Israel Wants U.S. To Shut Down Palestinian Office In Washington

A Palestinian flag waves in the breeze. Image by flickr
Seeking retaliation after the Wednesday vote by the [Interpol]](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-interpol/interpol-approves-membership-for-state-of-palestine-over-israeli-objections-idUSKCN1C20UV) to admit the Palestinians as a full member state, the Israeli government is asking the United States to shut down offices of the Palestinian delegation in Washington.
According to reports in Israel, the idea was raised in a meeting of Israeli officials with President Trump’s Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt and the ambassador to Tel Aviv David Friedman. The Israelis reported that they had raised the issue with members of Congress, who could move forward legislation requiring the closing of the office.
The Palestinian delegation in Washington is defined as the General Delegation of the PLO, a lower diplomatic status than a full embassy.
“Why is Netanyahu doing this? What does the Interpol have to do with the Palestinian office in Washington?” asked Husam Zolmot, head of the PLO delegation to Washington in response to the Israeli demand. Zolmot told the Forward the request is “ridiculous and childish” and argued that asking for the shuttering of the PLO office is Netanyahu’s way “to preempt any possibility of Donald Trump reaching the ultimate deal.”
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.