Trump declined to intervene against UK sanctions on Israel – report

President Trump was informed ahead of time of Britain’s plans to impose new sanctions on Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria, but reportedly declined to press London on the matter.

By World Israel News Staff

President Donald Trump was informed in advance that Britain planned to impose sweeping new restrictions targeting Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria but did not ask the British government to delay or abandon the move, according to officials familiar with the discussions.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham spoke with Trump before London unveiled the measures Tuesday, outlining plans to ban imports from communities in Judea and Samaria and to impose sanctions on people and companies involved in settlement expansion.

A Western official briefed on the conversation said Trump raised no objection requiring Britain to change course.

“There was no request to hold off,” the official told The Times of Israel.

The account is significant because the Trump administration has traditionally been far more supportive of Israeli settlement policy than most European governments.

While Washington has not joined Britain’s sanctions and has expressed concerns about their possible consequences, US officials also did not attempt to stop London from proceeding.

Two people familiar with the Burnham-Trump conversation said the president neither pushed back against the planned measures nor asked the British leader to alter them.

US officials subsequently told their British counterparts that Washington shared concerns about developments in Judea and Samaria, even while disagreeing with the sanctions themselves.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio adopted a similarly restrained position Tuesday.

He said Washington had been informed beforehand and had listened to Britain’s case, while stressing that the United States was not joining the sanctions. Rubio said the administration’s priority was preventing further violence and instability in Judea and Samaria.

The administration’s position contrasted sharply with comments from US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a longtime supporter of the settlement movement. Huckabee warned ahead of the British announcement that the “repercussions are going to be significant” if London imposed a boycott or sanctions.

The White House later distanced itself from those remarks, with an official saying they “were not coordinated with the White House” or the State Department.

The British measures represent a major escalation in London’s pressure on Israel over its policies in Judea and Samaria.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced an import ban on goods produced in settlements, restrictions targeting companies and individuals providing financing, construction, infrastructure and real-estate services for settlement expansion, and a ban on advertising settlement properties in Britain.

London also said it would refuse export licenses for weapons and other goods that materially contribute to Israel’s presence in the territories.

Miliband said “the sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel,” while maintaining that Britain would continue normal trade with Israel inside the pre-1967 lines. The legislation implementing the broader measures is expected to take effect within six to nine months, while sanctions against several individual settlers take effect sooner.

Britain coordinated the initiative with France and Canada. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden also joined a statement supporting national or European restrictions on trade with settlements, citing both allegations of so-called “settler violence” and Israel’s decision to advance construction in the E1 area east of Jerusalem.

The E1 project has long drawn objections from European governments and successive US administrations because of its location between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim. Both critics and supporters say construction there would make territorial continuity for a future Palestinian state substantially more difficult.

Israel responded forcefully to Britain’s announcement. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel would close the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, remove British personnel from a US-led Gaza coordination mission and end a British military training program for Palestinian Authority forces. He accused London of “blatant interference” in Israel’s internal affairs and electoral process.

President Isaac Herzog separately called the sanctions a “grave miscalculation” and argued that imposing them shortly before Israel’s October election amounted to outside interference in a sovereign country’s democratic process.

The economic effect of the settlement trade ban is expected to be relatively small. Settlement exports — much of them agricultural products such as dates, citrus, herbs and wine — account for only a tiny share of Israel’s overall exports.

BritainDonald TrumpJudea and SamariaSanctions