US officials in Jerusalem and Washington prepared a draft statement in early September attributed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemning plans by the UK, France and Canada to block imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The document, dated Sept. 8, was driven by David Milstein, a senior adviser to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The draft proposed that Rubio describe the three countries' actions as a series of hostile measures against Israel that, its authors argued, contribute to antisemitism, Reuters reported. "These tactics unacceptably draw from the playbook of the antisemitic boycotts, divestments and sanctions movement," the draft document said.
The statement, however, was never released. According to three people familiar with the matter, it did not have the support of either the White House or the State Department's senior leadership.
Instead, Rubio addressed the issue on Sept. 8 while speaking to reporters in Florida before departing for a visit to Latin America. He refrained from directly criticizing the decision or singling out any 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," Rubio said.
The episode illustrates, according to the report, a widening divide between the White House and US President Donald Trump's senior diplomats in Israel over how best to respond to the expansion of Israeli settlements under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
It also points to a growing ideological split within the American right over support for Israel, amid polling showing that younger Republicans increasingly holding unfavorable views of Israel.
Earlier this year, Trump expressed opposition to settlement expansion, which has become a growing source of friction with Israel's Arab neighbors. His administration, however, has put little pressure on Israel to change its policy on the issue, according to the report.
Milstein, Huckabee's adviser, called for the US to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court last year in an effort to persuade it to drop war crimes charges against Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza. According to Reuters, the Trump administration has yet to take that step.
Responding to questions from Reuters, a senior US official said the draft statement had not been prepared in consultation with either the State Department or the White House.
