Exclusive: Zack Polanski says UK should defy Israel on fate of British Consulate in East Jerusalem

Exclusive: Zack Polanski says UK should defy Israel on fate of British Consulate in East Jerusalem

Submitted by Imran Mulla on Wed, 09/30/2026 - 10:30 Green party leader’s comments to MEE will pile pressure on the Labour government not to comply with Israel’s order to close the consulate Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, addresses supporters during a rally in south London on 24 June (AFP) Off

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has called on the British government to defy Israel and keep the British Consulate in East Jerusalem open, in comments made exclusively to Middle East Eye.

Polanski’s intervention will pile pressure on the Labour government not to comply with Israel’s order to close the consulate as the deadline for doing so, 8 October, approaches. 

“East Jerusalem is illegally occupied Palestinian territory, and Israel has no sovereignty over it,” Polanski told MEE on Wednesday morning. 

“The UK must ignore Israel’s order and keep the British Consulate open.”

Israel ordered the closure of the consulate in retaliation for British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s announcement of sweeping sanctions on Israeli settlements earlier this month.

It had previously been assumed that Britain would comply with this Israeli order, but MEE revealed on Monday that a final decision had not yet been made.

Significantly, earlier this month, the Labour government officially recognised Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory as illegal, bringing its position in line with the International Court of Justice’s landmark advisory opinion in 2024.

'East Jerusalem is illegally occupied Palestinian territory, and Israel has no sovereignty over it'

- Zack Polanski, Green Party leader

Polanski told MEE: “Britain’s recognition that the occupation is illegal means nothing if, whenever Israel attempts to exercise sovereign control over occupied Palestinian territory, our government simply complies.”

The Green leader pointed out that the “consulate is also a vital diplomatic link between Britain and Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza”.

He added that “closing it would further isolate Palestinians and weaken Britain’s ability to engage with them directly”.

Polanski argued: “If the government means what it says about the occupied Palestinian territories, it must put that position into practice.”

'Looking at all our options'

Miliband said the government was “looking at all our options” in an interview on LBC on Monday evening.

Of the prospect of the consulate in East Jerusalem closing, he insisted: “We do not want this to happen - because it would damage the very important work that we are doing helping people in those communities, including Palestinians.

“The consulate has been there for nearly 200 years, and this is a long-standing position that we have had.”

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Miliband revealed he was talking to foreign ministers around the world about the issue and insisted that the UK’s presence in Jerusalem was “very, very important”.

An act of defiance would almost certainly lead to a major diplomatic dispute between Britain and Israel, with tensions already high over the UK’s settlement sanctions.

While it is unlikely that Israeli security would physically remove staff from the premises of the consulate, it can easily block entry to Israel, meaning that British diplomats would be banned from returning to Jerusalem after going on leave.

With Israeli settlers already active in the area around the embassy, there are fears that British diplomats would face harassment, with local staff especially vulnerable.

Vincent Fean, trustee of the British Palestine Project and himself a former consul-general in East Jerusalem, told MEE on Monday that “Israel’s threat to close the British consulate-general is not just wrong - it is illegal”. 

'Israel is asserting a right it does not possess'

The British Palestine Project commissioned a legal opinion from Dominic Grieve KC, who served as attorney general under the last Conservative government.

In his opinion, seen by MEE, Grieve said that Israel has made “an unlawful assertion of sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory. Successive British governments have affirmed that Israel’s rights in East Jerusalem are limited to those of an occupying power”.  

Grieve additionally said that “Israel is asserting a right it does not possess as an occupying power to impose sovereign control over East Jerusalem”.

He pointed out that British consul generals do not present commissions to Israel, meaning “There is no accreditation to Israel for Israel to withdraw��.

Grieve further warned: “The closure falls on Palestinians, not on Britain alone. Closure threatens consular services, including for British pilgrims, other visitors and residents of Palestine. It hampers aid oversight and reporting from the West Bank and Gaza.”

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