Britain Keeps Its Jerusalem Building and Loses Most of Its Staff
The consulate general in East Jerusalem has not closed. From today it is the UK Mission, Jerusalem, after talks with Israel. But twenty diplomats and the Consul General are ending their assignments and leaving, with a task force of seven permitted to remain on what Israel calls “a very limited scope of activity”.
Ed Miliband’s statement concedes nothing on the law and a great deal on the ground. “We have been clear that we do not accept that the Government of Israel has the legal right to close the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, which has been there for nearly 200 years,” he said, restating that East Jerusalem is occupied territory. The building stays, renamed, “independent, operational, and will continue to deliver vital services and our work with the Palestinian people”. The reason for the departures is bluntly put: “Without an understanding, we would not have the necessary assurances for the security and protections of our staff and premises.” Britain has “temporarily withdrawn a number of staff and families” and will “work in the coming months to build back up our presence”. Crucially, it “will not take reciprocal action while such discussions are underway and credible” — so the twenty-seven Israeli diplomats that Israeli media reported Britain might expel have not been expelled, and that figure was never confirmed. Gideon Saar, who ordered the closure on 8 September in answer to Britain’s sanctions on settlements and its ban on settlement goods, said: “We did not want it to come to this,” and “no action can be taken against Israel without Israel taking appropriate retaliatory measures.” Workers removed the “British Consulate General” plaque this morning. The union flag was still flying. The embassy in Tel Aviv is untouched; what has been thinned is the mission that serves Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.