British and Israeli diplomats reached a last-minute agreement to avoid the closure of the British Consulate building in East Jerusalem, Britain’s foreign secretary announced on Thursday, leaving behind a scaled-back diplomatic mission to Palestinians.
Israel threatened last month to shut the consulate, which has served as the center of British outreach to Palestinians for decades, in response to London’s decision to impose trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which have been expanding rapidly.
Until Thursday, both countries appeared to be locked in a series of escalating retaliations. British officials had privately warned that the closure of the consulate would be met with retaliation that might include expelling a number of Israeli diplomats from London.
Instead, the two countries issued statements early Thursday morning that each declared the issue resolved but described the compromise they had reached in significantly different ways.
In his statement, the British foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, said that the consulate building would not close but would be renamed.
“Our Consulate General building will not be closing, and will be known as the U.K. Mission, Jerusalem, from today,” Mr. Miliband said. He noted that the new facility “is independent, operational, and will continue to deliver vital services and our work with the Palestinian people.”
Mr. Miliband said that Britain stood by the sanctions imposed on the settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.
“We do not accept that the government of Israel has the legal right to close the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, which has been there for nearly 200 years,” he added, pointing to Britain’s “longstanding view that East Jerusalem is occupied territory.”
He also suggested that the reduction in staffing at the building would be temporary.
“We will work in the coming months to build back up our presence,” he wrote.
Gideon Saar, Israel’s foreign minister, issued a very different statement, asserting that Israel had followed through on its threat.
“The British Consulate in Jerusalem is ending its operations today,” he wrote on social media. “Accordingly, the sign of the British Consulate in Jerusalem has been removed.”
In Mr. Saar’s telling, what remains at the building will be “a task force of only seven diplomats,” and “their scope of activity will be very limited.”
Mr. Saar added that the British consul general and 19 other diplomats would be ending their assignments. Mr. Miliband said only that a number of British officials who had been stationed at the consulate had been “temporarily withdrawn” to ensure their safety.
Mr. Saar also said that British officials had been removed from an international support center in Gaza and that British officials would no longer be able to train Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank.
Ahmad Majdalani, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, said Palestinian leaders in the West Bank were relieved that Britain would be maintaining a diplomatic mission in East Jerusalem.
“What is important for us is that there’s diplomatic presence and that it is able to maintain relations with the Palestinian leadership and provide consular services to Palestinian citizens,” he said.
The agreement came after Jonathan Powell, Britain’s national security adviser, traveled to Israel last week for meetings aimed at reaching a compromise that could avoid a more serious breakdown between the longstanding allies.
By the time Mr. Powell left Israel last week, it appeared that the Israelis had rejected his suggestions, according to three people familiar with the private discussions who talked about them on condition of anonymity. But negotiations between Israeli and British officials continued until late Wednesday night, according to one Israeli official who was briefed on the ongoing discussions.
Despite the differences in their statements, Britain and Israel agreed to coordinate their publication at 7 a.m. British time, the Israeli official said.
Within minutes of the announcement of the change, the Israeli Foreign Ministry distributed before and after pictures showing the consulate entrance with signs and then without signs by the door.
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