PLO offices in Washington will not be closed

The US State Department on Tuesday turned down a call by 32 senators, including Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, to close the offices of the "Palestinian Liberation Organization" in Washington. In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry on December 18, the senators said the offices should be shuttered because of the PLO leadership's support for the wave of Palestinian terror against Israelis, including stabbing attacks. Commenting on the letter, State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said "We believe that closing the PLO office would be detrimental to our ongoing efforts to calm tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, advance a two-state solution and strengthen the US-Palestinian partnership."