Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday praised the Trump administration for its decision to close down the Palestine Liberation Organization's mission in Washington, saying it was "the correct decision."
President Donald Trump's move to close the PLO's embassy in Washington has been described as the latest U.S. blow against the Palestinians over their refusal to resume peace talks with Israel.
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been frozen since 2014.
Relations between Washington and Ramallah have been particularly strained since Trump announced last December that he was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and would move the U.S. Embassy there, which was done in May.
The moves infuriated the Palestinians, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has since refused to engage with any of Trump's Middle East envoys, saying the U.S. bias toward Israel proves it cannot act as an impartial mediator in regional peace talks.
The State Department confirmed the decision to shutter the PLO mission.
"We have permitted the PLO office to conduct operations that support the objective of achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between Israelis and the Palestinians since the expiration of a previous waiver in November 2017," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.
"However, the PLO has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel. To the contrary: PLO leadership has condemned a U.S. peace plan they have not yet seen and refused to engage with the U.S. government with respect to peace efforts and otherwise.
"As such, and reflecting congressional concerns, the administration has decided that the PLO office in Washington will close at this point.
"The United States continues to believe that direct negotiations between the two parties are the only way forward. … This action should not be exploited by those who seek to act as spoilers to distract from the imperative of reaching a peace agreement. We are not retreating from our efforts to achieve a lasting and comprehensive peace."
Nauert said the decision to close the PLO's mission was consistent with U.S. concerns about Palestinian attempts to prompt an investigation of Israel by the International Criminal Court.
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton also confirmed that the PLO office in Washington was being closed and that the move stemmed from concern about Palestinian attempts to prompt an ICC investigation against Israel.
Bolton said he did not believe the move would shut the door on the long-delayed Arab-Israeli peace plan, dubbed the "deal of the century," that Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner has been developing for months. Bolton stressed that the plan is still being refined.
The Trump administration has yet to say when it plans to roll out the proposed peace plan.
On Tuesday, PLO envoy to Washington Husam Zomlot confirmed that he and his staff have been given one month to pack up and leave Washington.
Zomlot said the mission's closure would not deter Palestinians from seeking a state with east Jerusalem as its capital.
"We lost the U.S. administration but we gained our national rights," he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement welcoming the move.
"The U.S. made the correct decision. Israel supports this action, which is meant to make it clear to the Palestinians that refusing to negotiate and attacking Israel in international forums will not bring about peace," he said.
The Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem issued a statement saying, "The Palestinians' appeal to the ICC and their rejection of negotiations with Israel and the U.S. are not the way to achieve peace, and it is good that the U.S. is taking a clear stance in the matter."
Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy in the PM's Office Michael Oren praised the move.
"With the closing of the PLO office in Washington, the American administration is not changing the rules of the game, but simply restoring them after years of neglect," he said.
"It should be noted that, in contrast to previous administrations that would reward the Palestinians for abandoning the negotiations with Israel, President Trump is forcing the Palestinians to pay a price. As we have seen in the past, giving gifts to the Palestinians only keeps them away from the peace talks, and now the Americans are punishing them in order to make them return to the negotiation table."
Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Zeev Elkin said, "The PLO under Abu Mazen [Abbas] is an organization that encourages terrorism through the paying of exorbitant stipends to murderers, it uses its educational system and Palestinian media to incite against Israel, and it spares no effort to undermine us in the international arena.
"The American decision proves once again that Abu Mazen is not a partner for peace, but rather an obstacle to it."
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein also welcomed the move, saying, "The PLO's mission never focused on promoting peace, rather on promoting incitement and hate. This is good news for the new [Jewish] year."
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat issued a statement Tuesday saying that the closure of the mission will not deter the Palestinians from seeking ICC action against Israel.
He described the closure as a move designed "to protect Israeli crimes."
"We reiterate that the rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale, that we will not succumb to U.S. threats and bullying," Erekat said. "Accordingly, we continue to call upon the International Criminal Court to open its immediate investigation into Israeli crimes."
PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi called the U.S. policy "blackmail" that "once again seeks to punish the Palestinian people, who are already victims of the ruthless Israeli military occupation."
Turkey, one of the strongest critics of Washington's Middle East policy, said on Tuesday that the decision was a worrying step and "another sign that the USA has lost its impartial stance on the Middle East peace process."
