United States Department of State announced it will merge its Jerusalem consulate with the embassy in the city on Monday. The consulate primarily served Palestinians and the move, originally made public in October, drew criticism from Palestinian officials.
"This decision was driven by our global efforts to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our diplomatic engagements and operations. It does not signal a change of US policy on Jerusalem, the West Bank, or the Gaza Strip," the department said in a statement. It underlined that the US administration is "committed to efforts to achieve a lasting and comprehensive peace" between the Israeli and Palestinians and that Washington "continues to take no position on final status issues, including boundaries or borders."
