(JTA) — President Donald Trump is considering giving US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman more authority over the State Department east Jerusalem office that handles Palestinian affairs, officials said.

Five officials told the Associated Press about the plans, the news agency reported Friday.

According to the Associated Press, the move may be seen as a downgrade in the autonomy of the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem, which is responsible for relations with the Palestinians. And this could have potentially significant policy implications.

The report did not elaborate on the specific nature of the bureaucratic changes being discussed, but it said that the embassy, run by Friedman, is expected to end up with ultimate authority over the consulate. The consul general running the Jerusalem consulate has historically had his or her own chief of mission authority.

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The Trump administration’s relations with the leadership of the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas has worsened following the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December, and the moving of the US embassy there last month.

Abbas said the move ended the United States’ role as a moderator and facilitator of a peace agreement with Israel. The Palestinian Authority also claims Jerusalem as the capital city of any future Palestinian state under its leadership. Trump has said that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was recognizing reality, and that it did not preclude recognizing some parts of Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital pending peace talks.

The crisis in relations with the Palestinian Authority comes as the Trump Administration prepares to unveil a peace plan.

Friedman has expressed positions associated with the Israel right wing. Abbas in March called him “a son of dog.” And Abbas’ senior consultant Mahmoud al Habash called Freidman a “terrorist settler” last month.

Friedman has advocated for having the embassy in Jerusalem subsume the consulate, officials said, although the State Department has ruled out that possibility. Other possibilities include allowing the consulate to retain some day-to-day authorities while letting the embassy set the direction for major policy decisions.

Separately, Freidman is facing flak for speaking in partisan terms about support for Israel

“What the Democrats are not doing is looking at themselves critically and acknowledging the fact that they have not been able to create support within their constituency for Israel at the same levels that the Republicans have,” he told the Times of Israel Thursday.

Former Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.), chairman of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, issued a statement on Thursday rebuking Friedman’s remarks.

“It is truly unprecedented for a sitting U.S. Ambassador to Israel to engage in explicitly partisan rhetoric and behavior,” Klein wrote. “Ambassador Friedman must remember that he is not the head of the Republican National Committee or the Republican Jewish Coalition political organization. He is the U.S. Ambassador, as confirmed by the U.S. Senate, to represent all Americans in Israel — not just those of one party, or those who share his political views.”