MK Nir Barkat (Likud) accuses Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid of passing on to the Biden administration the agreement in principle to open the US Consulate in East Jerusalem.
In a letter sent to the two ahead of Bennett's meeting with US President Joe Biden on Thursday, Barkat writes that he has already addressed the two several times on the matter, .
Barkat demands that Prime Minister Bennett and his colleague Lapid make it clear in their voices that they are rejecting the request to open the consulate.
In a letter to the two, Barkat asked them to "immediately stop the intention to undermine Jerusalem's status and establish an American consulate there that will serve the Palestinians. There is a US embassy in Jerusalem that opened in 2018, so there is no need to establish another representative other than the embassy."
Barkat has been leading the struggle to prevent the opening of the consulate for several weeks.
About a month ago, he went to meetings in Washington on the subject, and in the coming days the Knesset plenum is expected to convene to discuss the issue.
In an appeal to Lapid and Bennett, Barkat explains that "the intention of the Biden administration, when it comes to opening a designated consulate for the Palestinians, is not innocent. It means the division of Jerusalem and its recognition as the capital of Palestine, Allows the establishment of a mission that will serve the Palestinians in the heart of Israel. "
The Prime Minister's Office said: "It was not and was not created." The Lapid bureau also denied.