UK and Israel back away from full diplomatic confrontation, though British presence in Palestine will be much reduced

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Israel and the UK have backed away from a full-scale diplomatic confrontation, with Britain announcing it is rebranding its consulate general ⁠building in ⁠East Jerusalem ​as a UK mission, a move that will result in UK diplomats leaving Israel, with only seven to remain in the building.

The move was forced on the UK by the Israeli government as punishment for the decision by the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, last month to ban trade with illegal settlements and introduce a tougher sanctions regime against those that aided the building of settlements. The UK is seeking to protect the two state solution as the best means of ending the Israeli-Palestine conflict.