Key Takeaways
- UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemned Israel’s decision to close the UK’s consulate in Jerusalem.
- Israel ordered the closure as a response to Western sanctions over settler violence in the West Bank.
- Miliband dismissed concerns that the sanctions would affect intelligence cooperation with Israel.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemned Israel’s decision to close the UK’s consulate in Jerusalem, describing it as ‘regrettable and damaging.’
Israel’s move came after 12 countries, including Britain, Canada, and France, announced sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, following a rise in settler attacks against Palestinians.
In retaliation, Israel ordered the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem and gave diplomats there 30 days to lose their accreditation.
The Israeli government also expelled British representatives at a centre monitoring the US-brokered ceasefire plan in Gaza, barred British training for Palestinian Authority forces, and banned 12 Britons, mostly members of parliament, from visiting the country.
Miliband dismissed suggestions that the sanctions would impact intelligence cooperation with Israel, stating, 'We have important intelligence and security relationships with Israel, and I’m confident they will continue.'
He also noted, 'And I was very clear yesterday that we do believe in working with our Israeli partners when it comes to the threats they face from Iran.'
The UK’s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, criticized the sanctions, calling them 'little more than political flag-bearing' and 'truly a dark day for British Jews.'
Earlier in the day, Israel informed the British consulate in East Jerusalem that it must close, and diplomats there will lose their accreditation within 30 days.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated that Britain must close its consulate in East Jerusalem, which is accredited to the Palestinian Authority, in response to Britain’s imposition of sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
We anticipated this might happen because we saw other countries, the Dutch, for example, who had announced sanctions, who had seen these reprisals from Israel. I think they’re regrettable and damaging.
Ed Miliband, UK Foreign Secretary
We have important intelligence and security relationships with Israel, and I’m confident they will continue.
Ed Miliband, UK Foreign Secretary
