US Embassy Draft Condemning Settlement Boycott Rejected by Washington

A harsh draft statement prepared by US officials in Israel, intended to condemn Western nations' boycott of Israeli settlements, was ultimately shelved by senior leadership in Washington. The statement, reportedly initiated by David Millstein, an aide to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Harkavy, was meant to be issued by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in response to a September 8 announcement by 12 Western countries, including the UK, France, and Canada, that they would implement or support restrictions on trade with settlements.

The draft statement, dated September 8, described the Western nations' actions as "a series of hostile moves against Israel that contribute to antisemitism." It further alleged that these tactics were "unacceptably borrowed from the playbook of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which continues with antisemitic sanctions."

However, the statement was never published. According to Reuters, the draft did not receive backing from the White House or senior State Department officials. A senior US official told Reuters that the document was not prepared in coordination with the State Department or the White House. Secretary Blinken's public response to the boycott was significantly more moderate than the draft statement. While he indicated the US would not take similar actions, he refrained from condemning the countries imposing the restrictions, stating, "We are clearly not going to do what the UK did. We saw their announcement today, but I don't have a reaction to it at this time."

Since then, Western countries have continued to pursue measures against settlements, with the UK reportedly advancing further sanctions against settlers in the West Bank. Meanwhile, Australia unexpectedly withdrew from a sanctions initiative at the last minute. Ambassador Harkavy and Millstein referred Reuters' requests for comment to the State Department. The incident highlights a potential divergence between the approach advocated by some US Embassy personnel in Israel and the official stance adopted by higher authorities in Washington.