THE world is going through a profound moment of stress and geopolitical tension – yet instead of helping to calm things down, the UK Government seems intent on ramping things up – whether it be over Northern Ireland or, in this case, the Middle East.

An issue which largely went under the radar in light of the Queen’s death was the news that the UK is looking to review the location of its embassy in Israel. This would mean moving it from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a position which is inconsistent with international law and does nothing to help bring about a peaceful two-state solution.

Truss had indicated that she wanted to do this during her leadership campaign, but there was hope that perhaps she was bluffing or simply trying to persuade Conservatives to her side. At Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) questions earlier this month, however, the then minister of state for Asia and the Middle East said: “The British embassy in Israel is in Tel Aviv. I am aware of the possibility of a review but will not speculate further on this point.”

The Tories are no strangers to U-turns, but this one is surprising, given the same minister had responded to an earlier question in May that “The British Embassy to Israel is based in Tel Aviv, and we have no plans to move it.” But perhaps the review was a slip of the tongue? Maybe she heard wrong?

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Any doubts were removed last week when, in a meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Truss informed him that such a review was indeed taking place. Anyone who is aware of the delicate politics of the region will know how dangerous such a move will be – not only for the Middle East peace process but also for UK diplomatic staff who are being put in unnecessary harm for political point scoring.

Whether the UK Government wants to acknowledge it or not, it has a responsibility to the people of that region for the mess it created (Palestine had been a British Mandate, after all prior to the creation of Israel in 1948). In the initial United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, Jerusalem was due to hold Corpus Separatum status – with West Jerusalem as an Israeli capital city and East Jerusalem as the capital of a sovereign Palestinian state. Despite this plan never coming to fruition, the widely-held diplomatic consensus of the international community is that Jerusalem should be a dual capital – the result of a peaceful and equitable two-state solution.

This status quo was disrupted in July 1980, when the Israeli government passed the so-called “basic law” and unilaterally named Jerusalem as the united capital of the State of Israel. In response, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution which affirmed “that the enactment of the ‘basic law’ by Israel constitutes a violation of international law”, stated that moves to alter the status of Jerusalem “are null and void and must be rescinded”, and called upon UN member states “that have established diplomatic missions at Jerusalem to withdraw such missions from the Holy City”.

As such, any country which goes against this is also in violation of international law.

Which brings us to the present moment and how Truss, not being content with breaking international law in Northern Ireland, seems to want to do the same in the Middle East. None of the EU countries have moved their embassies to Jerusalem alongside 14 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council.

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The sole exception is the United States during the Trump administration, a decision which was widely – and rightly – condemned around the world.

What is perhaps just as concerning is the lack of voice from the other opposition parties. I and the SNP believe firmly in a two-state solution, with Israel having as much right to exist as the Palestinian state. We support international law and are in favour of encouraging peace rather than conflict. That such a statement cannot be heard from the UK parties speaks volumes about their attitude.

And at a time when relations between Palestinian and Israeli communities have deteriorated to record low levels, it is shameful that the UK has absconded from its duty to promote peace in the Middle East.

Yet perhaps this is also unsurprising. Truss’s government has shown that it does not seem to give two hoots about others – whether it be people in these islands or elsewhere around the world. Scotland wants to do things differently and be a good global citizen in helping to end division and conflict in the world. The sooner we can do that as an independent country, the better.