British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has criticised Israel’s decision to close its consulate in East Jerusalem, calling the move “regrettable and damaging” retaliation for UK sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“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,” Miliband told BBC Radio.
Israel ordered the closure of the British consulate on Tuesday after Britain, Canada, France and nine other countries announced measures targeting trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The sanctions followed a rise in settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied territory.
Israel also announced measures against British officials, including the expulsion of British representatives from a centre overseeing the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire plan. It said it would suspend British training for Palestinian Authority security forces and bar 12 British nationals, mostly members of parliament, from entering Israel.
Miliband rejected suggestions that the measures would affect intelligence cooperation between Britain and Israel.
“We have important intelligence and security relationships with Israel, and I’m confident they will continue,” he said, declining to provide further details.
He added that Britain remained committed to working with Israel on security threats, including those posed by Iran.
Miliband also defended the sanctions against criticism from Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who described the measures as “little more than political flag-bearing” and said they marked “a truly dark day for British Jews”.
Earlier on Tuesday, Israel informed the British consulate in East Jerusalem that it would have to close and that diplomats assigned there would lose their accreditation within 30 days, according to an Israeli official and two sources familiar with the matter.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Britain had to close the consulate, which is accredited to the Palestinian Authority, in response to London’s sanctions against Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
France and Canada also announced restrictions on imports from Israeli settlements, while Sweden and France backed Britain’s measures. Both France and Sweden maintain consulates in Jerusalem that are accredited to the Palestinian Authority.
Israel has previously ordered the closure of diplomatic offices in Ramallah, the administrative headquarters of the Palestinian Authority. Canada also maintains an office in the city.
