US officials drafted memo condemning UK’s West Bank trade ban, but never released it

US officials drafted a memo condemning the UK's ban on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The draft statement, attributed to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, described the ban as a hostile measure that contributes to antisemitism. According to the Jerusalem Post, the memo was driven by David Milstein, an aide to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

The memo proposed that Rubio criticize the UK, France, and Canada for their plans to block imports from Israeli settlements. However, the White House and State Department's senior leadership did not support the statement, and it was never released. Rubio instead declined to comment on the decision when speaking to reporters on September 8.

The episode highlights a divide between the White House and Trump's senior diplomats in Israel. The reports did not provide further details on the current status of the trade ban or its impact.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, Al-Monitor, Hindustan Times - World News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.