THE UNION JACK still flies in Jerusalem, over the same building it has been on for 59 years. On October 8th Israel and Britain agreed, after weeks of diplomatic wrangling(争吵，角力), to rename this office the UK Mission rather than the Consulate-General. Both countries saved face(保住了面子) but the fracas(争吵，喧闹的纠纷) between them is far from over(远未结束).
英国国旗仍在耶路撒冷飘扬，59年来一直悬挂在同一栋建筑上。10月8日，经过数周的外交角力，以色列与英国同意将这处办公机构更名为“英国代表团”，而非“总领事馆”。两国都保住了面子，但彼此间的争吵远未结束。
Their spat(小争吵，口角) began soon after Britain changed its prime minister in July and appointed Ed Miliband as foreign secretary. One of his priorities has been to harden(使强硬，强化) Britain’s position on Israel's brutal war in Gaza and its de facto annexation(事实上的吞并) of the occupied West Bank. In some places Israeli settlers have been carrying out ethnic cleansing(种族清洗) with tacit(默许的，心照不宣的) support from their government. Many, especially in the Labour Party, thought Britain’s government was previously far too soft on(对……软弱) this.
两国的争执始于7月英国更换首相并任命埃德·米利班德为外交大臣之后不久。米利班德的优先事项之一，就是强化英国对以色列在加沙的残酷战争以及事实上吞并被占领的约旦河西岸的立场。在一些地方，以色列定居者正在政府默许下进行种族清洗。许多人，尤其是工党内部人士，认为英国政府此前对此过于软弱。
On September 8th Mr Miliband announced sanctions(制裁) on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as did France and Canada(法国和加拿大也如此). Previous such efforts by Western countries, targeting individual settlers and organisations, have had limited effect. The difference this time is the intention to take “action on services” and “companies that support, facilitate(促进，协助) or profit from(从……中获利) illegal settlement activity”. This broad brush(宽泛的概括，一刀切) might paint everything from government ministries to Israel’s biggest banks.
9月8日，米利班德宣布对约旦河西岸的以色列定居点实施制裁，法国和加拿大也采取了类似行动。西方国家此前针对个别定居者和组织的类似努力效果有限。这次的不同之处在于，英国打算对“服务”以及“支持、协助或从非法定居点活动中获利的公司”采取行动。这种宽泛的打击面可能波及从政府部门到以色列最大银行的各类机构。