West Bank · updated 2h ago · 3 min read
Israel Orders Closure Of Britain’s Jerusalem Consulate After UK Sanctions On Settlers
Israel closes Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem in protest of UK settlement sanctions UK bans West Bank settlement goods and sanctions include expelling diplomats and restricting visits
How Israel characterises the UK response politically.
8 of 10 outlets skipped it: specific list of 12 banned UK elected officials.
Reuters was read line by line by the Watchdog: 2.2. See the score →
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Ynetnews foregrounds Israel's political-elections interference claim, while NPR spotlights Israeli counter-denial of Miliband's allegations.
Consulate closure over sanctions
Israel ordered the closure of Britain’s consulate in Jerusalem, saying it was retaliation after London led Western sanctions over violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
“Israel on Tuesday ordered the closure of Britain’s consulate in Jerusalem”
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the consulate “lies in east Jerusalem,” and he framed the move as a response to what he called “outrageous lies” from Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband in the British Parliament.
Saar also said Israel would expel British diplomats at a center monitoring the US-brokered ceasefire plan in Gaza and bar British training for Palestinian Authority forces, while banning 12 British officials from visiting Israel.
The dispute was tied to Britain’s decision to restrict imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, with Reuters reporting Saar said the consulate accredited to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank would be shut following London’s sanctions.
Israel said it coordinated its response with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Reuters reported Israel will hold an election in late October.
Miliband’s rhetoric, Saar’s reply
In London, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced a ban on imports of goods produced in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and accused Israeli settlers of “ethnic cleansing” against Palestinians.
Miliband told members of Parliament, “The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists,” and he added that “houses bulldozed, roads and public infrastructure destroyed, families displaced from their homes.”
Saar responded by saying, “The British move is morally distorted, and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process,” after describing Miliband’s comments as accusations that were “outrageous lies.”
Reuters reported Saar said Britain would no longer be allowed to participate in a U.S.-led coordination mission for Gaza and that British training of Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank would be terminated.
The same Reuters report said Israel would prevent the entry into Israel of 12 elected UK officials and other nationals, while noting the consulate in East Jerusalem was accredited to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
Retaliation and political fallout
Beyond the consulate closure, Israel’s retaliatory steps described in multiple outlets included removing British representatives from the Gaza multinational coordination headquarters in Kiryat Gat and ending British involvement in training Palestinian Authority security forces in Ramallah.
“The measures include closing the British Consulate in Jerusalem”
Ynetnews reported that Saar said the measures included barring 12 British elected officials from entering Israel, and it identified lawmakers including Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana, Naz Shah, Diane Abbott, Hannah Spencer, Carla Denyer, Sian Berry, Ellie Chowns, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon and Adrian Ramsay, as well as Fahad Ansari, director of Riverway to the Sea.
In Israel, President Isaac Herzog called the sanctions “a grave miscalculation, a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation,” and he urged foreign governments to “Stop! Step away from the dead-end of sanctions and boycotts.”
The Jerusalem Post also quoted Peace Now saying, “settlements are a danger to the future of the State of Israel,” and it argued that “Sanctions against the settlements are not sanctions against Israel.”T
Reuters reported Saar said he coordinated Israel’s response with Benjamin Netanyahu and that Israel will hold an election in late October, placing the consulate closure and entry bans in the run-up to that vote.