UK CONSUL-GENERAL TO LEAVE JERUSALEM AS ISRAEL SHUTS CONSULATE

British Consul-General Helen Winterton is expected to leave Jerusalem before Thursday's deadline to comply with an Israeli order to close the UK's consulate in East Jerusalem, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar ordered the closure last month, in retaliation for the UK's ban on trade with Israeli settlements, with Thursday marking 30 days since the order was issued. The consulate, which has operated for nearly 200 years, is expected to remain closed permanently unless there is a change of government in Israel, sources said, since departing British diplomats would need Israeli permission to re-enter. Winterton is expected to work with her team from Oman in the hope of returning to Jerusalem when possible. The Foreign Office did not respond to requests for comment on her departure.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said last week that the government was "looking at all our options" and said he did not want the consulate to close, warning it would damage work helping people in the region, including Palestinians. Reports said Britain was considering expelling Israeli diplomats and their families from London in retaliation, with one report putting the number at 27; the Foreign Office declined to comment, though government sources said discussions were ongoing. British National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell reportedly held undisclosed talks with Israeli officials, but no agreement was reached to keep the consulate open. Sir Vincent Fean, who served as British consul-general to Jerusalem from 2010 to 2014 and is now a trustee of the Britain Palestine Project, said the closure "is not the act of a friend or ally" and amounted to unlawful interference in diplomatic relations between the UK and Palestine under international law.

Fean said he was particularly concerned for the consulate's roughly 50 Palestinian staff. Israel's order followed the UK's import ban on goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and a broader shift in Britain's tone towards Israel. Winterton's expected departure is set to end speculation that the UK might defy Israel's order and keep the consulate open.