UK archbishop concerned over embassy move to Jerusalem

The archbishop of Canterbury has expressed reservations about a potential move of the British embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss told her Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, that she is weighing the relocation when they met last month at the United Nations in New York.

Such a decision would follow the same move by former US President Donald Trump in 2018.

Truss recently described herself as a “huge Zionist” and a “huge supporter of Israel”.“The archbishop is concerned about the potential impact of moving the British embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem before a negotiated settlement between Palestinians and Israelis has been reached,” a spokesperson for Archbishop Justin Welby said in a statement.“He is in touch with Christian leaders in the Holy Land and continues to pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” it said.

 The statement from Welby came a day after Cardinal Vincent Nichols, archbishop of Westminster, also called on Truss to decide against moving the embassy to Jerusalem.“Such a relocation of the UK embassy would be seriously damaging to any possibility of lasting peace in the region and to the international reputation of the United Kingdom,” he posted on Twitter.

“Pope Francis and the leaders of churches in the Holy Land have long called for the international Status Quo on Jerusalem to be upheld, in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions,” he said.