Israel Closes UK Consulate in East Jerusalem Over Settlement Sanctions

The United Kingdom, France, Canada and nine other countries announced trade restrictions targeting Israeli settlement goods, services and financing in the occupied West Bank, citing settlement expansion and rising settler violence that they said threaten a two-state solution. Britain also imposed measures affecting certain arms exports, sanctioned individuals accused of violence and said the occupation was unlawful, while Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband alleged Palestinians face ethnic cleansing. Israel responded by closing the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, removing British personnel from Gaza and Palestinian Authority programs, ending British military training for Palestinian forces and restricting entry for some British officials and activists. Israeli officials and settlers rejected the measures as politically motivated and harmful, while British critics said they could damage relations, security cooperation and efforts to combat antisemitism. Miliband paired his criticism of Israeli settlement policy with support for Israel’s security, opposition to antisemitism and additional funding to protect British Jewish communities. The United States said it would not join the sanctions, citing concerns about regional destabilization, highlighting divisions among Western governments over the conflict and settlement expansion.