A Labour MP has said her constituents would be “pleased to hear” that moving the UK embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was not going ahead, before proceeding to misuse a recent UN resolution aimed at Russia in an attempt to attack the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Kim Leadbeater, MP for Batley and Spen, a constituency near Dewsbury, also accused the government of “undermining the UK’s reputation on the global stage” by considering the move.
During foreign questions in the House of Commons, Leadbeater asked David Rutley, a minister in the foreign, commonwealth and development office, what “assessment” had been made about the “potential effect” of the embassy move.
He responded: “There are no plans to move the embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv.”
Rutley added:”Israel is a close friend and a key strategic partner, built on decades of cooperation. We will continue to strengthen our relationship through our embassy in Tel Aviv.”
Leadbeater then went onto misuse a UN Resolution that was recently passed in relation to Russia’s annexation of parts of Ukraine to condemn Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem and the UK’s near-decision to move its embassy there.
She said, “Why was this move ever under consideration given that last month at the United Nations, 143 countries, including Israel and the UK, voted to reaffirm that any unilateral annexation of territory by another state is a violation of international law?”
The MP noted that this principle “would become meaningless” if not applied “equally to the occupied Palestinian territories, including east Jerusalem.”
Leadbeater added: “Isn’t this just another example of the Conservatives chaotic approach to international relations that are so badly undermining the UK’s reputation on the global stage.”
The MP’s comments, which went unchallenged, fail to recognise the legal basis for Israel’s sovereignty over east Jerusalem. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that the UK does recognise Israeli sovereignty over west Jerusalem. And any planned UK embassy would have most certainly been placed in west Jerusalem, not east Jerusalem. Even a government that has a so-called ‘two-state solution’ policy, like the current UK government does, could position its embassy in west Jerusalem without contradicting itself. Therefore, accusations that Britain’s global reputation “has been undermined”, suggests that opposition to a UK embassy in Jerusalem runs much deeper.
https://twitter.com/kimleadbeater/status/1589979321644769280
Thousands of CUFI supporters have called upon the UK government to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. To add your name, please go to www.cufi.org.uk/Jerusalem
We call upon the UK Government to officially recognise Jerusalem is Israel's capital and move its embassy to Jerusalem.
