Britain is considering expelling 27 Israeli diplomats from the Israeli embassy in London unless Israel reverses its decision to close the British consulate in East Jerusalem. The consulate shuts on Thursday, after London's attempt to stop the move through diplomatic channels failed.

The consulate serves the Palestinian population and employs 27 British diplomats. Israel has decided to close it and strip its staff of diplomatic accreditation. Dozens of local staff have already been dismissed, and the British diplomats are getting ready to leave. The number of Israeli diplomats facing expulsion from London — 27 — matches the number of British diplomats losing their jobs at the consulate.

Israel has given the British diplomats 30 days to leave. People familiar with the matter say this short deadline is what has angered London most — during an earlier spy row, Russia gave four months to close the British consulate in St Petersburg.

Foreign minister Gideon Saar announced the retaliation, including the consulate closure, after Britain imposed economic sanctions on West Bank settlements.

Last week, British national security adviser Jonathan Powell went to Jerusalem to try to persuade the Israeli government to cancel or delay the closure. The talks ended without a breakthrough. Powell had opposed foreign secretary Ed Miliband's decision to ban trade with the settlements, arguing it could end up helping prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the coming election.

Britain passed its warning to Israel through ambassador Simon Walters. London has not said publicly how it will respond and is relying on quiet diplomacy instead. The British embassy declined to comment.

Christian Cantor, chargé d'affaires, currently runs the Israeli embassy in London. The ambassador's post has been empty for more than a year, since Tzipi Hotovely returned to Israel in September 2025. The embassy has just over 27 diplomatic staff, so expelling that many would limit the mission's work.

Israeli diplomatic officials said they don't comment on speculation about other countries' future decisions, but added that every move against Israel gets a matching response, and that this will keep happening. Relations between the two countries are worsening, and tensions have reached a peak.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid, number two on the Beyachad ("Together") party list, criticised the move, saying it effectively means closing Israel's embassy in London, and asked how that helps the state of Israel. "Creating crises is not a policy. Fighting with the whole world is not a policy," Lapid said.