Israel downsizes UK diplomatic staff in Jerusalem after settlement sanctions

Israel ordered the British consulate in east Jerusalem to cease operations on Thursday, October 8, 2026, leaving only seven diplomats on site. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said 20 diplomats, including the consul general, were leaving the country after a dialogue with London aimed at avoiding a wider row. The building remains British property and will be renamed the U.K. Mission, Jerusalem, which the U.K. says will continue to provide vital services. British Foreign Minister Ed Miliband rejected Israel’s claim to legal authority over the closure and promised to rebuild the presence over the coming months. The Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry called the move illegal and an attempt to impose Israeli sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem. The consulate, founded nearly 200 years ago, handled political, commercial, security and economic ties with Palestine and offered consular help to Britons in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. An AFP photographer reported that the diplomatic emblem and plaque were taken down from the façade. An Israeli diplomatic source said the UK lost a historic footprint but hoped recent talks could turn relations around. Israel also expelled British staff from a Gaza cease‑fire monitoring centre, barred British training for Palestinian Authority forces and banned 12 British citizens, mostly MPs, from visiting, citing the September 8 order that followed Western sanctions on Israeli settlements after a spike in settler violence.