U.S. officials drafted a statement for Secretary of State Marco Rubio in early September condemning UK, French and Canadian plans to block imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but it was never released.
The document, dated 8 September and previously unreported, was driven by David Milstein, an influential aide to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, according to two sources. It proposed that Rubio describe the countries' actions as a series of hostile measures against Israel that contribute to antisemitism.
“These tactics unacceptably draw from the playbook of the antisemitic boycotts, divestments and sanctions movement,” the draft document, reviewed by Reuters, said.
The statement was never released.
According to three people familiar with the matter, the statement was not supported by the White House or the State Department's senior leadership.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity.
Instead, speaking to reporters in Florida on 8 September before travelling to Latin America, Rubio refrained from outright criticism of the decision or any particular 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 a widening divide between the White House and Trump's senior diplomats in Israel over how best to respond to the expansion of Israeli settlements under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government.
It also highlights a growing ideological split within the American right over support for Israel, with polls showing thatyounger Republicans have an increasingly unfavourable view of Washington's closest Middle East ally.
President Donald Trump has expressed opposition to settlement expansion, a growing source of friction with Israel's Arab neighbours, but his administration has put little pressure on Israel to change its policy.
That has at times put him at odds with Huckabee, a Baptist minister who is a staunch supporter of settlements and refers to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, a term used by the Israeli government but not formally adopted by the U.S.
Huckabee's aide Milstein last year advocated for the U.S. to impose sanctions on the entire International Criminal Court to convince it to drop war crimes charges against Israeli leaders over the Gaza war - a measure the Trump administration has yet to deploy.
In response to questions from Reuters, a senior U.S. official said the draft statement was not prepared in consultation with the State Department or White House.
The U.S. embassy referred questions, including requests for comment from Huckabee and Milstein, to the State Department.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
U.S. public backing for Israel has fallen since the Gaza war began in 2023, particularly among Democrats.
A June Quinnipiac University poll found that 48 per cent of voters and 66 per cent of Democrats believe the United States is too supportive of Israel, up from 16 per cent and 20 per cent respectively when the question was first asked in 2017.
While large majorities of Republicans aged 50 and older view Israel positively, younger conservative Americans have grown more critical, a Pew Research Centre poll from late March showed.
Some 57 per cent of Republicans aged 18-49 have an unfavourable opinion of Israel, up from 50 per cent a year previously.
In December last year, Trump said he and Netanyahu did not fully agree on the West Bank after meeting the Israeli leader, whose government has overseen a rapid expansion of settlements. The previous September, Trump said he would not allow Israel to annex the territory.
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