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The British government has clarified that it does not consider the presence of Israeli Jews at the Western Wall or within Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter to be unlawful, despite these locations being situated beyond the 1967 lines.
The clarification follows recent policy shifts by the United Kingdom regarding Israeli-controlled territories. On Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband announced a ban on goods originating from communities in Judea and Samaria. This decision accompanied the government’s formal acceptance of an International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion, which characterized Israel’s occupation of territories captured from Jordan in 1967 as unlawful.
The adoption of the ICJ position prompted inquiries regarding whether the British government would view the presence of Israelis in the Jewish Quarter or at the Western Wall as illegal. In response to these concerns, a spokesperson for the British Foreign Office stated that the government remains committed to protecting religious freedoms, including the right of Jews to pray at the Western Wall.
The spokesperson explicitly stated that it is not the government’s position that the presence of Israelis in Jerusalem, including the Jewish Quarter or at the Western Wall, is unlawful. Regarding the broader trade restrictions, Miliband noted that the government intends to reflect its stance on the legality of the occupation through its economic relations. He also introduced a new sanctions framework, which includes specific exemptions for religious matters.
The Western Wall and the Jewish Quarter came under Israeli control during the 1967 Six-Day War. While Israel formally applied its law to eastern Jerusalem in 1980, the international community generally does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area, maintaining that the status of Jerusalem should be determined through negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Article and image source: israelnationalnews.com
