The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Washington office is set to close by order of the Trump administration in support of the United States' longtime ally Israel amid stalled peace efforts.

According to administration officials, the decision to close the PLO office will be announced on Monday by National Security Adviser John Bolton as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

"The United States will always stand with our friend and ally, Israel," Bolton plans to say, according to a draft.

"The Trump administration will not keep the office open when the Palestinians refuse to take steps to start direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel," the draft also said.

A Palestinian official confirmed the report on Monday.

"We have been notified by a U.S. official of their decision to close the Palestinian mission to the U.S.," PLO secretary-general Saeb Erekat said in a statement.

"This is yet another affirmation of the Trump administration's policy to collectively punish the Palestinian people, including by cutting financial support for humanitarian services including health and education," he said.

According to a Reuters report, the administration may possibly also impose sanctions against the International Criminal Court amid claims an investigation may be launched into alleged war crimes by the U.S and Israel against Palestine.

"If the court comes after us, Israel or other allies, we will not sit quietly," he plans to add.

Bolton added that the administration will not allow any ICC judges or prosecutors enter the country if the investigation launches.

"We will sanction their funds in the U.S financial system, and we will prosecute them in the U.S. criminal system. We will do the same for any company or state that assists a İCC investigation of American," he adds.

In November, the U.S. State Department refused to renew operating permission for the PLO office in Washington for the first time since the 1980s, after Palestinian President and PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called for an investigation and prosecution of Israeli officials. The State Department later, however, said it wanted the office to stay open after the PLO froze all communication with the U.S.</s>National Security Adviser John Bolton is speaking to the Federalist Society Monday on protecting America’s constitutional principles and sovereignty from international threats.

It’s Bolton’s first public address since joining the White House earlier this year. The speech comes as the Trump administration is shuttering the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, a controversial move. That development comes after the White House said over the weekend it was cutting $25 million in funding for health services in the heavily Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Ahead of Bolton’s speech, a protester holding a pink “Iran wants Peace” sign and shouting Bolton is a “war hawk” was forcibly removed from the stage by security.

The Federalist Society is a conservative legal group that has supported the nomination and confirmation process of both Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Bolton has spoken to the group on foreign policy in years past.</s>In his first major public address since becoming national security adviser to President Trump, Ambassador John Bolton preemptively singled out the International Criminal Court, warning that its judges and prosecutors would be subject to travel restrictions, sanctions and criminal prosecution if it sought to investigate American citizens.

"Americans can rest assured that the United States will not provide any form of legitimacy or support to this body," Bolton said in prepared remarks at an event organized by the Federalist Society in Washington, D.C. "The ICC is already dead to us."

Bolton indicated on Monday that the timing of his announcement was meant to preempt an imminent announcement from the ICC.

"The reason for the timing now is that even in the past few weeks and months, we have been hearing that a decision on a possible formal investigation is very close," he told reporters after his speech.

Last November, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda requested permission to open a formal investigation into allegations of war crimes committed since 2002 by, among others, American military and CIA personnel in Afghanistan and at secret detention facilities set up in Poland, Lithuania and Romania. All four are states parties of the ICC.

"There is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in connection with the armed conflict in Afghanistan," Bensouda said at the time.

"Our effort here, because we think the court itself is illegitimate, is simply for this investigation not to go forward," Bolton said.

While Bolton has been an outspoken critic of the court for decades – including when he served in the George W. Bush administration – the suggestion that the U.S. would legally and financially retaliate against agents of the ICC is without clear precedent.

"We will prosecute them in the U.S. criminal system," Bolton said, "we will do the same for any company or state that assists an ICC investigation of Americans."

Bolton left unspecified what kinds of legal instruments would be employed and whether they might apply to other, less senior ICC personnel, which can include American citizens.

The United States is not and never has been a state party to the ICC, though certain administrations have cooperated with its investigations in the past. One hundred twenty-three states have ratified the Rome Statute establishing the ICC, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands.

The European Union itself is not party to the ICC, though it is among its most significant financial backers. All of its member states are signatories.

