Israel to close British consulate in East Jerusalem over settlement trade measures
Israel said it will close Britain’s East Jerusalem consulate and impose entry bans after the UK, France and Canada proposed measures targeting West Bank settlements.
Jerusalem, Israel. Israel said on Tuesday it would close Britain’s consulate in East Jerusalem in response to plans by the United Kingdom, France and Canada to block imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also said Britain would no longer participate in a US-led Gaza coordination mission and that some British officials and other nationals would be barred from entering Israel.
Israeli response
Saar said he had coordinated Israel’s response with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as Israel prepares to hold an election in late October.
“The British move is morally distorted, and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process,” Saar said, describing comments by British Foreign Minister Ed Miliband as accusations containing “outrageous lies”.
The British consulate in East Jerusalem is accredited to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
Settlement measures
The measures proposed by Britain, France and Canada on Tuesday are the latest actions targeting Israel’s settlement policy and highlight growing diplomatic isolation among some of Israel’s traditional allies.
A wider group of countries also signalled on Tuesday that it was prepared to take further steps to defend the two-state solution, under which a Palestinian state would coexist peacefully alongside Israel. Concern has increased over settlement expansion and violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
International positions
Miliband said Britain could no longer simply “call out” injustice and suffering, but had to act against settlement expansion, which he said threatened the viability of a Palestinian state.
The United Nations, Palestinians and most countries consider the settlements illegal under international law, while Israel disputes that position.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said successive Canadian governments had supported a two-state solution as the path towards long-term peace that also addresses Israel’s security concerns.
“Illegal settlements in the West Bank significantly undermine these objectives,” Anand wrote on X.
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