In response to plans by the U.K., France and Canada to ban imports of goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, Israel has announced it will close the British consulate in East Jerusalem. The announcement was made Tuesday.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the U.K. would no longer be able to take part in the U.S.-led coordination mission on Gaza. He added that several British leaders, including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, along with citizens of other countries, would be barred from entering Israel.
Gideon Sa’ar said, “This British move is morally perverse. It is a clear interference in the internal affairs and electoral process of a sovereign state.” He also described British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s comments alleging that Israel was carrying out ethnic cleansing of Palestinians as an “outrageous lie.”
The British consulate in East Jerusalem is recognized by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
The British flag flies over the consulate building in Jerusalem on the day Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced the closure of the British consulate.
Gideon Sa’ar said the U.K. was interfering in Israel’s upcoming election. He said the decision on retaliatory measures was made in coordination with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in light of this allegation. Israeli elections are due to be held in late October.
Trade measures against Israel
The trade measure proposed Tuesday by the U.K., France and Canada is the latest in a series of steps taken against Israel’s settlement policy. The move also made clear Israel’s growing diplomatic isolation from some of its traditional allies.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a joint statement, “Today marks another important turning point in our efforts to preserve the two-state solution (to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis).” They added that they would campaign for their initiative at the U.N. General Assembly in late September.
Foreign ministers from nine other countries, including Denmark, Norway, Poland, Spain and Sweden, reaffirmed their support for a negotiated two-state solution in a separate statement, meaning a Palestinian state existing peacefully alongside Israel.
A scene from the inauguration ceremony of the new Israeli settlement of Male Arugot in Gush Etzion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
In the statement, the foreign ministers said, “We are united in our resolve — the two-state solution must be preserved. We will take action for a just and lasting peace.”
Miliband said it was no longer enough to merely “highlight” the injustice committed by illegal Jewish settlers in the West Bank and the suffering of the Palestinian people. He said the U.K. must now take action to oppose settlement expansion.
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand wrote on the social media platform X that a two-state solution remains the best proposal for establishing long-term peace in the Middle East and addressing Israel’s security concerns, a position Canada has held for decades.
Anand also wrote, “Illegal settlements in the West Bank are significantly undermining these goals.”
The U.N., Palestinians and most countries in the world consider these Jewish settlements illegal under international law. Israel, however, does not accept this.
Israeli soldiers stand guard during a weekly visit by Israeli settlers in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
A Reuters report published Tuesday found that the Israeli government is funding some of the most hard-line settlers in the West Bank, who are using illegal outpost farms to displace Palestinians from the land.