A new wave of diplomatic tension between the United Kingdom and Israel erupted on Monday, as far-right Israeli settlers and right-wing activists rallied outside the British consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, demanding the diplomatic mission shut down immediately. The demonstration came in direct response to the UK’s recent decision to impose broad trade sanctions targeting economic activity linked to illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory.
The escalation of tensions began last week, when the British government formally declared Israel’s long-running occupation of Palestinian land illegal and rolled out the comprehensive sanctions package. Government sources confirmed to Middle East Eye that the new restrictions will apply to Israeli settlements not only in the occupied West Bank, but also in the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem—territories that Israel has occupied and annexed in moves never recognized by the majority of the international community. Eleven other nations, including Canada, France, Spain, Sweden and Ireland, have joined the UK in either backing or actively considering similar trade restrictions on settlement-linked goods, amplifying international pressure on Israel over its settlement expansion.
Within hours of the UK’s announcement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced a series of retaliatory measures: Israel will shutter the British consulate in East Jerusalem and ban entry to 11 sitting British members of parliament, among other reciprocal actions.
Monday’s street protest was organized by Arieh King, a prominent far-right Israeli settler and dual British-Israeli citizen who has built a political career around pushing Palestinian communities out of Jerusalem and opposing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the UN body that provides aid to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region. King currently leads his own political faction, United with Arieh King, on the Jerusalem Municipal Council, and previously founded and chaired the Israel Land Fund, an organization dedicated to seizing Palestinian property for Israeli settlement expansion.
King has long been a polarizing figure for his extreme anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim views. He has led campaigns to forcibly displace Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem neighborhoods including Sheikh Jarrah, where dozens of families have fought years of legal battles to avoid expulsion to make way for Israeli settlers. Under his leadership, the Israel Land Fund has pushed forward multiple settlement projects across East Jerusalem, including Nof Shuel in Beit Hanina, Nof Zion in Jabal al-Mukaber, and Givat HaMatos, built on land expropriated from the Palestinian neighborhoods of Sharafat and Beit Safafa.
Even before the UK’s formal announcement of sanctions, King sent a pre-emptive letter to Foreign Minister Saar and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion laying out a slate of aggressive measures targeting the British consulate should London move to declare the occupation of East Jerusalem illegal. His proposals included removing official signage identifying the consulate, cutting off the mission’s water supply, and revoking reserved parking privileges for diplomatic staff.
Following the UK’s announcement, King released a social media video filmed outside the consulate, doubling down on his demands. He called on Israeli authorities to cancel all existing contracts with British entities operating in East Jerusalem, and to cut off basic services provided to the consulate by the Jerusalem municipality, the city’s Israeli-run water utility Hagihon, and major Israeli telecommunications firm Bezeq. Bezeq is already listed in a United Nations Human Rights Office database of companies linked to illegal settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
King has also launched a new domestic campaign to rebrand Jerusalem’s central King George Street, a major downtown thoroughfare named in 1924 during the British Mandate for Palestine, stripping it of its British-linked name to replace it with a Jewish-Israeli title.
Controversy has followed King for years over his extreme rhetoric and actions. In 2024, he published multiple anti-Muslim social media posts, including public statements supporting the far-right anti-immigrant riots that swept across several British cities that summer. He has waged a years-long campaign to shut down UNRWA’s operations in Israel and expel the agency from Jerusalem, and in January 2026, he publicly celebrated Israeli authorities’ demolition of a UNRWA compound in the city, infamously stating, “We will throw out, annihilate and kill all members of UNRWA.”
Most recently, King planned a fundraising tour of the United States and Canada on behalf of the Israel Land Fund, but the trip sparked widespread public backlash and legal challenges. Activists in both countries launched campaigns to bar his entry, and legal complaints were filed accusing him of involvement in the war crime of unlawful population transfer and incitement to genocide. Canadian authorities have already barred King from entering the country pending a full review of his visa application.