In the next big engagement in what we like to call the Battle of Jerusalem, it looks like the lineup will be President Joe Biden against — wait for it — Senator Biden. The question is whether Mr. Biden will take care that the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 is faithfully executed, as it was — and for the first time — by President Trump. Or will Mr. Biden seek to undercut the law by opening a separate consulate in Jerusalem to deal with the Arabs?
What stands out for us in this situation is the fact that Mr. Biden was the first co-sponsor of the Jerusalem Embassy Act. He signed onto the bill the day it was introduced by a Republican, Senator Dole. Yet now Mr. Biden is maneuvering to undercut the very law that he cosponsored (and that passed the Senate 93 to five). It’s doubly dastardly because the implementation has vindicated those who helped get it passed.
The latest piece on all this is from one Eugene Kontorovich, the law professor at George Mason who has emerged as a sage on international law. His piece, in Israel Hayom, is on Mr. Biden’s scheme to open in Jerusalem a consulate for the Palestinian Arabs. Our embassy in Jerusalem “already provides consular services to the Palestinians,” Mr. Kontorovich notes. “Why do they need an independent consulate in the same city?”
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I liken this to Canada setting up an embassy in Chicago for BLM.
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