According to media sources, Truss told Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid at the UN that she is considering moving the british embassy from Tel Aviv.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss is considering moving the British Embassy from Tel Aviv to the contentious holy city of Jerusalem, which would be in line with the provocative action of former US President Donald Trump.
According to a statement by an unidentified UK government official, Truss told Lapid “about her reassessment of the existing location of the British embassy in Israel.”
Moving the UK Embassy to Israel, the PM is Considering Defying Decades of British Foreign Policy
According to a statement from Downing Street, the prime minister discussed an “examination of the existing site” of the building with Yair Lapid during a meeting in New York on the fringes of the UN general assembly.
One of the most delicate topics in the protracted struggle is the status of Jerusalem, which is claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians as their capital.
Since the Six-Day War in 1967, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip have all been regarded by international law as occupied Palestinian territory. Until now, the UK has shared the attitude of the vast majority of other nations that the divided city should house consulates rather than embassies while a final peace deal is being negotiated.
The entire community condemned Trump’s 2018 fulfillment of a campaign promise to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which sparked protests and riots that resulted in several Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israeli troops. Theresa May, the UK prime minister then, criticized the action.
The plan was “positively considered,” according to the tweet the Israeli prime minister sent to Truss on Thursday. He promised that “we will keep advancing the countries’ partnership.”
During Truss’ tenure as foreign secretary, it is evident that the embassy relocation was one of several alternatives presented to her by Foreign Office employees in late 2021. She worked at the foreign office for two years but didn’t make any significant policy adjustments.
During the summertime Tory leadership race, the prime minister appears to have publicly broached the subject of moving the embassy in a letter to the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) parliamentary group.
“I recognize the significance and sensitivity of the British embassy’s placement in Israel,” the Prime Minister wrote. “I’ve discussed this subject extensively with my good friend… Lapid. I will evaluate a move to make sure we are functioning in Israel from the strongest position possible, acknowledging that.”
She declared that “under my leadership, Israel will have no stauncher supporter in the world” at a husting with CFI. “That’s what I did when I was the trade and foreign secretaries. I actually walk the talk rather than talk the talk.”
The Foreign Office minister Amanda Milling responded, “The British embassy to Israel is in Tel Aviv,” when pressed in the House of Commons on September 6 by the backbench Tory MP Michael Fabricant to follow the US and move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “Although I know there might be a review, I won’t comment further.”
Regarding the Thursday reporting, the Israeli government did not respond right away.
Despite Israel proclaiming Jerusalem as its capital, the UK has kept its Israeli embassy in Tel Aviv for many years. Before their meeting on Wednesday, Lapid expressed hope that Truss would move the embassy, and he intended to bring up the subject with her, according to a senior Israeli official quoted by the Jerusalem Post.
Previous American presidents and practically every other nation avoided establishing embassies in Jerusalem since Israeli-Palestinian discussions should be used to settle the city’s final status. East Jerusalem is envisioned as the site of the capital of the future Palestinian state.
Her comments imply that the review is still in its early stages, but Conservative party supporters of the proposal assert that because the Trump administration has set a precedent and because of the improvement in relations between Israel and some Arab nations as a result of the Abraham accords, the proposal will be less contentious than it was even a few years ago.
Only three countries, Kosovo, Honduras, and Guatemala have embassies in Israel, and they all relocated from Tel Aviv after the US embassy moved.
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