Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu walks to address his supporters at his party headquarters during Israel's general election in Jerusalem, November 2, 2022. (Credit: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)
Britain on Thursday urged all politicians in Israel to respect minorities as former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared poised to return to power in the 2022 legislative elections, with the help of the country's far-right.
"We would call on all Israeli parties to refrain from inflammatory language and demonstrate tolerance and respect for minority groups," a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters.
Sunak's new government also shot down a suggestion by previous prime minister Liz Truss that the UK embassy in Israel could be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
"There are no plans to move the British embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv," said the spokeswoman, after Truss announced a review during her short-lived tenure. "We looked at this issue under the previous administration and I can confirm there are no plans to move it."
The review, which appeared to mirror a move by former US president Donald Trump to relocate the American embassy, sparked alarm from the Palestinian government and Christian leaders in Jerusalem.
The 2018 move by Trump broke with decades of international consensus on the status quo in Jerusalem, which remains claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians as their capital.