Israeli settlers protest UK sanctions outside consulate in East Jerusalem

Submitted by MEE staff on Mon, 09/14/2026 - 16:06 Prominent far-right settler Arieh King organised the rally that called for actions against London

A man stands outside the British consulate in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on 8 September 2026 (AFP) Off

Israeli settlers and far-right activists protested outside the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday, calling for its closure after the UK imposed sweeping sanctions on trade linked to illegal Israeli settlements.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has already announced that Israel would close the British consulate in East Jerusalem and ban 11 British MPs, among other sanctions, in response.

The protest was organised by Arieh King, a well-known far-right settler and dual British-Israeli citizen who has long led efforts against the presence of Palestinians and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, in Jerusalem.

King, who heads the United with Arieh King faction on the Jerusalem municipal council, called on Israeli authorities to take action against the British consulate.

Last week, the British government declared the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and announced comprehensive sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements.

Government sources confirmed to MEE that Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights and in East Jerusalem will be also covered by the UK's new measures, as well as those in the occupied West Bank.

Eleven other countries - Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden - joined the UK in supporting or ⁠considering sanction on trade in goods with settlements.

In a letter sent to Saar and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, before the British announcement, King proposed a series of measures against the consulate if London were to declare Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem unlawful.

EU foreign policy chief says Israeli settlements should be treated like Russian-occupied Crimea Read More »

Among his proposals were removing signs identifying the British consulate, cutting its water supply and preventing diplomatic staff from using reserved parking spaces.

He also referred in the letter to his British family background, mentioning his grandfather, Marcus King, whom he described in a 2021 interview with the Israeli news outlet Arutz Sheva as “a real estate developer, a synagogue warden, and a member of the London City Council”.

King is a former head of the Israel Land Fund, an organisation he founded and chaired before being elected to the Jerusalem municipality.

He has been involved in efforts to remove Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem, particularly in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, where Palestinian families have faced years of legal battles and settler attempts to displace them.

The Israel Land Fund, along with King himself, also promotes the establishment of Israeli settlements across East Jerusalem.

Among the projects it has promoted are Nof Shuel in Beit Hanina, Nof Zion in Jabal al-Mukaber and Givat HaMatos, which is being developed on land of the Palestinian neighbourhoods of Sharafat and Beit Safafa.

'Kill all members of Unrwa'

Following the British announcement, King published a video on social media filmed outside the British consulate, calling on the UK to impose its own sanctions on Israeli entities operating in East Jerusalem by cancelling contracts with them.

He urged it to cancel services provided to the consulate by the Jerusalem municipality, the city’s Israeli water company Hagihon, and the Israeli telecommunications company, Bezeq.

Exclusive: UK sanctions on Israeli settlements to include those in Syria's Golan Heights Read More »

Bezeq is among the companies listed in a UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights database of businesses involved in activities linked to Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

King has also launched another initiative in response to the British measures, calling for King George Street, one of Jerusalem’s main thoroughfares, to be renamed with a Jewish-Israeli name. The street was named in 1924, during the British Mandate in Palestine, by the city’s then-Palestinian mayor, Raghib al-Nashashibi.

King has previously attracted controversy for his far-right political views. In 2024, he published a series of anti-Muslim posts, including messages expressing support for the far-right riots that swept across several British cities that summer.

King has also campaigned against Unrwa and supported efforts to outlaw its operations in Israel and expel it from Jerusalem. In January 2026, King celebrated the demolition of an Unrwa compound by Israeli authorities.

He was quoted as saying: “We will throw out, annihilate and kill all members of Unrwa.”

More recently, King was due to travel to the US and Canada on a fundraising tour for the Israel Land Fund. His planned visit came under public and legal scrutiny, with campaigns to bar him from entering and complaints filed against him in both countries over his alleged involvement in the war crime of unlawful transfer and incitement to genocide.

Canadian authorities subsequently barred King from entering the country while his visa is under review.

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