UK Consulate in Jerusalem (Image/X)
Jerusalem: Israel on Tuesday ordered the closure of Britain's consulate in Jerusalem as retaliation after London led Western sanctions over violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Israel said it would also expel British representatives at a centre monitoring the US-brokered ceasefire plan in Gaza, bar British training for Palestinian Authority forces and ban 12 Britons, mostly members of parliament, from visiting.
It came after 12 countries including Britain, Canada and France announced they would sanction trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank, following a surge in settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied territory.
"The accusations made today by the foreign secretary in the British Parliament were outrageous lies," Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said, after his British counterpart Ed Miliband accused Israeli settlers of "ethnic cleansing" in the West Bank.
"The British move is morally distorted and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and in its electoral process," he said, ahead of close-fought October 27 elections in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is championing settlements in the West Bank.
Saar said Israel was closing the British consulate which lies in east Jerusalem, part of the historically Palestinian area that Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel later annexed east Jerusalem and considers the holy city its undivided capital.
"United Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and is under its full sovereignty," Saar said.
"Any foreign activity in the area must be conducted through accepted and agreed channels and without violating Israel's sovereignty."
While Israel controls east Jerusalem, most countries including Britain do not recognise its sovereignty over the whole city.
An exception is the United States which under President Donald Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem. Britain and the vast majority of countries that recognise Israel keep their embassies in Tel Aviv.
Israel in 2024 ordered Spain's consulate in Jerusalem to stop offering consular services for Palestinians after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, an outspoken critic of Israel, recognised a Palestinian state.
The Israeli foreign ministry issued a list of 12 British nationals who will be refused entry if they seek to visit.
They include Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour Party leader and outspoken Palestinian advocate, as well as Zarah Sultana, who joined Corbyn in breaking away from Labour to form the left-wing Your Party.
Also on the ban list is Diane Abbott, a Labour MP who came under fire for remarks downplaying the extent of antisemitism and was admitted back into the party under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
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