Hey everyone, welcome back to My Weird Prompts. This is episode four hundred twenty-three, and I have to say, I think we are diving into one of the most geographically and diplomatically confusing topics we have ever tackled. I am Corn, and as always, I am joined by my brother.
Herman Poppleberry, reporting for duty. And yes, Corn, you are not kidding. Jerusalem is a place where history does not just sit in books, it sits in the very architecture of the city and the bizarre legal status of the buildings we walk past every day. Our housemate Daniel actually sparked this whole discussion. He was asking about those specific consulates and consulate generals here in Jerusalem that seem to exist in a parallel dimension. They are here, they are active, they have flags flying, but they are not accredited to the State of Israel.
It is a wild concept when you stop to think about it. Usually, a diplomatic mission is a bridge between two countries. You have an embassy in a capital city, and that embassy represents country A to country B. But these missions Daniel was asking about are different. They represent their home countries, like France or the United Kingdom or Sweden, but they do not officially recognize the host they are sitting in, at least not in the traditional sense. Today we are exploring why these missions are in Jerusalem instead of Ramallah, how you can actually be accredited to a city instead of a country, and the deep historical roots that keep this weird status quo alive.
It is essentially a diplomatic time capsule. To understand why these consulates exist the way they do, we actually have to go back way before the State of Israel was even a thought on the modern map. We are talking about the nineteenth century, back when the Ottoman Empire ruled this land. Back then, European powers were obsessed with the Holy Land. They wanted influence, they wanted to protect their religious interests, and they wanted a foothold in a crumbling empire.
Right, and that led to what were called the Capitulations, right? These were special agreements the Ottomans made with European powers.
Exactly. The Capitulations were essentially legal treaties that gave European powers extraterritorial rights. France was the pioneer here, signing the first one way back in fifteen thirty-six. By the nineteenth century, these agreements gave European consuls incredible power. They were not just diplomats, they were almost like mini-governors for their own citizens living here. If you were a French citizen in Jerusalem in eighteen fifty, you were subject to French law and the French consul, not necessarily Ottoman law. This created a very specific type of diplomatic presence in Jerusalem that was deeply tied to the city itself and its religious importance, rather than to a central national government in the way we think of it today.
It sounds like they were running their own little fiefdoms. And France had a special role, didn't they? They were the protectors of the Catholics.
They were. It was called the Protectorate of the Holy See. France claimed the right to protect all Catholic interests and even some Orthodox ones in the Ottoman Empire. This is why the French Consulate General in Jerusalem is so unique. It actually predates the modern state of France in some ways, or at least its current republic. They have been in Jerusalem intermittently since sixteen twenty-three. Think about that, Corn. They have been doing diplomacy in this city for over four hundred years.
So when the Ottoman Empire fell after World War One and the British Mandate started, these consulates just stayed put. But the real weirdness, the part that Daniel pointed out, really kicks into high gear around nineteen forty-seven and nineteen forty-eight.
That is the pivotal moment. When the United Nations was looking at how to partition the land, they came up with Resolution one hundred eighty-one. Most people know it as the Partition Plan that suggested a Jewish state and an Arab state. But what often gets overlooked is what they planned for Jerusalem. They called it a corpus separatum.
Latin for a separate body.
Precisely. The idea was that Jerusalem was too important, too holy, and too contested to belong to either side. It was supposed to be an international city administered by the United Nations. Now, as we know from history, the nineteen forty-eight war happened, and the corpus separatum never actually became a functioning political reality on the ground. The city was divided between Israel in the west and Jordan in the east.
But here is the kicker, and this is where the nerdiness really begins. While the world moved on and the city was divided, and then later reunited under Israeli control after nineteen sixty-seven, many countries never officially rescinded their support for the idea of the corpus separatum. They basically said, we do not recognize any country's sovereignty over Jerusalem until there is a final, negotiated settlement.
