The US administration on Saturday said that the Washington office of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) will remain open under the condition that the Palestinians backtrack on their call on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israeli crimes.
An official at the US State Department on Friday said that the PLO office will remain open provided that its activity is limited to renewing peace talks with Israel.
This decision comes a week after the US administration announced its intention to close the PLO office under a US law stipulating that the Palestinian mission should be closed if the Palestinians try to take any action against Israel at the ICC.
The decision has received wide condemnation from the Palestinians who threatened to halt contacts with president Donald Trump’s administration which would constitute a major obstacle to the peace process initiated by the US.
A senior State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity said “Given the lapse last week of a waiver of statutory restrictions on PLO activity in the US we have advised the PLO office to limit its activities to those related to achieving lasting comprehensive peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.”
He continued “The relevant statute provides that if after 90 days president Trump determines that Palestinians are engaged in direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel restrictions on the PLO and its Washington office may be lifted.”
The US official expressed his optimism that after 90 days the political process will be sufficiently advanced that Trump will be in a position to allow the PLO office to resume full operations.
The US Congress in 2015 passed a law providing that the Palestinian mission must be closed if the Palestinians try to prompt the ICC to open investigation into Israeli crimes.
The Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas in his speech before the UN General Assembly in September called on the ICC to prosecute Israeli officials for being involved in crimes against the Palestinian people.
The US administration believes Abbas’s statements go against the 2015 law.
