US President Donald Trump did not push back on British plans to sanction Israeli settlements when he was briefed on the proposal by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, a Western official told The Times of Israel on Wednesday.
The UK’s Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on Tuesday announced that Britain, France and Canada would end all dealings with settlements, denounced the “unlawful occupation” of the West Bank, and accused “settler terrorists” of “ethnic cleansing,” indulged or supported by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Burnham held a phone call with Trump this week during which he informed the US president of London’s plan to ban the import of goods from the settlements, along with a host of other measures aimed at countering expansionist Israeli policy in the West Bank, the Western official said, confirming reporting by the Axios news site.
“There was no request to hold off,” the Western official briefed on the call said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hinted at the lack of opposition from Washington when asked about the British sanctions on Tuesday.