Bolton also referenced a potential ICC investigation of Israel for its activities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as impetus for his remarks, during which he also announced the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington, DC.

"There is no evidence that the PLO office in Washington contributed to diplomacy," he told reporters.

Israel is not a member of the ICC, though Palestine was admitted as a state party in 2015.

Bolton said the Trump administration would "take note" of any countries that cooperate with ICC investigations of the United States and consider additional avenues using the UN Security Council to "constrain" the court's powers.

He criticized EU countries in particular, citing the bloc as an area "where the global governance dogma is strong."

A spokesman for the ICC did not immediately respond for a request for comment.

Though occasionally punctuated by applause from his mostly conservative audience, elsewhere Bolton's remarks were met with sharp criticism.

"This was not a speech of strength whatsoever," said Ambassador David Scheffer, who led the U.S. negotiating team during UN talks on the International Criminal Court in the late 1990s, and who was authorized by President Clinton to sign the Rome Statute establishing the ICC in 1998. "It screams out fear and weakness."

"It reflects the United States being intimidated by international law and multilateral institutions," Scheffer told CBS News in a phone interview. "This is not America standing tall – our allies and adversaries overseas will see this as America cowering."

President Bush, via Bolton, "unsigned" the statute that created the ICC in 2002. On Monday, Bolton recalled it as his "happiest day in government."

Bolton also signaled that the administration was actively evaluating its participation in other multilateral institutions like the World Trade Organization, from which President Trump has previously threatened to withdraw.

"I think concern for national sovereignty is extremely important to the administration," Bolton said. "How that plays out in future decisions, I'd rather not forecast, but I think it is something that goes directly to democratic theory of who governs."

"And the Trump administration view is that Americans govern Americans. How's that for a radical thought?" he said, sarcastically.</s>The US has decided to close the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington, DC — escalating tensions between Washington and the Palestinian leadership, which has already cut off contact with the White House, according to reports.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he was officially notified of the decision, which is expected to be announced by National Security Adviser John Bolton later Monday.

Erekat slammed the move as a continuation of a policy of “collective punishment” by the Trump administration, according to The Washington Post.

“These people have decided to stand on the wrong side of history by protecting war criminals and destroying the two-state solution,” he said. “I told them if you are worried about courts, you should stop aiding and abetting crimes.”

Erekat said “taking down the Palestinian flag in DC, means more than a new blow from Trump’s administration against peace and justice.”

President Trump has promised to pursue the “ultimate deal” between the Palestinians and Israel, but a law passed by Congress says the mission — a delegation of the PLO — must close if peace negotiations aren’t ongoing.

The Palestinians rejected the US as peace broker following Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his moving the embassy there.

Monday’s move comes after the White House said Saturday that it was cutting $25 million in funding for health services in heavily Palestinian East Jerusalem to put the money toward “high-priority projects elsewhere.”

Under longstanding American law, permission for the PLO to maintain its mission in DC must be renewed every six months. US officials say Palestinian leaders breached the arrangement by calling for Israeli officials to be prosecuted for war crimes at the International Criminal Court.

In a speech Monday, Bolton will threaten to impose sanctions against the ICC if it proceeds with investigations against the US or Israel, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing an advanced copy of his speech.

Husam Zomlot, head of the PLO mission in Washington, told reporters in Ramallah that the closure was “to protect Israel from war crimes, crimes against humanity that Israel is committing in the occupied Palestinian territories,” Agence France-Presse reported.

Both Erekat and Zomlot pledged to push forward with Palestinian efforts at the ICC.

The move follows last month’s announcement by the State Department that the US is slashing more than $200 million in bilateral aid to the Palestinians following a review that Trump ordered to ensure the spending was in line with national interests.

The US also has cut funding to the UN agency that handles Palestinian refugees.

The decision to close the mission comes just ahead of the 25th anniversary of the first Oslo accord on Thursday — sealed with a handshake at the White House and meant to lead to Israeli-Palestinian peace.</s>WASHINGTON — The Trump administration ordered the closure of the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington on Monday, citing the refusal of Palestinian leaders to enter into peace talks with Israel. The Palestinians accused the administration of dismantling decades of U.S. engagement with them.

