UK seeks to avert closure of East Jerusalem consulate

Britain is making a last-ditch effort to keep its consulate in East Jerusalem open before a Thursday deadline set by Israel, which ordered the mission closed in retaliation for UK sanctions targeting Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The consulate, established in 1838, handles British relations with Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. It is separate from the UK embassy in Tel Aviv. Its closure would disrupt diplomatic and consular work in the region.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar ordered the closure within 30 days of the sanctions announcement. The British measures include a ban on goods from Israeli settlements and action against companies and individuals providing services for settlement expansion. France and Canada joined the UK in the initial sanctions, but Israel has not taken action against their missions, the BBC reported.

British National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell visited Israel last week for talks that were not disclosed by the UK government. No agreement to keep the consulate open emerged from the visit, according to the BBC. Israeli media have reported that Britain could expel up to 27 Israeli diplomats if Israel proceeds with the closure. Asked about that possibility, the Foreign Office told the BBC it would not comment on “speculation and live discussions.”

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has said Britain does not want the consulate to close. “It would damage the very important work that we are doing, helping people in those communities,” he said last month, according to the BBC.

The threatened closure has drawn objections from British officials and a former consul general. Emily Thornberry, chair of the UK Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said closing the consulate in East Jerusalem was “not in Israel’s prerogative” and called it “yet another attempt by this far-right Israeli government to block a two-state solution.” She added: “It is illegal, and the UK must resist it.”

Sir Vincent Fean, who served as British consul general in Jerusalem from 2010 to 2014, told Al Jazeera that Israel’s order was “not the act of a friend or ally.” He argued that Israel had no right under international law to interfere with diplomatic relations between Britain and Palestine. Fean also expressed concern for the consulate’s roughly 50 Palestinian staff members.

According to Al Jazeera, the UK formally recognised the State of Palestine in September 2025. The outlet also reported that Israel had expelled Britain from a Washington-led coordination centre for post-war Gaza and barred 11 British lawmakers from entering Israel, including Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.

Fean said the consulate relies on Israeli electricity and water, creating practical ways Israel could force it to close. If the mission cannot remain open, foreign embassies in Ramallah could provide another way to handle its affairs, he said. For now, Britain’s effort to preserve the East Jerusalem mission continues as the deadline approaches.