The editor-in-chief of a major Palestinian news agency on Saturday alleged that Jews control Washington and are pushing the United States to consider recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

“The Jews rule in Washington and the Jews rule in Tel Aviv. What’s the difference?” said Ma’an News Agency editor-in-chief Nasser Laham on Saturday in a television interview on his agency’s own channel, recalling a classic anti-Semitic trope that Jews run the world behind the scenes.

Laham was responding to a question as to whether it was in Israel’s interest to sever the Palestinian-American relationship by pushing for Washington to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.

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The Palestinians have said that should the US recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which President Donald Trump is reportedly considering doing this week, it would mean the end of US-backed peace negotiations.

The Palestinians want East Jerusalem for a future Palestinian state, while Israel says the whole of the city is the Jewish state’s capital.

“It’s the same if we negotiate with them (i.e. Jews) in Washington or in Tel Aviv. It’s the same framework,” Laham said.

As evidence that Jews dictate policy in Washington, Laham brought up the example of Martyn Indyk, who served during the Clinton era as the US ambassador to Israel and in 2013-2014 as the US Special Envoy for Israeli–Palestinian Negotiations. Indyk, who is Jewish, is now the executive vice president of the Brookings Institute think tank in Washington.

“Martin Indyk left the US embassy in Israel, and now he decides in Washington more than he did here,” said Laham.