Jonathan Powell, Britain’s national security adviser, traveled to Israel last week in an attempt — so far unsuccessful — to head off an escalating series of diplomatic retaliations between the two longtime allies, according to three officials familiar with his efforts.
The Israeli government last month ordered the closure of Britain’s consulate in East Jerusalem in response to the British government’s decision to impose sanctions on settlements in the West Bank. About 30 British diplomats would be affected if the two sides cannot reach a resolution.
In a private meeting, Mr. Powell urged senior Israeli officials to find a way to avoid shuttering the British diplomatic outpost, the three officials said. The consulate was founded in 1839 and represents the British government in Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
He also warned that if the consulate were closed down, Britain might retaliate by expelling a number of diplomats from the Israeli embassy in London, according to two of the three officials, all of whom asked for anonymity to discuss private diplomatic conversations.
At a separate meeting in Ramallah last week, Mr. Powell told Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, that Britain would retaliate in some way if Israel moved forward with closing the consulate, two other officials said.
The Israelis did not respond positively to Mr. Powell’s suggestions, the three officials said, and he left Israel without securing an agreement. Mr. Powell later traveled to Jordan for a meeting with King Abdullah II, according to the Jordanian government. In the past two years, diplomats from Norway and Australia have been forced to relocate to Jordan their missions to the Palestinians after criticizing Israeli policies and expressing support for a Palestinian state.
Mr. Powell did not respond to a request for comment on his trip. A spokesman for the British foreign office referred to a recent speech by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who said in an interview with a British radio station that Britain was talking with Israel about the demand to close its consulate and said, “We do not want this to happen.”
The Israeli foreign ministry declined to comment. But an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with protocol, said in a written statement that any steps against Israel would trigger an “appropriate response.”
The relationship between Britain and Israel has become more strained over the last several years. British politicians have increasingly condemned Israel for its conduct of the war in Gaza. Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer last year formally recognized the state of Palestine over the vehement objections of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Netanyahu in 2024 over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, Downing Street signaled that the British authorities could arrest him if he entered Britain. The government also suspended some weapon sales to Israel over concerns they could be used in Gaza.
Just last week, Mr. Netanyahu lashed out at Britain for not being more grateful that Israeli intelligence had helped alert their British counterparts to a possible terror threat from Iran against a military base in England used by the United States.
Even against the backdrop of that history, the current cycle of tit-for-tat recriminations is extraordinary.
It began when Israel announced in August that it was advancing a vast project of Jewish settlements in the heart of the occupied West Bank. The project, known as E1, which has been delayed for more than two decades, is seen by supporters and critics as a major blow to the eventual creation of a Palestinian state.
The move infuriated Mr. Miliband, who had lobbied his counterpart, Gideon Saar, not to proceed with issuing tenders for the settlement until after the Israeli elections in October. Mr. Miliband called out what he called “ethnic cleansing by the settler terrorists in the West Bank” and announced that Britain would ban the import of all goods from the settlements.
“We will disrupt the supply lines of British finance, British construction and British services for illegal settlements,” he said in a speech on Sept. 8. Canada and France joined Britain in imposing the sanctions.
The Israeli response was just as fierce. Mr. Netanyahu’s government gave Britain a month to remove all of its diplomats from the consulate, a dramatic rebuke against the British officials who work on Palestinian issues.
Like many European countries, Britain has long maintained two diplomatic missions between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Broadly, the British ambassador in Tel Aviv leads the embassy to Israel, while a consul general in Jerusalem engages with the Palestinians. The separation between the two showcased Britain’s support for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
If Britain were to expel some Israeli diplomats in response, it could continue the cycle of retaliation, with further moves likely from Mr. Netanyahu’s government.
Mr. Powell’s visit to Israel was intended to break that cycle, according to the officials familiar with it. They declined to describe his specific offer.
The three officials said that discussions between Israel and Britain are continuing and that no final decisions have been made by the British government about how to respond if the British consulate in East Jerusalem is closed.
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