Miliband condemns Israel’s closure of UK consulate in Jerusalem

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has described Israel’s decision to close the British consulate in Jerusalem as “regrettable and damaging”. Israel announced the closure after the UK imposed sanctions targeting Israeli settlements. “We anticipated this might happen because we saw other countries, the Dutch, for example, who had announced sanctions, who had seen these reprisals from Israel. I think they’re regrettable and damaging,” Miliband told BBC Radio. He dismissed suggestions that the measures would disrupt Britain’s cooperation with Israel.