White House stays quiet as UK leads 11 other countries with sanctions on Israeli 'settler terrorists'
As British Prime Minister Andy Burnham launches a campaign against Israeli settlers in the West Bank, officials in Jerusalem find the United States is not rushing to their defense as usual.
TL;DR
- The UK and 11 other nations (Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden) have imposed trade restrictions on goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
- These sanctions cite "unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion" and threats to a two-state solution.
- Israel has retaliated by ordering the British consulate in Jerusalem to close within 30 days and expelling British aid workers.
- The US has not publicly supported or opposed the sanctions, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating the administration was aware of the decision but had no comment.
- Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the sanctions "morally distorted" and "blatant interference."
- The article notes a trend of ideological and political divides between Europe and Israel, including formal recognition of a Palestinian state by some European nations.
- U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has loudly opposed the sanctions, calling them "Jew hate" and a discrimination against the Israeli government and Jewish people.