Palestinian negotiator calls for boycott of new US embassy unit

The Palestinian leadership is urging the international community to boycott the newly created US embassy unit that will handle relations with Palestinians.

Palestinian official Saeb Erekat issues a statement Thursday calling upon the diplomatic community “not to engage in any kind of formal relationship or collaboration” with the new Palestinian affairs unit, which will take over the responsibilities of the shuttered US consulate.

The US move to close the consulate earlier this week was the latest decision from the Trump administration to infuriate the Palestinians, who view the closure as a “downgrade” and “new assault” on the prospect of a US-brokered solution to the conflict.

The unit will grant US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, a staunch supporter of the Israeli West Bank settler movement, authority over US relations with the Palestinians.

This photo from March 4, 2019, shows United States consulate building in Jerusalem. The United States has officially shuttered its consulate in Jerusalem, downgrading the status of its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians by folding it into the US Embassy to Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

— AP