The British Consulate General in occupied East Jerusalem has ceased operating under that name after Israel ordered it to close in retaliation for the United Kingdom’s sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
asserted
Israel → cease → Bank
However, UK officials insisted on Thursday that it remains open, albeit under its new title of “UK Mission”.
asserted
it → insist → Mission
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This isn’t the first time tensions have arisen between Israel and the UK, however.
asserted
tensions → threaten → Israel
Here’s more about the times relations have faltered.
asserted
relations → ’ → times
Why did Israel order the British consulate to close?
asserted
Israel → order → consulate
Last month, Israel gave the UK 30 days to close the consulate, after which it said British diplomats working there would lose their diplomatic status.
asserted
diplomats → give → status
The order came a day after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced the UK would ban imports of all goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and would bar companies from providing them with services, including financing, construction and real estate.
asserted
UK → come → financing
As the deadline expired, the two governments reached a last-minute compromise, however.
asserted
governments → expire → compromise
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel would allow a team of seven British diplomats to work from the building, while 20 diplomats, including the consul general, would leave Israel.
asserted
diplomats → say → Israel
The name of the building has also been changed.
asserted
name → change → building
Miliband said the building would not close and would now be called the “UK Mission, Jerusalem”, and insisted that the UK does not accept that Israel has the legal right to close a consulate, which the UK owns and which has stood for nearly 200 years.
asserted
which → say → years
Besides assisting UK nationals in Palestine, the mission provides support to Palestinians and generally represents the UK in East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
asserted
mission → assist → Jerusalem
Britain and Israel have mostly enjoyed strong and warm relations.
asserted
Britain → enjoy → relations
Britain’s role in the founding of Israel dates back to a single letter.
asserted
role → date → letter
On November 2, 1917, Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote to Lord Rothschild that the British government viewed the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine “with favour”, provided nothing was done to prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities.
asserted
nothing → write → communities
Britain went on to rule Palestine under a League of Nations mandate.
asserted
Britain → go → mandate
By the 1940s, Zionist armed groups had turned their guns on the British administration itself.
asserted
groups → turn → administration
The deadliest attack came on July 22, 1946.
asserted
attack → come → July
Members of the Irgun, a Zionist underground group, disguised themselves as hotel staff and carried about 350kg of explosives into the basement of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.
asserted
Members → disguise → Jerusalem
The hotel housed the Secretariat of the Government of Palestine and the headquarters of British forces in Palestine and Transjordan.
asserted
hotel → house → Palestine
Menachem Begin, then head of the Irgun, ordered the bombing.
asserted
Begin → order → bombing
The blast killed 91 people: 41 Arabs, 28 Britons, 17 Jews and five others.
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blast → kill → people
Begin later became Israel’s prime minister.
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Begin → become → ?
The Irgun claimed it had called in three warnings ahead of the explosion by telephone to the hotel switchboard, the French Consulate and the Palestine Post, giving occupants time to evacuate.
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it → claim → time
The British authorities did not deny that warnings were sent, but maintained that none reached anyone “in an official position with any power to take action”.
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none → deny → action
The exact sequence of events remains contested: some accounts claim the hotel warning was ignored entirely, while others suggest hotel management did not take the threat seriously.
uncertain
management → remain → threat
What is not disputed is that the building was not evacuated in time.
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building → dispute → time
The Irgun also claimed that a senior British official, Sir John Shaw, refused to act on its warning, which he strenuously denied.
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he → claim → which
Close to war during Israel’s formation
Britain withdrew from Palestine in May 1948, and Israel declared itself an independent state.
uncertain
itself → withdraw → May
Amid the war that followed with neighbouring Arab states, British and Israeli forces came close to direct confrontation.
asserted
forces → follow → confrontation
In late December 1948, Israeli forces pushed into Egyptian territory in Sinai.
asserted
forces → push → Sinai
A United States Department of State message to its ambassador in Tel Aviv warned that unless Israeli forces withdrew, Britain would be bound to fulfil its obligations under its 1936 treaty with Egypt, so Israel pulled back.
asserted
Israel → warn → Egypt
Days later, however, the two sides clashed in the air.
asserted
sides → clash → air
On January 7, 1949, Israeli forces shot down four Royal Air Force Spitfires, and a Hawker Tempest later that day.
asserted
forces → shoot → Spitfires
The precise location is unclear, but some sources place it near the Deir el-Balah area of what is now the Gaza Strip, but was then about 25km (15 miles) inside Egyptian territory.
uncertain
what → place → territory
Two British pilots were killed, including the Tempest’s pilot, David Tattersfield.
asserted
pilots → kill → pilot
Israel said its pilots had mistaken the British aircraft for Egyptian ones.
asserted
pilots → say → ones
On January 8, the UK announced it was sending forces to Aqaba, on modern-day Jordan’s Red Sea coast, at Transjordan’s request.
asserted
it → announce → request
In his diary, David Ben-Gurion wrote that he had consulted his top commanders on how to deal with the threat of British intervention.
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he → write → intervention
Washington helped calm things down: President Harry Truman criticised the British handling of the crisis.
asserted
Truman → help → crisis
…and 49 more, not listed.
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