And that is why they do not move. If the French or the British or the Italians were to move their Consulate General from Jerusalem to Ramallah, they would be tacitly admitting that Jerusalem is not an international entity or a shared space, but specifically Israeli territory. By staying in Jerusalem but refusing to be accredited to the State of Israel, they are maintaining a legal fiction that has lasted for over seventy-five years.
It is like they are holding a seat at a table for a guest who has not arrived yet. But I want to dig into the mechanics of this, Herman. Daniel asked how a mission can be accredited to a city. When a new diplomat comes to Israel to work at an embassy in Tel Aviv, they go to the President of Israel, they present their credentials, there is a whole ceremony. What happens with these Jerusalem consuls?
It is much more low-key and, frankly, a bit awkward. They do not present credentials to the Israeli President. They do not seek an exequatur. An exequatur is the official authorization from a host government for a consul to perform their duties. If they asked the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs for an exequatur, they would be recognizing Israel's right to grant it in Jerusalem. So, they just do not ask.
So they just... show up? Like a houseguest who never called ahead?
Sort of! Their home country sends a Note Verbale, which is a formal but unsigned diplomatic note, to the local authorities. It basically says, Hey, this person is our new Consul General for the Jerusalem District. They do not say for Israel, and they do not say for Palestine. They just say for Jerusalem. It is a very deliberate linguistic tightrope walk.
And Israel just lets them do it? Why not kick them out if they are not playing by the rules?
Because of the status quo. Israel wants to maintain good relations with the European Union and the United Kingdom. Plus, there is a reciprocal element. If Israel kicked out the French Consul, France might make life very difficult for Israeli diplomats in Paris. So, there is this gentleman's agreement. Israel allows them to function, gives them certain privileges, and in return, these countries provide a stabilizing presence and a channel for communication.
But officially, their main diplomatic work is with the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, right? They serve as the de facto embassies to the Palestinians.
Exactly. This is what Daniel was getting at with the double standard. If these countries recognize the Palestinian Authority, why not just put the mission in Ramallah? Many countries do have representative offices in Ramallah. Why do the big players, like France, the UK, Sweden, Italy, Greece, Spain, Belgium, and Turkey, insist on Jerusalem?
It has to be about more than just the commute.
It is. There are two big reasons. The first is prestige and history. Some of these buildings are incredible. The French Consulate General, for example, manages what are called the National Domains of France in the Holy Land. These are four specific sites that France claims as its own sovereign territory. We are talking about the Church of Saint Anne near the Lions' Gate, the Benedictine Monastery in Abu Ghosh, the Church of the Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives, and the Tombs of the Kings in Sheikh Jarrah.
Wait, France claims those are sovereign French soil? Like, if I step inside the Church of Saint Anne, I am technically in France?
In their view, yes. It is based on the Chauvel-Fisher letters of nineteen forty-eight, where Israel agreed to respect the existing rights and privileges of French institutions. Whenever a French President visits, like Emmanuel Macron did in twenty-twenty, there is often a confrontation because the French President will refuse to let Israeli security enter the church with him. He will literally shout at them to get out of his house. It is a performance of sovereignty.
That is wild. And the second reason?
The second reason is political signaling. By being in Jerusalem, they are making a claim that the city is the intended capital for both peoples. If they moved to Ramallah, they would be signaling that they have given up on Jerusalem as a central part of the Palestinian political future. They are anchoring the two-state solution in the physical geography of the city.
It is a way of keeping a foot in the door. But it also creates this strange bubble. I mean, we live here, Herman. We see these cars with the white license plates. Tell me about those, because they are a visual marker of this whole mess.
Ah, the Consular Corps plates. This is a classic Jerusalem detail. Most Israeli cars have yellow plates. Palestinian cars in the West Bank have white or green plates. But for a long time, the consulates in Jerusalem had these special white plates with the prefix CC for Consular Corps. They were different from the CD plates, which stand for Diplomatic Corps and are usually found on embassy cars in Tel Aviv. The CC plates were a way of saying, I am a diplomat, but I am not accredited to your state.
I remember we talked about the legal status of these people in episode two hundred seventy-seven. If they are not accredited to Israel, do they still have immunity? What happens if a consul gets a speeding ticket or, heaven forbid, something worse?
