Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that Israel is opposed to reopening the US consulate for Palestinians in sovereign Israel, hours before the US announced its plan to do so in Jerusalem, Jpost reported.

Netanyahu said that Israel would prefer that the consulate of another entity - the Palestinian authority - was not located in the sovereign territory of Israel. 

Blinken did not specify exactly where the new consulate will be located in Jerusalem. Many other countries have consulates or embassies for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, which is part of Israel under Israeli law but is not recognized by most countries.

The Trump administration merged the US Consulate for Palestinians with the US Embassy in Israel in March 2019 after moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The move was largely symbolic, as most of the consular staff continued to do the work they had done before, but under the name of the Palestine Affairs Unit.

Blinken said the day before that he could not name the date for the opening of the consulate.