Britain renames Jerusalem consulate 'UK Mission' as Israeli deadline expires

Britain’s nearly 200-year-old consulate in East Jerusalem will keep operating on a smaller scale under the new name “UK Mission, Jerusalem”, after a last-minute compromise as Israel’s 30-day order to close the building expired on Thursday (Reuters).

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the consulate had formally “ended its functions”, with the consul general and 20 diplomats ending their assignments and leaving Israel (Al Jazeera). Under a deal struck between the two governments, seven British diplomats will remain in the building with “very limited scope of activity”.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the building “will not be closing”, describing the mission as “independent and operational” and continuing “vital services and our work with the Palestinian people”. He added that Britain does not accept Israel’s legal right to close the consulate in territory Israel captured in the 1967 war (The National).

The compromise followed Israel’s September 8 order — retaliation for British sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including a trade ban on settlement goods. Earlier on Thursday, Reuters journalists watched workers remove the “British Consulate General” plaque while the British flag kept flying over the building.

Miliband ruled out expelling Israeli diplomats, saying there would be no reciprocal action while talks continue, and vowed Britain would “build back up” its presence in the coming months. The consulate, in place since around 1839, handles Britain’s relations with Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.