The recent, misguided efforts of France and the United Kingdom to use their consulates in Jerusalem as embassies to the Palestinian Authority, which they now ostensibly recognize as the so-called state of Palestine, are not only inappropriate but contrary to existing treaties and law.

The Oslo II Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 28, 1995, and witnessed by then U.S. President Bill Clinton, among others, expressly prohibits establishing a consulate for the P.A., as it says in Article IX, Section 5a of the Oslo II Accord, the P.A. “ … will not have powers and responsibilities in the sphere of foreign relations, which sphere includes the establishment abroad of embassies, consulates or other types of foreign missions and posts or permitting their establishment in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip, the appointment of or admission of diplomatic and consular staff, and the exercise of diplomatic functions.”

Why would France and the United Kingdom seek to induce a breach of Oslo II, the basis of the two-state solution for which they so fervently advocate? Furthermore, it’s hard to imagine why anyone other than a dilettante would insist on positioning a consulate dedicated to serving the P.A. in the heart of Jerusalem, in what amounts to a foreign country?