Israel has told Britain to close its consulate in occupied East Jerusalem within 30 days, after the British government announced sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The sanctions announced by Britain, France, and Canada are among the strongest collective actions taken by major Western allies of Israel over Israeli settlements and have prompted intense pushback in Israel weeks before it holds a general election, officials said.
While the effect of the sanctions may be mostly symbolic, they highlight Israel’s growing isolation among countries it once counted as close allies over its war in Gaza and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israel, has condemned the sanctions and accused the British government of “Jew hate”.
However, neither the White House nor the State Department issued strong criticism of the move.
Two Israeli officials and two other sources familiar with the matter said London had been given 30 days to close the consulate, which represents Britain in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza on Palestinian issues.
Israel has also barred 12 British politicians from visiting the country and ordered the Gaza coordination centre in Israel to leave.
It said that Britain can no longer train Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.
It has not yet announced actions against France or Canada, which joined Britain in saying they will halt trade with settlements, or against nine other countries that endorsed the UK sanctions.
Although the UK sanctions were widely anticipated, Israeli parliamentary opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Tuesday that “no one knew” the other countries were going to endorse the move.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on Wednesday that he regretted Israel’s decision to order the consulate to close, but that it was not a surprise.
“We weighed the costs and benefits of acting, and we thought we simply could not stand by because we feared Israeli action,” he said.
On Tuesday, Mr Miliband, describing himself as a “proud British Jew”, said that Israel had “turned a blind eye” to violence carried out by settlers against Palestinians.
He said that Britain’s move was aimed at keeping alive a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.