Israel Signals Closure of British Consulate in East Jerusalem Amid Tensions

Israel has informed the British consulate in East Jerusalem that it must close, with diplomats assigned there set to lose their accreditation within 30 days, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the matter.

British representatives assigned to a US-led Gaza coordination mission in Israel, along with British diplomats based in Ramallah, have been given seven days to leave the country, the source said.

Israel ordered the closure of Britain’s Jerusalem consulate on Tuesday in retaliation after London led a wave of Western sanctions over violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. On the same day, Britain announced a trade ban on goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, coordinating the move with France and Canada — the latest in a series of sanctions targeting Israel amid its growing diplomatic isolation.

British Foreign Minister Ed Miliband said Britain could no longer simply call out injustice and suffering, telling the House of Commons that the country now needed to take concrete action against continued settlement expansion. “Today we refuse to be bystanders to further suffering and to the destruction of the two-state solution,” Miliband said, referring to Britain’s longstanding support for a two-state framework, a position Israel opposes.

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