In response to the Trump administration’s announcement that it will close the US Consulate in Jerusalem and merge its functions in to the US embassy, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami issued the following statement:

“Step by step, the Trump administration has worked to destroy the US relationship with the Palestinians and to close off every point of contact with the Palestinian leadership. Following the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, the closure of the PLO mission in Washington and the cut-off of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, the closure of the East Jerusalem consulate hands another victory to the settlement movement and enemies of the two-state solution. It gives further control of US policy in the region to Ambassador David Friedman — the settlement movement benefactor who, just this week, broke a longstanding US redline by making an official appearance at an Israeli settlement event in the occupied West Bank.

While the internationally-recognized Palestinian leadership continues to support a two-state solution, the Trump administration is doing everything it can think of to promote the agenda of the Israeli right — permanent occupation and a one-state nightmare. It is choking off all efforts at dialogue, trust-building or even the most basic contact with the Palestinians. The administration’s claim to support ‘continued partnership’ with the Palestinian people and ‘comprehensive peace’ is absurd. Any so-called ‘peace plan’ they put forward in the wake of these moves will be an absolute sham.”