“Today we refuse to be bystanders to further suffering and to the destruction of the two-state solution,” British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband says.
A person enters the British Consulate, on the day Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he would close it in response to trade sanctions imposed by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, in Jerusalem, September 8, 2026. REUTERS/Jamal Awad
09 Sep 2026 12:57AM
(Updated: 09 Sep 2026 09:07AM)
LONDON/TEL AVIV/PARIS: Israel said on Tuesday (Sep 8) it was closing Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem in response to plans by the UK, France and Canada to block imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.Britain will also no longer participate in a US-led coordination mission for Gaza and some British officials, including former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and other nationals will be banned from entering Israel, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said."The British move is morally distorted, and constitutes blatant interference in the affairs of a sovereign state and its electoral process," he said, describing comments by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband about ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by Israel as accusations that were "outrageous lies".The British consulate in East Jerusalem is accredited to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
