The State Department refused to comment today on El Salvador’s decision to move its Embassy in Israel back to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, but made it clear that the United States Embassy will remain in Tel Aviv. The Department earlier this week also had no comment on Costa Rica’s decision to return its Embassy to Jerusalem.
The State Department cited its position on Jerusalem, declaring it did not consider it Israel’s capital and that East Jerusalem was “occupied territory” in expressing U.S. displeasure that Kuwait had refused to accept Brandon Groves, Jr. as its new U.S. Ambassador to the Persian Gulf state because he had been a U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem.
Department deputy spokesman Alan Romberg, in confirming the Kuwaiti attitude yesterday, stressed that the U.S. has “no immediate plans to nominate another candidate” to replace the former Ambassador to Kuwait, Francois Dickman. “We profoundly disagree with the suggestion that because one of our finest professional officers has been assigned to one post he cannot be assigned to another,” Romberg said.
He noted that the Kuwaiti decision was “especially ironic” considering the U.S. position on Jerusalem and that the Consul General in Jerusalem is not accredited to Israel.
“We had a consistent Jerusalem policy for three decades,” Romberg said. “We do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. We have never recognized unilateral action by any state in the area as affecting the status of Jerusalem.”
Romberg added that the U.S. regards “East Jerusalem as occupied territory within the meaning of UN Security Council Resolution 242 and subject to applicable laws and covenants. The Consul General in Jerusalem, therefore, holds a special status. He is not accredited to the government of Israel. He reports directly to the Department of State rather than through the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.”
However, the Consul General office and residence are in West Jerusalem while the Consular and commercial offices are in East Jerusalem. A further irony not mentioned by Romberg is that the Jerusalem Consulate has often been criticized by Israelis as favoring the Palestinians.
POSITION ON EL SALVADOR
On El Salvador, Romberg said today that the location of the Central American country’s Embassy in Israel was a matter between El Salvador and Israel. He said the U.S. position continues to be that “the final status of Jerusalem must be resolved by negotiations among the parties concerned in context of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace. Our position is that Jerusalem should remain undivided with full access to the holy places. In accordance with this policy, pending resolution on Jerusalem’s status, our Embassy will remain in Tel Aviv.”
Romberg said he knew nothing about reports that the El Salvador move, coupled with Israel’s planned opening of an Embassy in San Salvador, would lead to the beginning of a supply of Israeli weapons to El Salvador. He said any U.S. made weapons, or weapons produced in Israel with U.S. licenses, would need U.S. approval before being exported.
He said Israel has made no such request for approval for El Salvador or for any other Latin American country. He said Israeli weapons made entirely by Israel need no U.S. approval for export.
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