The State Department said the U.S. step — the latest in a series targeting the Palestinians — came after a review of the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization centered on the fact that no “direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel” are underway despite previous warnings.

“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,” spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. “As such, and reflecting congressional concerns, the administration has decided that the PLO office in Washington will close at this point.”

The Trump administration had told the Palestinians last November that closure could be expected unless they agreed to sit to down with the Israelis. The administration, however, has yet to release its own much-vaunted but largely unknown peace plan although it said it still intends to do so.

“The United States continues to believe that direct negotiations between the two parties are the only way forward,” Nauert said in her statement. “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.”

She also said the closure decision was consistent with U.S. concerns about Palestinian attempts to prompt an investigation of Israel by the International Criminal Court.

National Security Adviser John Bolton was expected to address Monday’s decision in a speech later in the day focused on U.S. policy toward the ICC.

Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said the closure was “yet another affirmation of the Trump administration’s policy to collectively punish the Palestinian people, including by cutting financial support for humanitarian services including health and education.”

The Palestine Liberation Organization, commonly known as the PLO, formally represents all Palestinians. Although the U.S. does not recognize Palestinian statehood, the PLO has maintained in Washington a general delegation office that facilitates Palestinian officials’ interactions with the U.S. government.

The head of the PLO delegation to the U.S. accused the Trump administration of “dismantling decades of U.S. vision and engagement in Palestine.”

“Weaponizing humanitarian and developmental aid as political blackmail does not work,” Ambassador Husam Zomlot said.

Trump has delivered a number of blows to the Palestinians during his time in office.

Most recently his administration ended U.S. funding for the United Nations agency that helps Palestinian refugees, slashing hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for projects in the West Bank and Gaza and cutting funding to hospitals in Jerusalem that serve Palestinians.

Trump also recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the U.S. Embassy there, from Tel Aviv. Dozens of Palestinians were killed in protests that followed the move, and Palestinians have since rejected the U.S. as a peace broker.

Although the Israelis and Palestinians are not engaged in active, direct negotiations, Trump’s administration has been working to mediate a peace deal that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Led by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior aide, White House officials have been preparing a peace proposal they intend to put forward at an unspecified time.

Trump has promised to pursue the “ultimate deal” between the Palestinians and Israel. However, such a deal is unlikely given Palestinian mistrust of his administration.

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest Maine news.</s>WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has informed the Palestinian government that its primary office in Washington D.C. will be closed, deepening a rift with the Palestinians and drawing cries of a “dangerous escalation” from their leadership. The move, which U.S. officials were yet to confirm on Monday morning, comes after the White House said over the weekend that it was cutting $25 million in funding for health services in heavily-Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Senior Palestinian diplomat Dr. Saeb Erekat confirmed in a statement released Monday that the U.S. government had informed the Palestinian Authority that the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization, effectively the Palestinian parliament, would be shuttered.

“We have been notified by a US official of their decision to close the Palestinian Mission to the US. This is yet another affirmation of the Trump Administration’s policy to collectively punish the Palestinian people, including by cutting financial support for humanitarian services including health and education,” Erekat said in the statement.

Closing the PLO office in D.C. will leave the Palestinians without a formal presence in the U.S. capital. Erekat said the “dangerous escalation shows that the US is willing to disband the international system in order to protect Israeli crimes and attacks against the land and people of Palestine as well as against peace and security in the rest of our region.”

The Trump administration said Saturday that it was cutting $25 million meant for East Jerusalem hospitals and putting the money toward “high-priority projects elsewhere.”

The move follows the State Department’s late August announcement that the administration is slashing more than $200 million in bilateral aid to the Palestinians following a review that President Donald Trump ordered to ensure the spending was aligned with U.S. national interests.

The Palestinians had held out hope that the hospital money would be spared because it was not included in the previously announced cut. On Saturday, the Palestinian Authority denounced the administration’s move as “an act of political blackmail.”

