Most UK diplomats to leave East Jerusalem consulate, Israel says, as Miliband says 'vital services' to remain

What the report says

Israel and the UK have reached a partial accommodation over the British diplomatic presence in East Jerusalem after weeks of tension linked to UK sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. According to BBC World News, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said most staff at the British consulate would leave and that only a small team with a limited remit could remain in the building.

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband pushed back on the idea that the post was being shut down. He said the site would continue operating, under the name UK Mission, Jerusalem, and said it would keep working with Palestinians. He also said some staff and family members had been temporarily withdrawn for security reasons because the UK had not secured the assurances it wanted for their protection.

The consulate, first established in 1838, is separate from the UK embassy in Tel Aviv and handles UK relations with Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. The dispute matters because it highlights the strain on UK-Israel relations and the broader diplomatic sensitivity around East Jerusalem, which Britain and many other countries regard as occupied territory. The BBC reported that both governments had been under pressure to avoid a fuller rupture, even as Israeli officials described their actions as a response to UK measures on settlements.