Has Israel shut the UK consulate in East Jerusalem – or downgraded it?

The British government has said it will retain its presence in occupied East Jerusalem after Israel removed the signage of its consulate amid deteriorating diplomatic relations.

The removal of the signage comes as Israel announced that 20 British diplomats, including the consul general, would have to leave the country and return home.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, said on Thursday that the consulate building would remain but would be downgraded to the “UK Mission, Jerusalem”.

The Israeli government’s decision to close the consulate followed Miliband’s announcement last month that Britain would ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Here’s what we know:

What did Israel say about shutting the consulate?

In a post on X, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar reiterated on Thursday morning that “no action can be taken against Israel without Israel taking appropriate retaliatory measures”.

In retaliation for the sanctions on the occupied West Bank settlements, Saar outlined the four steps that Israel was taking against the UK, including:

• Removal of British representatives from the International Assistance Centre for Gaza
• Ending British activity to train Palestinian Authority forces in the occupied West Bank
• Closing the British Consulate in Jerusalem
• Prevention of entry into Israel of 12 elected officials and other British citizens involved in “anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli activity”

“We did not want to come to this, but the actions of the Labour government led us here,” Saar wrote, adding that the sanctions and the “hostile rhetoric” of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians had forced their hand against the British government.

“The British Consulate in Jerusalem ended its duties today. The Consul General and 20 diplomats are ending their duties and will leave Israel,” he said, adding that while the building is the property of the British government, Israel has allowed them to operate a task force of seven diplomats in the building with a “very limited scope of activity”.

The minister explained that the decision was also based on an understanding reached with the British government last night.

But isn’t the UK saying its mission will still function?

Yes.

In a statement, Miliband said that the British government had been “clear” that it did not accept Israel’s decision to close its consulate, which has been around for nearly 200 years, reiterating its “longstanding view that East Jerusalem is occupied territory.”

“The UK Mission, Jerusalem is independent, operational, and will continue to deliver vital services and our work with the Palestinian people.

“This will ensure that we maintain our longstanding British presence and the UK’s role in support of a two-state solution.

“Without an understanding, we would not have the necessary assurances for the security and protections of our staff and premises. Accordingly, the UK has temporarily withdrawn a number of staff and families to ensure their safety and security,” he said.

“We will work in the coming months to build back up our presence and we will not take reciprocal action while such discussions are underway and credible.”

“The UK stands steadfast by the measures we took on September 8 , in concert with the international community, in support of a two-state solution to deliver peace and security for the people of Israel and Palestine,” Miliband added.

Reports of reciprocal action against the consulate closure, including expelling one Israeli diplomat for every British diplomat who had to leave the country, first came from the Israeli newspaper Ynet, citing a message sent to Israeli officials.

On the consulate’s closure, Stephen Doughty, Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, told BBC Radio on Thursday morning that the British government was continuing conversations with Israel about the issue.

“You can see what’s changed in terms of a name, but crucially a presence remains,” he said.

Asked about reports of a British threat to expel Israeli diplomats, the minister did not comment on it, but said they engaged with Israel in a “mature, responsible and practical debate”.

Reporting from London, Al Jazeera’s Camille Nedelec said the downgrading of the consulate marked “a low point in UK-Israeli relations”.

So is that a downgraded consulate?

Yes.

While a consulate mainly helps citizens, in this case British-Palestinian nationals, a mission usually refers to a diplomatic representative.

However, according to Vincent Fean, former British Consul General in Jerusalem, it did not “matter” what the consulate was now called.

“The Israeli electorate faces elections on October 27 and I think the plan of the British government is to wait and see what comes from those elections and to deal with whatever government the Israeli electorate chooses,” Fean told Al Jazeera.

“I think that the key point is that Ed Miliband acted correctly on September 8, specifically on the issue of E1 – the red line – settlement the Israelis are planning and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says is designed to bury the two-state solution,” he added. The E1 settlement aims to link Ma’ale Adumim and other illegal Israeli settlements to occupied East Jerusalem, effectively severing the West Bank in two.

The British consulate first opened in 1839 but closed in 1914 at the start of the First World War. It was later re-established as a consulate-general in 1948 after the British Mandate in Palestine ended.

What led to this?

Relations soured following the new Labour government’s decision to impose sanctions on settlers and illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Miliband announced the measures and said last month that imports of all goods produced by illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank would be banned.

In his speech, he said there was “ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank – perpetrated by settler terrorists.”

“The sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel,” he said.

“We will continue to support important and valued trade with Green Line Israel precisely because we support the two-state solution, including security and prosperity for Israel,” he added.

However, Israel condemned the announcement last month and called it a “series of anti-Israel decisions by the Labour Government”.

Saar said the “accusations made today by the Foreign Secretary of the Labour Government in the British Parliament were outrageous lies,” and set out the four reciprocal actions.

Is the Israeli action legal?

No.

As the British consulate is in a part of Jerusalem that Israel captured in the 1967 war and has occupied ever since, it does not have the legal right to close the mission.

However, due to Israel’s ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories, it practically decides what can function in East Jerusalem.