The State Department said the review was intended to make sure the American aid was “being spent in accordance with U.S. national interests and were providing value to the U.S. taxpayer.” The administration “will be redirecting approximately $25 million originally planned for the East Jerusalem Hospital Network. Those funds will go to high-priority projects elsewhere,” the department added. It did not identify the projects.

In response, Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi accused the administration of threatening to cause “serious instability and grave harm” to thousands of patients and their families across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and jeopardize the livelihood of thousands of workers in the Palestinian health care sector.

“Such an act of political blackmail goes against the norms of human decency and morality,” Ashrawi said in a statement. “Politics should not trump humanity or harm a vulnerable people in need of support and protection.”

The administration announced the original cut in U.S. aid to Palestinians as Mr. Trump and his Middle East advisers prepared to release the U.S. peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians. But Mr. Trump angered the Palestinians earlier this year by moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which led the Palestinians to break off contact with the U.S.</s>Palestinians to suspend communication with Trump admin if US closes PLO office

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Washington office has been closed by order of the Trump administration in support of the United States' longtime ally Israel amid stalled peace efforts, the U.S. Department of State announced Monday.

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert announced the decision, saying "the PLO office in Washington will close at this point."

"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 Nauert.

"However, the PLO has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel," said Nauert, adding that Palestinian calls for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel also prompted the U.S. decision.

"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.," the statement added.

The office had served as Palestine's de facto embassy in Washington.

National Security Advisor John Bolton is expected to address the decision during a speech before a conservative group in the nation's capital later Monday.

A Palestinian official confirmed the closure on Monday.

"We have been notified by a U.S. official of their decision to close the Palestinian mission to the U.S.," PLO secretary-general Saeb Erekat said in a statement.

"This is yet another affirmation of the Trump administration's policy to collectively punish the Palestinian people, including by cutting financial support for humanitarian services including health and education," he said.

According to a Reuters report, the administration may possibly also impose sanctions against the ICC amid claims an investigation may be launched into alleged war crimes by the U.S and Israel against Palestine.

In November, the U.S. State Department refused to renew operating permission for the PLO office in Washington for the first time since the 1980s, after Palestinian President and PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called for an investigation and prosecution of Israeli officials. The State Department later, however, said it wanted the office to stay open after the PLO froze all communication with the U.S.</s>WASHINGTON — The Trump administration ordered the closure of the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington on Monday and threatened sanctions against the International Criminal Court if it pursues investigations against the U.S., Israel, or other allies. The moves are likely to harden Palestinian resistance to the U.S. role as a peace broker.

The administration cited the refusal of Palestinian leaders to enter into peace talks with Israel as the reason for closing the Palestinian Liberation Organization office, although the U.S. has yet to present its plan to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians accused the administration of dismantling decades of U.S. engagement with them.

Shortly after the State Department announcement, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, launched a broadside against The Hague-based International Criminal Court. Bolton declared that the ICC "is already dead" to the U.S. He also threatened the court and its staff with sanctions if it proceeds with investigations into alleged war crimes by American troops in Afghanistan.

The closure of the PLO office — the latest in a series of moves targeting the Palestinians — was centered on the fact that no "direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel" are underway despite previous warnings, the State Department said. It said the decision was also in line with U.S. law, a reflection of congressional concerns and consistent with U.S. policy to oppose and punish Palestinian attempts to bring Israel before the ICC.

The administration had told the Palestinians last year that closure was a distinct possibility unless they agreed to sit to down with the Israelis. It has yet to release its own much-vaunted but largely unknown peace plan although it said it still intends to do so.

Instead of heeding the warning to resume talks, "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," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. "As such, and reflecting congressional concerns, the administration has decided that the PLO office in Washington will close at this point."

Bolton followed up in his address to The Federalist Society, a conservative, Washington-based think tank.

"The Trump administration will not keep the office open when the Palestinians refuse to take steps to start direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel," he said. "The United States supports a direct and robust peace process, and we will not allow the ICC, or any other organization, to constrain Israel's right to self-defense."

Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said the move was "yet another affirmation of the Trump administration's policy to collectively punish the Palestinian people, including by cutting financial support for humanitarian services including health and education."

The Palestine Liberation Organization, commonly known as the PLO, formally represents all Palestinians. Although the U.S. does not recognize Palestinian statehood, the PLO has maintained in Washington a general delegation office that facilitates Palestinian officials' interactions with the U.S. government.

The closure was just the latest move the administration has taken against the Palestinians and in favor of Israel.

Just last month, it canceled more than $200 million in aid for projects in the West Bank and Gaza as well as the remainder of its planned assistance for the U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees around the Middle East. Over the weekend, it announced it would cut $25 million in assistance for hospitals in east Jerusalem that provide critical care to Palestinian patients.

Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the U.S. Embassy there, from Tel Aviv, in May. That led Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to break off contact with U.S. officials for what he called pro-Israel bias, and the opening of the new embassy was met with large Palestinian protests in which dozens were killed.

"The United States continues to believe that direct negotiations between the two parties are the only way forward," spokeswoman Nauert said in her statement. "This action should not be exploited by those who seek to act as spoilers to distract from the imperative of reaching a peace agreement."

As for the ICC, Bolton questioned the legitimacy of the court and warned that the U.S. would thwart any attempt by its prosecutors to open investigations into Americans for alleged war crimes and other abuses in conflicts in Afghanistan or elsewhere. Bolton, a leading critic of the ICC said the Trump administration would impose sanctions on the court and take other measures to hamper its ability to function should it proceed with such probes.

"The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court," Bolton said. "We will not cooperate with the ICC. We will provide no assistance to the ICC. We will not join the ICC. We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us."

Bolton said the U.S. would "not sit quietly" if the ICC came after it, Israel or other U.S. allies. He said ICC judges and prosecutors would be banned from coming to the U.S., their assets in U.S. jurisdictions would be frozen and they would face prosecution. Similar measures would be taken against any company or state that assists an ICC investigation of Americans, he said.

"No committee of foreign nations will tell us how to govern ourselves and defend our freedom," he said.

The Clinton administration signed the Rome Statute that created the ICC but had serious concerns about the scope of the court's jurisdiction and never sought ratification by the Senate, where there was broad bipartisan opposition to what lawmakers saw as a threat to U.S. sovereignty.

When George W. Bush took office in 2001, Bolton sought and received permission to travel to New York to ceremonially "unsign" the document at the United Nations.</s>National Security Adviser John Bolton is speaking to the Federalist Society Monday on protecting America's constitutional principles and sovereignty from international threats.

It's Bolton's first public address since joining the White House earlier this year. The speech comes as the Trump administration is shuttering the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, a controversial move. That development comes after the White House said over the weekend it was cutting $25 million in funding for health services in the heavily Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Ahead of Bolton's speech, a protester holding a pink "Iran wants Peace" sign and shouting Bolton is a "war hawk" was forcibly removed from the stage by security.
• None Who is John Bolton, the National Security Adviser? 



The Federalist Society is a conservative legal group that has supported the nomination and confirmation process of both Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Bolton has spoken to the group on foreign policy in years past.</s>John Bolton's speech comes as the Trump administration is shuttering the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton branded the International Criminal Court dangerous and unaccountable Monday, saying it constitutes an assault on US sovereignty.

"In theory, the ICC holds perpetrators of the most egregious atrocities accountable for their crimes, provides justice to the victims, and deters future abuses," Bolton said. "In practice, however, the court has been ineffective, unaccountable, and indeed, outright dangerous," he said. Bolton said the United States rejects any move by the court to prosecute American servicemembers and intelligence officials over alleged detainee abuse in Afghanistan - allegations the court is currently reviewing.

He called it "an utterly unfounded, unjustifiable investigation." "The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court," he said.

Bolton's speech comes as the Trump administration is shuttering the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, a controversial move. That development comes after the White House said over the weekend it was cutting $25 million in funding for health services in the heavily Palestinian East Jerusalem.

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The Wall Street Journal reports that National Security Advisor John R. Bolton is expected to announce today the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington.