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

(racist Islamaphobe and Israel-firster Mike Huckabee says it's nonsense that Trump would recognize Palestine as a state.)

from NYT

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 on the 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...

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