UK’s sanctions over ‘settler terrorists’ provoke Israel to order closure of British consulate
The stern, arguably unprecedented stand taken alongside Canada and France by Britain against expanding Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank has provoked a belligerent Israel into dictating the closure of the British consulate in East Jerusalem, while ordering the diplomats assigned there to the US-led Gaza coordination mission to leave the country within seven days.
Israel has informed diplomats stationed in East Jerusalem that their diplomatic accreditation will be revoked within thirty days, while consular staff based in Ramallah will be expelled and British involvement in training the Palestinian Authority’s security cadres will be brought to an end.
The Israeli riposte is said to be in response to the UK’s recent announcement of a raft of measures, including the imposition of an outright banning of trade with Israeli settlements, amid the unrestrained expansion of such settlements in the West Bank, with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband saying Britain could no longer simply “call out” injustice and suffering, but had to “act” to oppose their expansion.
The commercial embargo, imposed in coordination with France and Canada, encompasses not merely agricultural produce but also commercial services spanning corporate finance, infrastructure development, real estate acquisition and promotional enterprise.
The UK on Tuesday, September 8, banned trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where it says “settler terrorists” are carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians, in a significant toughening of Britain’s stance towards a longtime ally.
France and Canada announced they would take similar action in an attempt to prevent expanding settlements and growing violence from making it impossible to establish a future Palestinian state.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the “despicable” move. He said Israel would expel UK representatives from a joint military centre monitoring the Gaza ceasefire and end UK training of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in the West Bank. Israel also barred entry to a dozen British lawmakers and other UK citizens whom Sa’ar accused of being “involved in antisemitic and anti-Israel activity”.
Under the ultranationalist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, settlement construction in the West Bank – seized by Israel in the 1967 war – has surged. Netanyahu’s government regards the territory as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.
The international community overwhelmingly considers such construction illegal. Britain and other countries have voiced particular concern about the E1 settlement project, which would effectively cut the territory in two.
Miliband also tightened Britain’s embargo on weapons sales to Israel for use in Gaza to include arms “that materially contribute to the occupation” of Palestinian territories.
Britain recognised Palestinian statehood last year in an attempt to revive dwindling efforts to achieve a two-state solution. The latest measures, however, have deepened the diplomatic rift with Israel and underscored Britain’s increasingly uncompromising position over the occupation, settlement expansion and the future of Palestine.
In a concerted declaration issued alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Prime Minister Andy Burnham warned that relentless settlement expansion constitutes a grave peril to the viability of a sovereign Palestinian state, affirming that they felt compelled to intervene before its territorial contiguity becomes wholly irrecoverable.