Media reports say Liz Truss informed Yair Lapid she is considering Shifting Britain’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Truss expressed the idea at the United Nations. The concept of shifting Britain’s embassy to Jerusalem has appalled the Palestinians and broke an international agreement.
Truss is considering shifting Britain’s embassy to Jerusalem
As Reuters says, British Prime Minister Liz Truss and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid hold a bilateral meeting. They have the conference as they attend the 77th UN General Assembly in New York, the US, on 21 Sept. 2022. Lizz Truss told her Israeli counterpart she was reviewing the location of Britain’s embassy in Israel. Truss’ office said this on Thursday, 22 Sept. Similarly, Aljazeera says Truss is considering shifting the British embassy in Tel Aviv to the contested holy city of Jerusalem. This decision would follow former US President Donald Trump’s provocative move. Truss told Yair Lapid she is weighing the relocation during a meeting at the United Nations in New York City on Wednesday, 21 Sept.
Lapid expresses hope about shifting Britain’s embassy to Jerusalem
Lapid is hopeful about shifting Britain’s embassy to Jerusalem. According to Aljazeera, Before their meeting on Wednesday, Lapid expressed hope that Truss would transfer to the embassy. Thus he planned to raise the issue with her. The Jerusalem Post quoted a senior Israeli official as saying this. Similarly, Politico says British Prime Minister Liz Truss is considering relocating the UK embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Truss had already proposed the move as a campaign promise to the Conservative Friends of Israel. She offered the action during her successful leadership bid this summer. She brought back the issue during a meeting with Lapid in New York during the United Nations General Assembly.
Shifting Britain’s embassy to Jerusalem against international consensus
The establishment of Israel is against human rights and international rules. Moreover, it has become usual for Zionists to break international riles in Occupied Palestine. For instance, as the United Nations News says, Israel took over the Golan region on its northern border with Syria. This happened following the 1967 war. Then Israel annexed the area in 1981. The Security Council declared it an illegal act.
Now, Zionists are trying to establish Jerusalem as their capital. It is trying to persuade countries to move their embassies to Jerusalem. According to the Guardian, Truss’s pledge to Lapid to review shifting Britain’s embassy to Jerusalem has appalled the Palestinians. Shifting Britain’s embassy to Jerusalem breaks international consensus. So this is what a Liz Truss foreign policy, free from the constraints of EU membership, looks like.
As Middle East Eye says, three UN experts have strongly criticised Truss’s suggestion of shifting Britain’s embassy to Jerusalem. The Experts say moving the British embassy to Jerusalem would break international law and UN resolutions. The UK has long supported these international laws and UN resolutions.
Promoting a two-state solution
Yair Lapid has accused Palestinians of terrorism and proposed a two-state solution to the problem of occupied Jerusalem. According to the United Nations News, Yair Lapid says a two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is “the right thing”. However, he has cautioned that a future Palestinian state must not be “another terror base”. As the Guardian says, Joe Biden praised Lapid for promoting a two-state solution in his UN general assembly speech. Lapid wants Israeli sovereignty over occupied East Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley. These conditions are far short of what the Palestinians could accept in any negotiation.
US ex-President recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel
As Aljazeera (6 Dec. 2017) says, US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Wednesday. He announced his plans to move the US embassy to the city. Many nations warned Trump in the Middle East and elsewhere of the “disastrous consequences” of his move. As Politico says, Theresa May, the British Conservative prime minister at the time, criticized Trump’s step. The relocation of embassies is a compassionate issue. Both Israelis and Palestinians consider Jerusalem to be their capital. Protests over Trump’s move resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians. Honduras and Guatemala followed suit in moving their embassy to Jerusalem. Kosovo opened its embassy in the city in 2021.
Occupation of East Jerusalem by Israel
As Aljazeera (6 Dec. 2017) says, Israel claims the city of Jerusalem as its capital. Israel has claimed this since the occupation of East Jerusalem in the 1967 war with Syria, Egypt and Jordan. Similarly, Middle East Eye says, in 1967, Israel occupied and annexed the eastern part of the city of Jerusalem.
The UK must obey international law and UN Security Council resolutions in this regard
As United Nations News (26 Jul. 2022) says, Israeli, Palestinian and American leaders repeated their support for a two-State solution. They consider this solution to be essential for Palestinians and Israelis alike. As Middle East Eye says, the UN experts criticise UK PM’s potential plan for shifting Britain’s embassy to Jerusalem. They say moving the British embassy to Jerusalem would break international law and UN resolutions. As Lynn Hastings says, “Immediate steps to reverse negative trends and support the Palestinian people are essential,” Lynn Hastings is UNSCO’s deputy chief, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
To sum up, Truss should be worried about the impact of shifting Britain’s embassy to Jerusalem on Britain’s global standing. The international community should prevent Israel from shifting its capital to Jerusalem. The UK must obey international law and UN Security Council resolutions in this regard. Israel cannot claim sovereignty over the Palestinian territories it has occupied, including Jerusalem.
