The United States Administration decided to backtrack on a decision to order the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Mission in Washington to close, that after the Americans put the Palestinian leadership on notice earlier this month, warning Ramallah that unless they enter into serious peace negotiations with Israel, the United States will have no-other-choice but to close the Palestinian mission. The apparent threat by Washington came after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has determined that the Palestinians breached an obscure provision of an American law that explicitly demands the closing of the ‘Palestine Liberation Organization’s mission’ if the Palestinians would attempt to prosecute Israeli officials for alleged crimes against Palestinians, at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Nevertheless, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas instructed Palestinian representatives in Washington to suspend contact with their American counterparts, Washington announced a new decision on the matter, to merely impose limitations on the Palestinian mission. State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez noted during a briefing, that the United States had “advised the PLO Office to limit its activities to those related to achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. ” Vasquez further revealed that even those restrictions will be lifted after 90 days if the United States determines that the Israelis and Palestinians are engaged in a serious dialogue for peace. Amid intensified efforts by President Trump’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt to announce a comprehensive peace plan, which is expected to be presented to Jerusalem and Ramallah in the near future, the State Department spokesman voiced optimism of an imminent political process, stressing that Washington is “optimistic that at the end of this 90-day period, the political process may be sufficiently advanced that the president will be in a position to allow the PLO office to resume full operations.”
