Britain and Israel agreed the nearly 200-year-old British post in Jerusalem will stay open under a new name, with most diplomats leaving after a sanctions dispute.
Britain and Israel said on Thursday that the British diplomatic post in Jerusalem, founded in 1839, will remain open at a smaller scale and under a new name. The compromise followed an Israeli order to close the East Jerusalem consulate after London sanctioned trade in goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said the consulate would formally end operations and that its sign had been removed. Israel said 20 British diplomats, including the consul general, would leave, with seven remaining in a limited role. The BBC quoted Sa'ar as writing that he did not want it to come to this.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the building will not be closing and will be known as the UK Mission, Jerusalem from Thursday. He said it would continue vital services and work with the Palestinian people, and restated Britain's view that East Jerusalem is occupied territory. Britain described the diplomat withdrawals as temporary and said it aims to scale the mission back up.
The post is separate from the British embassy in Tel Aviv. Israel had set a 30-day deadline last month. Reuters described the agreement as heading off a larger diplomatic crisis between allies.
The mission's day-to-day staffing after Thursday, and any later restoration of the full consulate, were not set out in the statements used here.
People Sentiments Mixed
- Gideon Sa'ar said he did not want the dispute to reach a shutdown and that the consulate sign had been removed.
- David Miliband said the building will not close and will operate as the UK Mission, Jerusalem.