UK rejects Israel's 'damaging' retaliation to sanctions by ordering closure of Jerusalem consulate

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on Wednesday condemned as “regrettable and damaging” Israel’s decision to order the closure of the UK’s consulate in Jerusalem as retaliation for London-led Western sanctions over settler violence.

“We anticipated this might happen because we saw other countries, the Dutch, for example, who had announced sanctions, who had seen these reprisals from Israel. I think they’re regrettable and damaging,” Miliband told BBC Radio.

Israel on Tuesday ordered the closure 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 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 the country.

Miliband rejected suggestions that the sanctions would impact intelligence cooperation with Israel.

“We have important intelligence and security relationships with Israel, and I’m confident they will continue,” he said, declining to go into details.

“And I was very clear yesterday that we do believe in working with our Israeli partners when it comes to the threats they face from Iran,” he added.

Miliband also dismissed the criticism of the sanctions by Britain’s chief rabbi. Ephraim Mirvis on Tuesday called the measures “little more than political flag-bearing”. He said it was “truly a dark day for British Jews”.

Earlier in the day, Israel told the British consulate in East Jerusalem ​that it must close and that diplomats assigned ‌there will lose their accreditation within 30 days, an Israeli official and two sources familiar with the matter said.

Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Tuesday said Britain ​must close its consulate in East Jerusalem, which is accredited to the Palestinian Authority, in response to Britain imposing sanctions on Israeli ​settlements in the West Bank.

Joining Britain, France and ​Canada also said they would ban the import of goods from ‌settlements. France and Sweden, which endorsed ​Britain’s ⁠action, also have consulates in Jerusalem accredited to the Palestinian Authority.

Israel has in the past forced the closure ⁠of diplomatic ​offices in Ramallah, the administrative ​capital of the Palestinian Authority. Canada has an office in Ramallah.