Israel said the British consulate in east Jerusalem ended its functions on Thursday (October 8, 2026) but seven diplomats would be allowed to remain in a limited capacity, with the U.K. saying the outpost would continue to offer “vital services”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Thursday’s (October 8, 2026) move to downsize the U.K. presence had followed a dialogue with the British government in order to avoid an escalation of tensions between the two countries. Saar said in a statement, adding that 20 diplomats including the consul general were ending their missions and leaving the country. He also said Israel would expel British representatives at a centre monitoring the U.S.-brokered ceasefire plan in Gaza, bar British training for Palestinian Authority forces and ban 12 Britons, mostly members of parliament, from visiting.
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“As I announced, the British consulate in Jerusalem ended its role today,” Mr. Saar said the building was the property of the British government and that a “task force of only seven diplomats” would be allowed to operate from the premises, “which ceased to function as a consulate today”. Mission, Jerusalem is independent, operational and will continue to deliver vital services and our work with the Palestinian people,” Foreign Minister Ed Miliband said in a statement. Miliband said the U.K. did not accept that the Israeli government had “the legal right” to enforce the closure. The Palestinian Authority’s foreign affairs ministry denounced the move as “illegal” and said in a statement that it viewed it as “an attempt to impose Israeli sovereignty over the occupied city” of Jerusalem.