It is a legal gray area. Because they do not have the standard diplomatic identity cards from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they often carry special consular IDs. Usually, Israel respects their immunity as a matter of courtesy and international custom. But there have been incidents. In twenty-eighteen, a French diplomatic employee named Romain Franck was arrested for using a consulate vehicle to smuggle dozens of weapons from Gaza to the West Bank.
I remember that! He thought the diplomatic plates would make him invisible to the security checks.
He did. And because he was not a high-ranking diplomat with full immunity, and because the crime was so severe, the Israelis did prosecute him. It was a huge scandal that tested the limits of this unwritten agreement. It showed that while the status quo is flexible, it is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for serious crimes.
I find it interesting that the United States used to be part of this group. The US Consulate General on Agron Street was a legendary institution. But that changed recently, and it has been a bit of a roller coaster.
It really has. For decades, the US Consulate General in Jerusalem reported directly to the State Department in Washington, completely independent of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. It was the primary channel for the Palestinians. But in twenty-nineteen, under the Trump administration, the consulate was merged into the embassy. It became the Palestinian Affairs Unit.
And then later the Office of Palestinian Affairs, or the OPA.
Right. The Biden administration tried to give it more independence by having it report directly to Washington again, but it was still technically under the umbrella of the embassy. However, as of May twenty twenty-five, during the second Trump administration, the Office of Palestinian Affairs was officially closed and fully merged back into the embassy structure. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that this was about restoring a unified mission.
Which, as you can imagine, the Palestinians saw as a massive downgrade. They lost their direct line to Washington. Now everything has to go through the US Ambassador to Israel.
Exactly. It is a huge shift in the diplomatic landscape. While France and the UK are doubling down on their independent consulates, the US has moved in the opposite direction, essentially recognizing Jerusalem as a unified Israeli capital in a way that the Europeans simply refuse to do.
It is a game of diplomatic chicken. And speaking of the Europeans, the Israeli government actually passed a new law about this recently, didn't they? In late twenty-twenty-four?
They did. The Knesset passed an amendment to the Basic Law: Jerusalem. It basically says that no new consulates can be opened in Jerusalem. If a country wants to open a mission in the city now, it has to be an embassy accredited to Israel. They are trying to stop any more of these ghost consulates from popping up. The existing ones, like the French and the British, are grandfathered in, but the door is now closed for anyone else.
So if a country like, say, Ireland wanted to open a mission for the Palestinians in Jerusalem today, they couldn't?
Not according to Israeli law. They would have to put it in Ramallah or call it an embassy and recognize Israeli sovereignty. It is a very clear attempt by Israel to phase out the corpus separatum model over time.
I want to go back to the Turkish Consulate General for a second, because you mentioned them earlier. They have a very specific, almost bureaucratic power in the city.
Oh, the Turks are fascinating. Because they are the successors to the Ottoman Empire, they hold the original land deeds and archives for much of the city. If there is a property dispute in East Jerusalem today, people often go to the Turkish Consulate to find the original records from the eighteen hundreds. They are the keepers of the city's memory. It gives them a level of soft power that no other mission has.
It is like a modern diplomatic mission that also functions as a centuries-old title office. It is just another layer of the weirdness. Herman, we have talked about the history and the politics, but what is the social life of this Consular Corps like? They must be a very specific community.
They are. They live in this little bubble. You will often find them at the American Colony Hotel in East Jerusalem. It is one of the few places where everyone—diplomats, journalists, spies, and local leaders—feels comfortable meeting. It is neutral ground. They have their own schools, like the Lycée Français, and their own cultural centers. They are deeply embedded in the civic life of the city, but they are also apart from it. They are the residents of the Jerusalem of Above.
The Jerusalem of Above versus the Jerusalem of Below. I love that. The diplomats are living in the Jerusalem of International Law, while everyone else is just trying to get through traffic in the Jerusalem of the Ministry of Transportation.
