U.S. to Downgrade Palestinian Affairs Office in Jerusalem, Officials Say

In recent years, an office within the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem had a direct line of communication with Washington. That was meant to signal that the United States saw Palestinian issues as important, and considered the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip to be separate from Israel.

Now, the new U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has decided to shut down this direct channel, according to U.S. officials who spoke condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The decision will effectively end the special status of the Office of Palestinian Affairs at the embassy, which had been sending cables to Washington without being required to get them approved first by embassy leaders.

The cables went to U.S. agencies working on foreign policy and national security. The office, which is in the old Jerusalem consulate building and not in the embassy, is responsible for maintaining contact with senior Palestinian officials and reporting on Palestinian issues.

The move is one of Mr. Huckabee’s most significant decisions since arriving in Israel in April.

Lourdes Lamela, the acting head of the Office of Palestinian Affairs, was recently informed of the ambassador’s decision after Mr. Huckabee consulted with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the officials said.

After the State Department was asked for comment for this article on Tuesday morning, the department spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, said at an afternoon news conference that Mr. Rubio had decided “to merge the responsibilities” of the Palestinian Affairs office “fully” into the embassy. She added that Mr. Huckabee would oversee the merger in the coming weeks.

The U.S. Embassy complex in Jerusalem in 2023.Credit…Ahmad Gharabli/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images