King David Hotel bombing to consulate row: A timeline of UK-Israel tension

Israel’s order to shut UK’s Jerusalem consulate is the latest downturn in a relationship strained since before 1948. Save Share 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. However, UK officials insisted on Thursday that it remains open, albeit under its new title of “UK Mission”. This isn’t the first time tensions have arisen between Israel and the UK, however. Here’s more about the times relations have faltered. 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. 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. As the deadline expired, the two governments reached a last-minute compromise, however. 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. The name of the building has also been changed. 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. 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. Britain and Israel have mostly enjoyed strong and warm relations. But Israel’s move against the consulate is not the first time there has been tension between them. Here is a timeline of some of those moments of strain: Britain’s role in the founding of Israel dates back to a single 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. Britain went on to rule Palestine under a League of Nations mandate....