Draft US rebuke of UK over Israeli settlement sanctions shelved

US officials in Jerusalem and Washington drafted a statement in early September attributed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemning plans by the UK, France and Canada to block imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to a document reviewed by Reuters. The statement was never released.

The draft, dated 8 September, described the three countries’ actions as hostile measures against Israel that contribute to antisemitism.

“These tactics unacceptably draw from the playbook of the antisemitic boycotts, divestments and sanctions movement,” it said.

Two sources said the document was driven by David Milstein, an aide to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

It was not supported by the White House or the State Department’s senior leadership, according to three people who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rubio instead avoided direct criticism when asked about the UK’s move by reporters that same day in Florida, before travelling to Latin America.

“Obviously, we’re not going to do what the UK did. We saw their announcement today, but I don’t have any comment on it right now,” he said.

A senior US official told Reuters the draft statement had not been prepared in consultation with the State Department or White House.

The US embassy referred questions, including requests for comment from Huckabee and Milstein, to the State Department. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The episode points to a widening divide between the White House and senior American diplomats in Israel over how to respond to settlement expansion under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right wing government.

Huckabee, a Baptist minister and strong supporter of settlements who refers to the West Bank by its biblical name of Judea and Samaria, has at times found himself at odds with President Donald Trump, who has voiced opposition to settlement expansion without putting significant pressure on Israel to reverse it.

Milstein separately argued last year for sanctions against the International Criminal Court over its war crimes charges against Israeli leaders relating to the Gaza war, a measure the administration has not pursued.

The disagreement also reflects a broader split within the American right over support for Israel.

A Pew Research Center poll from late March found 57% of Republicans aged 18 to 49 held an unfavourable view of Israel, up from 50% a year earlier, even as large majorities of Republicans aged 50 and older remain positive.

Public backing for Israel has fallen more broadly since the Gaza war began in 2023, particularly among Democrats, with a June Quinnipiac University poll finding 48% of voters and 66% of Democrats believe the US is too supportive of Israel, up from 16% and 20% respectively when the question was first asked in 2017.

Trump said in December that he and Netanyahu did not fully agree on the West Bank, having stated the previous September that he would not allow Israel to annex the territory.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 war, and settlements there are considered illegal under international law by the United Nations and most countries, a position Israel rejects.

Violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians has risen sharply this year, with Huckabee condemning the violence publicly while describing those responsible as a minority not representative of the wider settler community.

Around 500,000 Israeli settlers and 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, territory Palestinians have long sought as part of a future state alongside Gaza and East Jerusalem.