Ed Miliband: UK will ‘build back’ presence in Jerusalem as British consulate closes on Israel’s orders
Imran Mulla reports in Middle East Eye on 8 October 2026:
Britain has announced it is closing its consulate in occupied East Jerusalem and downgrading its building to the status of a mission, ignoring calls to defy Israel’s orders.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar gave considerably different messages in separate statements issued on Thursday morning, the deadline Israel had set for Britain to close its consulate.
Miliband said the UK would not retaliate against Israel over the closure but would work to “build back up” its diplomatic presence in East Jerusalem.
Saar declared: “The British Consulate in Jerusalem is ending its operations today. Accordingly, the sign of the British Consulate in Jerusalem has been removed.” He said that on Wednesday night the Israeli government had reached an understanding with the UK: “The building that served as the Consulate is the property of the British Government. “We have allowed the British Government to operate a task force of only seven diplomats from the building, which ceased to function as a consulate today. Their scope of activity will be very limited.”
In his own statement, Miliband said: “We have been clear that we do not accept that the Government of Israel has the legal right to close the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, which has been there for nearly 200 years.”