US drafts, then shelves, memo condemning UK settlement sanctions
US officials prepared a statement for Secretary of State Marco Rubio denouncing the UK, France and Canada’s plan to ban West Bank settlement products, but the memo was never issued.
US diplomats in Jerusalem and Washington drafted a September 8 statement for Secretary of State Marco Rubio that would have denounced the United Kingdom, France and Canada’s proposed ban on goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the move hostile and part of an antisemitic boycott, divestment and sanctions playbook. The memo, reportedly authored by David Milstein, a senior aide to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, was never cleared by senior State Department or White House leaders and therefore was not issued.
When questioned on September 8 in Florida, Rubio declined to criticize the countries’ announcement. The incident underscores a widening rift between the Trump White House and its right-leaning Israel team, and reflects a growing split within the American right, with younger Republicans increasingly skeptical of Israel. President Donald Trump has voiced opposition to settlement expansion but has not pressured Israel, while Huckabee remains a staunch supporter of the settlements and has previously pushed for sanctions against the International Criminal Court. Polls show declining US public support for Israel, especially among younger conservatives, as violence by settlers in the West Bank has risen.
Why it matters
The shelved memo reveals internal US disagreement on how to respond to allies’ boycott of Israeli settlements and signals a split in Republican foreign-policy views.
How this story developed
- Sep 1 EU debates ban on settlement products as Israeli forces raze West Bank homes
- Sep 8 US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggested the Trump administration could retaliate against Britain over its new trade sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements.
- Sep 8 Canada and a dozen European countries announced coordinated bans on settlement products.
- Sep 9 UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese called the UK settlement trade ban a tentative step and urged broader sanctions.
- Sep 9 UK joined eleven other countries in imposing a ban on West Bank settlement products.
- Sep 9 The sanctions were announced immediately before the start of Rosh Hashanah.
- Sep 9 Eight Arab and Muslim states publicly praised the United Kingdom’s ban on settlement products.
- Sep 10 Israeli opposition parties offered no substantive response to the UK sanctions.
- Sep 12 Eisenkot’s Yashar party entered the race with a poll showing 23 projected seats.
- Sep 13 US activists created a whistle‑blower hotline and warned firms could be targeted under anti‑BDS laws.
- Sep 14 British foreign secretary expected to announce a trade ban on settlement‑linked goods.
- Sep 18 The UN rights office issued a warning that the displacement of over 33,000 refugees from West Bank camps may amount to crimes against humanity.
- Sep 22 French President Emmanuel Macron used his final UN address to call for full sovereignty for Lebanon and Palestine, condemning ongoing Israeli actions.
- Sep 23 Macron’s UN address added a call for stronger UN backing and independent AI development.
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