Rishi Sunak cancels the plan to move UK’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has dumped plans to shift the country’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
In a shocking development, a Downing Street spokesperson told foreign journalists at a press briefing that the controversial plan to shift the embassy had been dropped.
According to a report of Middle East Eye, a spokesperson said, “there are no current plans to change the location of our embassy”.
The spokesperson did not say whether an official review into the potential move, set in motion by Rishi Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, had been abandoned.
However, Conservative Party sources said that Downing Street would not have been so emphatic if the inquiry was ongoing.
It is also mentioned that UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned strongly against moving the embassy.
The Palestinian ambassador to London, Husam Zomlot, welcomed the news, remarking: “The question about the location of the UK’s embassy should never have been asked in the first place.”
Some will see the decision as the latest in a series of u-turns by Sunak, who has been prime minister since 25 October, following his change of heart about whether to attend the COP27 summit in Egypt.
Rishi Sunak cancels the plan to move UK’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
During the contest to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative leader, Sunak was asked about Britain recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
He replied: “To me, it’s indisputably the historic capital… it seems to me that there is a very strong case to it, to recognize what is a historic and practical step.”
He added: “It would be something where we’d be acting in concert with our allies in the region and, in general, one of our closest allies, so it’s something I’d like to do.”
