UK doesn't plan to relocate Israel Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv

London, Nov 5: The United Kingdom ( UK ) has "no plans" to relocate its Israel embassy to Jerusalem, the international media cited a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Responding to a question about the consideration of relocation of the embassy, a spokeswoman said that the government had "no plans".

 

 

 

 

She also said that the relocation idea has been looked into under the previous govt. The UK has for decades housed its embassy in Tel Aviv, where most other countries have their diplomatic outposts, despite Israel designating Jerusalem as its capital. In Sept, UK former Prime Minister Liz Truss made an announcement that she was considering relocating the embassy to Jerusalem.

 

 

 

 

 

This statement was welcomed by then Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Still, it provoked a backlash from the Palestinian government, pro-Palestinian groups, British church leaders and European foreign ministers, among others. Jerusalem remains at the heart of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the Palestinian Authority (PA) insisting that East Jerusalem - illegally occupied by Israel since 1967 - should serve as the capital of a Palestinian state.

 

There is a global consensus against recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital until the Palestinian conflict is resolved. Meanwhile, the US, breaking its decade-long policy, recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital by opening its embassy in 2018 under former President Donald Trump. The move was welcomed by Israel and criticized by the Arab world and Western allies. At the time, the UK, under the leadership of then-Prime Minister Theresa May, said it had no plans to move its embassy and publicly disagreed with the US move.