US drafted but withheld memo criticising UK West Bank sanctions

In early September, US officials in Jerusalem and Washington prepared a draft statement attributed to US secretary of state Marco Rubio condemning plans by the UK, France and Canada to block imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The September 8 dated document, previously unreported and which two sources said was driven by David Milstein, an influential aide to US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, proposed Rubio describe the countries’ actions hostile measures against Israel that contribute to antisemitism.

These tactics unacceptably draw from the playbook of the antisemitic boycotts, divestments and sanctions movement

“These tactics unacceptably draw from the playbook of the antisemitic boycotts, divestments and sanctions movement,” the draft document, reviewed by Reuters, said.

According to three people familiar with the matter, the statement was not supported by the White House and the US state department’s senior leadership.

Instead, speaking to reporters on September 8 in Florida before traveling to Latin America, Rubio refrained from outright criticism of the decision or any particular country.

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

“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,” Rubio said.

The episode illustrates a widening divide between the White House and US President Donald Trump’s senior diplomats in Israel about how best to respond to the expansion of Israeli settlements under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

It also highlights a growing ideological split within the American right over support for Israel, with polling showing younger Republicans holding an increasingly unfavourable opinion of Washington’s closest Middle East ally.

Trump earlier this year expressed his opposition to settlement expansion, a growing source of friction with Israel’s Arab neighbours, but his administration has put little pressure on Israel to change its policy.

That has at times put him at odds with Huckabee, a Baptist minister who is a staunch supporter of settlements and who refers to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, a term used by the Israeli government but not formally adopted by the US.

Huckabee’s aide Milstein last year advocated that the US impose sanctions on the entire International Criminal Court to convince it to drop war crimes charges against Israeli leaders over the Gaza war, a measure the Trump administration has yet to deploy.

In response to questions from Reuters, a senior US official said the draft statement was not prepared in consultation with the state department or White House.