The UK should keep a diplomatic presence in Jerusalem at all costs to prevent Israeli claims to the disputed city, a former British diplomat has said.
Sir Vincent Fean, who served as British Consul General in Jerusalem, said the UK’s historic presence in Jerusalem was critical to maintaining British policy that views the city as a shared capital. It has held a mission in the city for 200 years.
He spoke to The National after Israel announced the closure of the Consulate General in Jerusalem, with UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband responding that the building would remain open as a mission.
Israel used different wording, saying the building would house a British government-operated task force. “Their scope of activity will be very limited,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said.
The downgrade in status follows a dispute over British trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Avoiding full closure of the consulate allows the two allies to continue talks and minimises the risk of a permanent rupture amid intense domestic debate over the relationship in both countries. In recent days, there have been suggestions Britain was prepared to consider ejecting Israeli diplomats if the mission were closed.
“It will be known as the UK mission. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the mission is in Jerusalem,” Mr Fean told The National. “If it's not there it will be very hard to get it back. One of the Israeli aims is to ensure any future embassy is in Ramallah [in the West Bank].
British officials could be seen leaving the building on Thursday, as all but seven staff members were made to move by the Israeli government to the embassy in Tel Aviv. Workers removed signs and plaques from the walls overnight.
The decision came after weeks of negotiations, which may have continued until late on Wednesday when the Israeli decision was announced.
Mr Saar acknowledged the building was UK property, which prevented the Israeli government from seizing control of it and expelling all the diplomats.
The UK first established a Consulate General in 1838, 110 years before the state of Israel was declared, and has been operating from the building in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem since 1965.
It is thought Mr Miliband could be buying time until after the Israel elections at the end of this month, before resuming talks with what could potentially be a new government, Mr Fean said.
“There is a time factor, which is October 27 and the Israeli elections. That could mean a different set of interlocutors,” he added.
Both Downing Street and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) were involved in the negotiations leading up to Thursday, with UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell visiting Jerusalem last week.
The Israeli decision was “unlawful and disproportionate”, Mr Fean said. “Israel is taking it out in essence on Palestinians and British nationals, rather than on bilateral relations between Israeli and the UK.”
Concerns have been raised about the implications for consular services for British citizens and Palestinians, but the visa service is expected to remain “intact”, with an office in Ramallah that does not have diplomatic status, Mr Fean said.
But some British charities have raised concerns over the potential impact on their ability to deliver aid in the Palestinian territories.
“The British Consulate General is a lifeline,” said Aseel Baidoun of Medical Aid for Palestinians. “It is the UK's main channel to Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
“It is essential for enabling close co-ordination with humanitarian and health organisations working there, including Medical Aid for Palestinians. Downgrading the Consulate General will reduce the UK's ability to protect Palestinian civilians, support aid delivery and uphold international law at the very moment these are most needed,” she told The National.
“Israel's closure order was retaliation for the UK taking lawful action against illegal settlements. The UK should make clear that it will not reward attempts to entrench Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem.”
Last week, Dominic Grieve KC, who was the government’s senior legal adviser from 2010 to 2014, said the closure was “an unlawful assertion of Israeli sovereignty over occupied East Jerusalem”.
He wrote to the FCDO to argue Israel was furthering its agenda to annex East Jerusalem by closing the British consulate.
