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| Site of future Russian embassy branch |
While it isn't a full embassy, it is nearly as significant as an embassy would be. The Russian diplomatic building would appear to violate the 1980 United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, which called for "Those States that have established diplomatic missions at Jerusalem to withdraw such missions from the Holy City;"Russia plans to open a branch of its embassy in Jerusalem, in exchange for acknowledging the boundaries of Moscow’s historic and present ownership of the plot of land on which the office will be built, the sides announced on Friday.The “branch office of the Consular Section of the Russian Embassy in Israel,” as the embassy calls it, will be opened on the corner of King George and Ma’alot streets in downtown Jerusalem, where a parking lot is currently located, after Russia and the Jerusalem Municipality, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, signed an agreement clarifying the boundaries of the plot.The Foreign Ministry said that the building complex will include a residence for Russian diplomats and a conference hall, which makes it more than a regular consulate.
It will be recalled that at the same time the world was freaking out over the US Embassy moving to Jerusalem and recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Russia said that it recognized West Jerusalem as Israel's capital as well. Yet there was practically no negative response to Russia's announcement at the time.
We can probably expect the same muted response from the Palestinian Authority now.
The Arabi21 site reached out to the PA Foreign Ministry for comment, and they punted, saying they are checking the story, "in order to verify its authenticity, because we do not base our positions on what is published in the Hebrew media."
Since then, I see nothing about this announcement on the official Palestinian news sites.
In short, no one wants to upset Russia. Attacking the US is not only accepted but almost mandatory.
