JERUSALEM: Britain and Israel announced on Thursday that the nearly 200-year-old British diplomatic mission in East Jerusalem will stay open on a smaller scale and with a new name, in a compromise after Israel ordered the consulate shut in a sanctions dispute.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the British consulate in East Jerusalem ended its functions Thursday, with 20 diplomats, including the consul general, ending their missions and leaving the country.

However, Saar said the building is British government property and a “task force of only seven diplomats” will be allowed to operate in a limited capacity from the premises, “which ceased to function as a consulate today.”

Under the last-minute agreement reached on Wednesday night, Britain will rename the consulate, founded in 1839, as the “UK Mission, Jerusalem”.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2026