And as we know, the Ministry of Transportation is its own kind of purgatory. But seriously, Corn, this matters because it keeps the idea of a shared city alive. Every time a British consul drives from their home in West Jerusalem to their office in East Jerusalem without acknowledging a border, they are asserting that the city is, in some legal sense, still a single, internationalized unit.
It is a form of bureaucratic resistance. But it also leads to some very funny practical problems. Like, if a consulate needs to fix a leaky roof, who do they ask for a permit?
That is the linguistic dance! If they ask the Jerusalem Municipality for a permit, they are recognizing Israeli sovereignty. If they do not ask, the city might send an inspector to shut them down. So, they do a lot of quiet back-channeling. They might send a notification that is not technically an application, and the city might give an approval that is not technically a permit. It is a masterpiece of ambiguity.
It sounds exhausting. But I guess that is the price of keeping the peace in a city where every stone has a legal brief attached to it.
Exactly. It is what we call the status quo. In Jerusalem, the status quo is not just a phrase, it is a living, breathing, and very expensive system of refusing to define things too clearly.
So, for our listeners, what are the big takeaways from this deep dive into Daniel's prompt?
First, look past the flags. When you see a diplomatic building, do not just assume it is an embassy. The type of mission and who it is accredited to tells you a huge story about how the world views that piece of land. In Jerusalem, a consulate is often a statement of non-recognition.
Second, the power of inertia. Sometimes, the most important thing a country can do is simply stay put. By not moving to Ramallah and by not changing their accreditation, these countries are preserving a legal position that would be impossible to recreate if they ever gave it up.
And thirdly, the complexity of sovereignty. We like to think of the world as a neat map of colored shapes, but Jerusalem shows us that you can have overlapping layers of authority and history all occupying the same physical space. It is a three-dimensional map where the lines change color depending on which pair of glasses you are wearing.
I think that is a perfect place to wrap it up. Daniel, I hope that answers your question about why these missions are so weirdly placed and legally ghostly. It is a nineteenth-century solution to a twenty-first-century conflict.
And it is a solution that does not seem to be going anywhere soon. As long as the final status of the city is undecided, these consulates will remain the ghosts of the corpus separatum.
Well, if you found this journey through the world of Jerusalem diplomacy interesting, we would really appreciate it if you could leave us a review on your podcast app or on Spotify. It genuinely helps other people find the show.
Yeah, it makes a huge difference. And if you have your own weird prompts, you can always reach out through the contact form at myweirdprompts.com.
You can also find our full archive there, including episode three hundred thirty-eight on honorary consuls and episode two hundred ninety-one on the myths of a divided city. There is a lot to explore.
Thanks for joining us, everyone. It has been a blast.
This has been My Weird Prompts. I am Corn.
And I am Herman Poppleberry. We will catch you in the next one.
Take care, everyone.
One more thing, Corn! I just remembered the Belgian Consulate. They have a beautiful building in the Qatamon neighborhood. It was actually the site of some intense fighting in nineteen forty-eight.
Of course it was. In this city, even the gardens have battle scars.
Exactly. Every square inch is a history lesson. Alright, now we are really going.
See you next time.
Bye!
So, as we wrap up, let's think about the future. With more countries like Paraguay and Papua New Guinea moving their embassies to Jerusalem, does the role of these independent consulates become obsolete?
That is the million-dollar question. If a critical mass of countries moves their embassies, the pressure on the remaining consulates will be immense. But as long as the European Union holds its line, I think you will see a solid block of countries refusing to budge. They see these consulates as their leverage for future negotiations.
It is a long game. And these buildings are the chess pieces.
Well said. Alright, thanks for listening to My Weird Prompts. We will be back next week with another exploration of the strange and the significant.
Peace out.
Goodbye!
Wait, Herman, did you mention the Greeks? They have a massive presence because of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.
Oh, do not even get me started on the Greeks, Corn. That is a whole other episode. The relationship between the Greek Consulate and the Church is a thousand-year-old saga.
Maybe for episode four hundred twenty-four?
We will see. For now, let's get some coffee.
Sounds good. Bye everyone!
