Britain should follow Trump’s lead over Jerusalem

Liz Truss has signalled a historic shift in British foreign policy by saying she would review the location of the UK’s embassy in Israel in order to strengthen ties with the Jewish state. The announcement came in a letter sent by the Tory leadership candidate to Conservative Friends of Israel. The Foreign Secretary writes:

‘I understand the importance and sensitivity of the location of the British Embassy in Israel. I’ve had many conversations with my good friend Prime Minister Lapid on this topic. Acknowledging that, I will review a move to ensure we are operating on the strongest footing within Israel.’

The British Embassy is currently situated in Tel Aviv, despite Israel’s capital being Jerusalem. The UK has hitherto withheld recognition of Jerusalem in line with the Foreign Office’s preferred policy of neutrality and treating the city as a ‘corpus separatum’. This is because the Palestinian Authority claims the eastern section of Jerusalem for the capital of a Palestinian state, despite consistently rejected offers of such a state.