Israel Orders British Consulate Closure After UK Bans Imports From Israeli Settlements in West Bank

The United Kingdom announced a ban on importing products from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband saying, “we will introduce a prohibition on importing products from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.”

“we will introduce a prohibition on importing products from illegal settlements in the occupied territories”

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Israel responded by ordering the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem as part of countermeasures, with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar saying, “The British move is morally distorted, and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process.”

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The UK action was presented alongside a wider group of countries restricting trade with settlements, including France and Canada, and the letter cited “the inadmissible decision to publish tenders for the E1 settlement project.”

In the same package, Israel also said it would withdraw UK representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat and cease British security forces training activities for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, while banning entry to twelve people including Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.

Palestinian Authority officials welcomed the trade sanctions, with Mahmoud Abbas’s office calling them “an important practical step toward holding the settlement system accountable.”

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog condemned the UK decision as “a decision that will be on the wrong side of history and a serious interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation,” while the ABC reported Miliband’s language accusing “settler terrorists” of “ethnic cleansing.”

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In a separate joint statement, foreign ministers from Türkiye, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates welcomed the UK ban and urged similar action “in line with international law.”

The same ABC report said Israel would close the British consulate in East Jerusalem and also remove Britain’s representatives from a support centre in Gaza and a training program in the West Bank, after Miliband’s announcement in parliament.

The diplomatic fight is tied to settlement expansion and the E1 project, with the UK-led letter warning that “violence by settlers and the expansion of settlements have reached unprecedented levels.”

“violence by settlers and the expansion of settlements have reached unprecedented levels”

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The ABC reported that the ban on trade would be in place in “six to nine months,” while Miliband said the sanctions regime would target “illegal settlements and the expansion of settlements, not Israel.”

Israel’s countermeasures also extended beyond the consulate, with the ABC describing a package that included withdrawing UK representatives from a Gaza support center in Kiryat Gat and banning entry to twelve people including Diane Abbott and Fahad Ansari.

Meanwhile, the AAPNews report said the trade measures were part of a broader diplomatic isolation among some allies, and it quoted Miliband warning, “Today we refuse to be bystanders to further suffering and to the destruction of the two-state solution.”