Consulate closure ordered
Israel told the United Kingdom it must close its consulate in East Jerusalem within 30 days, with British diplomats working there to lose their diplomatic status in the same timeframe, Reuters reported on Wednesday citing two Israeli officials and two sources familiar with the matter.R
“must close its consulate in East Jerusalem within 30 days”
Reuters
The closure was described as part of retaliatory measures by Israel after the UK, France and Canada announced sanctions on Israeli settlements on Tuesday, and Israel also said UK officials assigned to a U.S.-led Gaza coordination mission and British diplomats based in Ramallah had been given seven days to leave.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said he regretted Israel’s decision but told BBC TV, “We weighed the costs and benefits of acting (…) and we thought we simply could not stand by because we feared Israeli action,” framing the sanctions as a response to what he said was Israeli inaction on settler violence.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X that he had thanked Kemi Badenoch for her criticism of the sanctions, while Saar called the UK action “morally distorted” and accused it of “blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process.”
Left out by 2 of 3who reported it
Vienna Convention and ICJ 2024 advisory opinion are analysed for legal basis. Reported by Diplomacy and Law.
Quotes and counterclaims
Al Jazeera reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar confirmed the UK would be dropped from the Gaza mission and that several UK MPs, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, would be barred from entering Israel, while also saying Israel would close the UK’s consulate in occupied East Jerusalem.
Saar said, “The British move is morally distorted, and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process,” as he linked the decision to Israel’s next-month elections.
The BBC-quoted Miliband said on Wednesday, “We weighed the costs and benefits of acting (…) and we thought we simply could not stand by because we feared Israeli action,” and Reuters added that Miliband had previously told lawmakers Israel had “turned a blind eye” to violence carried out by settlers against Palestinians.R
Al Jazeera also reported that Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he had appealed to Netanyahu for the closure of the consulate as “Israel’s resolute response to British audacity,” accusing it of operating on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Diplomatic fallout and next steps
Reuters said Israel’s government was set to meet on Wednesday to discuss its response to other countries that joined Britain by imposing sanctions or endorsing London’s action, underscoring what Reuters described as Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation among some traditional allies.R
“”anything destabilising””
Reuters
The Reuters story also cited a muted U.S. response, with U.S. RSecretary of State Marco Rubio saying Washington did not want to see “anything destabilising” in the West Bank while declining to specifically comment on the UK sanctions.
In parallel, the Guardian reported that Sa’ar announced retaliatory measures including the closure of the consulate and entry bans on several UK MPs, and it quoted Sa’ar saying, “Any foreign activity in the area must be conducted through accepted and agreed channels and without violating Israel’s sovereignty.”
The Guardian also reported that Israel’s president Isaac Herzog called the ban “a grave miscalculation, a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history,” while Reuters reported that Britain’s chief rabbi condemned the UK sanctions as a “truly dark day” and British Jewish group Yachad said the announcement was “not anti-Israel” and “certainly not antisemitic.”R