The US took the reasonable step of closing its consulate in Jerusalem, and folding their activities into the new US Embassy.

This has progressives upset because they say it “Demotes” Palestinians.

“US closes Jerusalem consulate, demoting Palestinian mission to an office in embassy to Israel” TRENDING: BREAKING: Senate Finance and Homeland Security Committees Release DEVASTATING Report on Hunter Biden, Burisma and Corruption -- CROOKED BIDEN FAMILY ENRICHED THEMSELVES AND OBAMA KNEW! JERUSALEM (AP) — The United States has officially shuttered its consulate in Jerusalem, downgrading the status of its main diplomatic mission to the Palestinians by folding it into the U.S. Embassy to Israel. For decades, the consulate functioned as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians. Now, that outreach will be handled by a Palestinian affairs unit, under the command of the embassy. The symbolic shift hands authority over U.S. diplomatic channels with the West Bank and Gaza to ambassador David Friedman, a longtime supporter and fundraiser for the West Bank settler movement and fierce critic of the Palestinian leadership.

That sent the left into a tailspin

The downgrade is just the latest in a string of divisive decisions by the Trump administration that have backed Israel and alienated the Palestinians, who say they have lost faith in the U.S. administration’s role as a neutral arbiter in peace process.

Yeah, wouldn’t want Hamas and Fatah to lose faith in America! Next thing you know, ISIS won’t approve of us either.

Palestinians: No role for US in peace after closure of J'lem Consulate https://t.co/Y6BJbsrtOm — The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) March 3, 2019

Erakat:The last nail in the coffin of the US Administration role in peace makinghttps://t.co/LyjMd8Zwy2 — Dr. Saeb Erakat الدكتور صائب عريقات (@ErakatSaeb) March 3, 2019

A ‘final nail in the coffin’ for US role in Mideast peace efforts?

Nope. But hopefully a nail in the coffin of Hamas and Fatah.

https://t.co/GrZtCHjDii Talk about sending the wrong message. If you're too poor to pay, you have no play with Trump. — Tom Wallace (@HiHRetrofonts) March 4, 2019

Talk about sending the wrong message. If you’re too poor to pay, you have no play with Trump.

LAST – The entire “demotion” narrative is entirely the AP’s making. From the same article, which apparently the writer doesn’t believe.

“This decision was driven by our global efforts to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our diplomatic engagements and operations,” State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement. “It does not signal a change of U.S. policy on Jerusalem, the West Bank, or the Gaza Strip.”

Why in the world would America need to staff and operate a diplomatic mission in a city where we have an embassy?

This is just another progressive swipe at Trump and the Jewish state of Israel.

Crossposted at Bright Start News