Israel has confirmed it is closing the British consulate in East Jerusalem today after the UK banned trade with illegal settlements in the West Bank.
The consulate had been operating in Jerusalem for for over 200 years.
Foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Thursday: “The British consulate in Jerusalem is ending its operations today”.
He added that the British consul general along with 20 diplomats (including the consul general) are ending their assignments and will leave Israel.
“We agreed to continue dialogue between the governments, during which both sides will be able to raise issues of importance to them,” he said.
The foreign minister said that they have also authorised the British government to continue to operate from the consulate building “in a limited scope of activity and with only seven diplomats”.
“No further measures will be taken against it over implementation of decisions under understandings with Britain,” he added.
However, British foreign secretary Ed Miliband said that Israel does not have the “legal right” to close the building.
“The UK government reiterates its long-standing view that East Jerusalem is occupied territory,” he said.
He said that the after discussions with the Israeli government the Consulate General building “will not be closing, and will be known as the UK Mission, Jerusalem from today”.
Miliband said that the UK had withdrawn a number of staff and families in recent weeks and it would now work to build up their presence. He said that the decision to withdraw the staff had come as “without an understanding, we would not have the necessary assurances for the security and protections of our staff and premises”.
He added that Britain would not take any reciprocal action against Israel while the two sides engage in talks, following speculation that Britain could expel some Israeli diplomats from Britain.
“The UK stands steadfast by the measures we took on 8 September, in concert with the international community, in support of a two-state solution to deliver peace and security for the people of Israel and Palestine,” he said in the statement posted on X on Thursday.
Miliband announced the decision on 8 September, saying: “The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank - perpetrated by settler terrorists.
“And all too often the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians.”
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