Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggested Tuesday the U.S. could retaliate against the U.K. over new trade sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements, a further escalation between London and Washington hours ahead of an expected policy rollout. British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband will make a statement in the House of Commons Tuesday afternoon and is expected to impose a ban on the trade of goods and some services from Israeli settlements, having last month condemned Israel’s plans for 1,200 new homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem. But Huckabee, who over the weekend condemned the government’s “Jew hate” despite Miliband being Jewish, told the BBC that the decision would be a “discrimination against the Jewish people.” He also suggested that individual U.S. states — specifically Florida — might take trade action against the U.K.
Huckabee’s comments came after Florida Congressman Randy Fine warned on X that sanctions would effectively “ban any British company forced to comply from doing business with any state or local government in Florida” under state law. The diplomat’s comments will unnerve British exporters, who are already navigating an increasingly fragile trading relationship with the U.S. Miliband’s expected announcement marks a sharp shift in Britain’s stance on Israeli settlements, after he promised a “comprehensive reset” of policy on Israel.
It comes just two weeks before Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s expected trip to New York for the U.N. General Assembly — and a potential first in-person meeting with U.S. Burnham and Trump spoke Monday about the “U.K.’s commitment to working towards peace and security” in the Middle East and stressed the “importance of the two state solution,” according to a readout from the British side.
While Trump has yet to respond to the sanctions, political differences have previously influenced his decisions on trade. In January, the president threatened to impose 10 percent tariffs on eight countries, including the U.K., for opposing his demands to use military force to take control of Greenland. More recently, he has threatened to slap European countries imposing digital services taxes on American tech firms with 100 percent tariffs.
Other Labour politicians fell in behind Miliband, withWork and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden defending the reset on the BBC, insisting that the U.K.’s strong security relationship with Israel would continue: “There is a difference between that ongoing relationship and the approval of specific policies by this Israeli government at this time.” The move will be welcomed by many Labour MPs, who have called for tougher action against the Israeli government after its actions in Gaza. But backbench Labour MP Peter Prinsley warned that opponents of Israel would not distinguish between Israeli government policy and British Jews, who have faced an uptick in violent antisemitic attacks. Israel has yet to formally respond.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar warned the U.K. last week that Israel will retaliate against the sanctions. We have tools,” Sa’ar told a podcast by media outlet Ynet. Britain, he said, “will be making a big mistake.”
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