London, United Kingdom – The deadline Israel imposed on the United Kingdom to close its East Jerusalem consulate is fast approaching. Thursday marks 30 days since Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar’s order, a retaliatory move against the UK’s wave of sanctions targeting illegal Israeli settlements. He is now a trustee of the Britain Palestine Project, advocating for equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis.
It is doing so by closing our office, and that is unlawful,” he said, adding that he is “particularly concerned” for the consulate’s 50 or so Palestinian staff. UK-Israel ties have reached a nadir. On Monday, reports claimed that the UK could expel 27 Israeli diplomats if the consulate closure goes ahead.
British National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell has reportedly held talks with Israeli officials in a visit that was not disclosed by the UK government, but an agreement to keep the consulate open was not reached. Israel’s response was furious following the UK’s import ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as well as an overall change of tone. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has, for instance, lamented Israel’s “ethnic cleansing” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Miliband expected Israel to retaliate, but said the UK had “weighed the costs and benefits of acting”. In addition to the consulate closure order, Israel expelled the UK from the Washington-led coordination centre for post-war Gaza and barred 11 lawmakers from entering Israel, including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana. In a brief by the Britain Palestine Project that was endorsed by former UK Attorney General Dominic Grieve KC and shared with Al Jazeera, the threatened closure is described as “an unlawful assertion of sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory”.
Resolution 478 was adopted by the United Nations Security Council – of which the UK is a permanent member – in 1980, resolving that Israel’s attempts to alter the status of Jerusalem are “null and void”. In 2016, Resolution 2334 reiterated this, “condemning all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem”. The UK formally recognised the State of Palestine in September of 2025.
If the UK resists Israel’s orders, there are various logistical challenges Israel could feasibly impose on the consulate and the diplomats within it. So there are means by which Israel could force the expulsion, the closure, of the Consulate General,” Fean told Al Jazeera. While reiterating that the UK’s East Jerusalem consulate should remain open despite orders, Fean said that “if that proves to be made impossible by force of the Israeli government, then there are alternatives.” Foreign embassies in Ramallah could be an alternate route to manage consulate affairs, he said.
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