed intentions to reopen the consulate, it has not followed through.
Rubio’s closure of the Office of Palestinian Affairs seems to further limit the Palestinians’ ability to engage directly with the US government, especially under Huckabee, who has previously dismissed the notion of a Palestinian identity.
Emily Martinez
