Britain, Israel In Diplomatic Showdown Over Jerusalem Consulate (Worthy News Investigation)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

LONDON/URK/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Diplomatic tensions between Britain and Israel escalated Tuesday, with London threatening to expel Israeli diplomats if Israel closes the British Consulate in East Jerusalem later this week.

Britain has threatened to send home one Israeli diplomat for every British diplomat forced to leave, potentially resulting in as many as 27 Israeli diplomats being removed from Britain, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Such mass expulsions could mark the most serious diplomatic confrontation between Britain and Israel since the establishment of the modern Jewish state in 1948.

British National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell quietly traveled to Israel last week in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the Israeli government to reverse or postpone the closure, according to officials familiar with the talks.

BRITAIN THREATENS RESPONSE

Israel ordered the consulate closed on September 8 amid worsening relations with Britain after London announced sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The 30-day deadline expires Thursday, when Britain is required by Israel to close the consulate and remove its diplomats from East Jerusalem.

A spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the consulate would close Thursday as previously announced. Britain’s Foreign Office declined to comment.

The British Consulate in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem operates separately from Britain’s embassy in Tel Aviv and handles London’s relations with Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

JERUSALEM STATUS DISPUTE

Britain maintains that the final status of Jerusalem should be determined through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, while Israel regards Jerusalem as its “eternal and undivided capital.”

The dispute comes as several European governments increase pressure on Israel over settlement construction and violence in the West Bank, which Israel refers to by its biblical names Judea and Samaria.

Britain said Israeli government-backed plans to expand settlements and rising attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians were undermining prospects for a negotiated two-state solution.

France and Canada joined Britain in measures targeting trade involving Israeli settlements. Israel has so far taken no comparable diplomatic action against either country.

SETTLEMENTS UNDER PRESSURE

Numerous European governments consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, a position Israel disputes.

The Netherlands has also banned the import, purchase and sale of goods originating from Israeli settlements in territories it considers occupied.

That measure has affected pro-Israel Christian organizations and businesses selling Israeli products, including Christenen voor Israël (Christians for Israel), which operates the Israël Producten Centrum in the Dutch city of Nijkerk.

In the Dutch fishing town of Urk, known for its conservative Christian community and strong support for Israel, Judith de Boer runs a small Israeli products shop from her home and could face prosecution if she offers goods covered by the new restrictions.

ISRAEL PRODUCTS HIT

De Boer has said she received no criticism locally for selling products originating in Judea and Samaria. “I never get criticism for that in Urk,” she said.

Yet under the Dutch restrictions, retailers can no longer import, purchase or sell products originating in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, or the Golan Heights.

These moves prompted Israel to revoke the Israeli-issued diplomatic credentials of Dutch diplomats serving in Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is based.

The controversy underscores growing differences between Israel and several Western allies over settlements, Palestinian statehood and the future of territories captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War and which critics say it continues to occupy illegally.

TWO-STATE SOLUTION DISPUTE

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state under current circumstances, arguing that such a state could pose a grave security threat to Israel.

Jerusalem has also accused European governments of placing disproportionate pressure on Israel while it continues to confront security threats following the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre of about 1,200 people in the Jewish nation.

Sa’ar has called Britain’s decision to impose settlement sanctions “morally distorted” and accused Britain’s governing Labour Party of hostility toward Israel.

Britain has increasingly criticized Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza as well as Israeli settlement policies and settler violence in the West Bank.

RELATIONS DETERIORATE

Additionally, London restricted some arms-export licenses to Israel over alleged wrongdoing against Palestinians.

Israel has rejected much of the international criticism, saying its military operations are directed against Hamas and other armed groups and that it has the right to defend its citizens.

The disagreements have contributed to a sharp deterioration in relations between London and Jerusalem since the Hamas attacks and Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza.

Unless a last-minute agreement is reached, Thursday’s planned consulate closure could trigger reciprocal diplomatic expulsions and a new diplomatic crisis between Britain and Israel.