The US embassy in Jerusalem removed amendments that it had made to the definition of the account of the US ambassador to Israel, on Wednesday evening, on Twitter, shortly after it was changed to include the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
About two hours after Joe Biden's inauguration as President of the United States of America, the ambassador’s account witnessed a sudden change, becoming the US ambassador to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
But after a few minutes, the account name was returned to what it was before the change, "US Ambassador to Israel."
Biden Admin adds to US Ambassador to Israel the title US Ambassador to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza https://t.co/lCyYjWgCfa pic.twitter.com/8y10NfWE6l
- Amichai Stein (@ AmichaiStein1) January 20, 2021
After that, the embassy said in a notice to reporters that a copy of it arrived in Anatolia, "The title of ambassador on Twitter has been modified to become America's ambassador to Israel. The previous amendment is not intended and does not reflect a change in policy."
As for the US State Department, Al-Jazeera confirmed that what had happened was a technical defect.
However, Palestinian sources told Anadolu Agency that they believed that the former US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, was behind the move.
The sources, who preferred not to be named, added that Friedman took this step in an attempt to block the possibility of the new US administration reopening a consulate for the Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
David Friedman ended his duties as Washington’s ambassador to Israel on Wednesday, without the US administration naming a new ambassador until now.
The Palestinians hope that the Biden administration will reverse the move to merge the US consulate for the Palestinians in East Jerusalem with the US embassy in the city.
Former US President Donald Trump closed the US consulate in East Jerusalem, which was serving the Palestinians only, and merged it with the US embassy.
The Palestinians say that Trump's move was to force them to spend their required transactions from the US embassy in Jerusalem, as a kind of American recognition of the city as the capital of Israel.
In May 2018, Trump moved his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in implementation of a decision he had made on December 6, 2017, regarding Jerusalem, in its eastern and western parts, as the alleged capital of Israel, the occupying power.