Jerusalem Street Name Change Proposed Amid UK Sanctions on Settlements

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King has proposed renaming King George Street in the city center. The suggestion follows recent sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom and other Western nations on products from Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria. King stated that there is no longer a need to honor a British king on a street in Jerusalem, according to the Israeli newspaper Maariv. He has submitted a proposal to Mayor Moshe Lion to rename the street "Tabur ha'Aretz," meaning "Navel of the Earth," a phrase with biblical origins. The proposal requires municipal approval through established procedures before it can be enacted.

Canada has also implemented restrictions on settlement products and previously revoked King's visa. This action was reportedly linked to his involvement in the seizure of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and his campaigns against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The proposed street renaming is seen as symbolic. King George V reigned in 1917, the year the Balfour Declaration was issued, expressing British support for a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. The street, located in West Jerusalem, was named after him before the establishment of the State of Israel.