BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 8. The United Kingdom is expected to wait for the outcome of Israel’s October election before deciding how to engage with the next Israeli government, according to Vincent Fean, a former British consul general to Jerusalem.
Fean also backed the British foreign secretary’s decision to impose sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements, including a ban on goods produced in those settlements. The measures have contributed to an ongoing diplomatic dispute between London and Israel.
“Miliband [Britain’s Foreign Minister] did the right thing by condemning settlements and the expansion which could threaten the self-determination of the Palestinian people,” Fean told Al Jazeera.
“I think the British government plans to wait and see what comes from those elections and to deal with whatever government the Israeli electorate chooses,” he added.
The British government has maintained a diplomatic presence in Jerusalem since 1838, more than a century before the establishment of Israel.
