BICOM

The UK embassy in Israel has called on the Israeli government to reconsider its recent decision to authorise new planning and construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Israel’s government announced on Friday that they had given the green light to the building of 3,000 new housing units in East Jerusalem and existing major settlement blocs in the West Bank. They also announced that permission had been given for zoning and planning in an area on the outskirts of northern Jerusalem known as E1, which is considered particularly sensitive due to its importance to the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state.

In a statement critical of the announcement, the UK embassy in Tel Aviv said, “The recent Israeli government decision to build 3,000 new housing units threatens the two state solution and makes progress through negotiations harder to achieve. We have called on the Israeli government to reconsider.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli daily Haaretz reports this morning that the UK and France have been so incensed by the Israeli government announcement that they may even consider recalling their respective ambassadors. The report quotes an unnamed European diplomat who says that E1 is a “red line” for the UK and France and that “London is furious about the E1 decision,” which will prompt “real action against Israel” rather than mere condemnation.

According to the report, UK Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould and his French counterpart spoke with the director of Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Friday evening and called on Israel to rescind the decision on E1. The EU, Dutch and deputy German ambassador are reported to have held similar conversations with Israel’s Foreign Ministry yesterday.