British Prime Minister Liz Truss is considering relocating the U.K. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Truss told her Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid “about her review of the current location” of the building, a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
Truss had already proposed the move as a campaign promise to the Conservative Friends of Israel, during her successful leadership bid this summer. She brought back the issue during a meeting with Lapid in New York, during the United Nations’ General Assembly.
The British embassy in Israel is currently located in Tel Aviv, similar to virtually all countries except the United States. Former U.S. President Donald Trump moved the American embassy to Jerusalem in 2018. Theresa May, the British Conservative prime minister at the time, criticized the step. The relocation of embassies is a very sensitive issue, since both Israelis and Palestinians consider Jerusalem to be their capital.
Protests over Trump’s move resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians. Honduras and Guatemala followed suit in moving their embassy to Jerusalem, and Kosovo opened its embassy in the city in 2021.
Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s far-right League party, has promised to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocate the embassy from Tel Aviv if his coalition wins the upcoming election on September 25.
