Trump administration offers rare muted response on new sanctions against Israel

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President Donald Trump and his top foreign policy aide, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have not condemned the United Kingdom, France, Canada and others for their planned sanctions on settlements in the occupied West Bank – a notable development from the self-described “most pro-Israel” administration in history.

Their ultimate position on the new sanctions remains unclear, current and former US officials told CNN. Still, the lack of condemnation thus far is notable, particularly given the administration’s past policies towards Israel and the Palestinian territories – such as the removal of sanctions on violent West Bank settlers – and the warnings from the top US diplomat in Israel.

On Wednesday, asked about the sanctions, Trump took an uncharacteristically reserved tone, saying that he would be “speaking to Israel.”

“I understand exactly what’s going on, but I want to find out why all of a sudden does that happen?” he told reporters. The UK briefed the US, including in a call from Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Trump, ahead of the Tuesday announcement, sources said.

The sources suggested Trump and Rubio’s reaction may indicate discomfort with Israeli policies in the West Bank. Despite Trump saying that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, Israel has only entrenched its control of the territory, expanding settlements and seizing territory.

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Though the Trump administration is highly unlikely to levy sanctions against Israel, the lack of condemnation from the top of the administration in the days since the sanctions were announced is piquing interest from US diplomats and US allies alike, said sources, who wonder if Trump may land in favor of taking some action. Even the smallest measures against settlements would mark a major rift between Israel and its key ally, the United States, as it faces growing isolation from the international community.

Backing the sanctions, or even a continued lack of condemnation, may signal Trump’s mounting frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who faces an election next month.

However, sources say a response ultimately boils down to how Trump wants to respond – and it may be strategic, as the administration navigates a continued backing of Israel externally with growing internal discontent about the situation in the West Bank.

Rubio, who also declined to comment or condemn the new sanctions, nodded to that frustration on Tuesday.

“We don’t want to see anything destabilizing going on right now in the West Bank with so much going on in the region. We think it has implications as well on our ability to make progress with regards to Gaza and the 20-point plan and Board of Peace that we’re very committed to,” he told reporters.

“Obviously, we’re not going to do what the UK did,” Rubio said, but added, “We were made aware that they were going to make this decision. We heard their arguments as to why.”

When asked for commment the White House referred CNN to Trump’s Wednesday comments.

Former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro said the lack of initial condemnation “represents at least some degree of recognition on the part of the administration that the violence by Israeli extremists at the West Bank, and the statements and actions of the extremist ministers in the Israeli government are becoming problematic.”

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The brief comments from Trump and Rubio stand in contrast to those from Amb. Mike Huckabee, who accused the British government of “Jew hate” – despite the foreign secretary being Jewish – and warned ahead of the UK’s announcement that it could have a “huge impact on British businesses.”

Those remarks had not been coordinated with the White House or the State Department, an White House official said.

A former senior US official told CNN that Huckabee’s “reaction was consistent with his own views, as expressed for decades, about Israel and about settlements and about the West Bank.”

“It’s probably what he expected, because many people would have expected that that would have been the administration’s initial response, based on their history and the views they’ve previously expressed,” they noted.

In the early days of Trump’s second term, the administration lifted sanctions imposed under the Biden administration on violent Israeli settlers. The US, unlike international partners, has not publicly condemned Israel’s plans to advance the E1 settlement project, which effectively divides the West Bank into north and south, making a contiguous Palestinian state virtually impossible. E1 also splits East Jerusalem – the envisioned capital of a future Palestinian state – from the rest of the territory.

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has explicitly championed the expansion of settlement as a way to “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state. “The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions,” Smotrich said when E1 received its final approval. Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the 1967 war. Both are considered occupied territories under international law, and Israeli settlements there are widely regarded as illegal.

Shapiro, now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said that when it comes to the violence in the West Bank, “that’s something that Trump has leverage to force Netanyahu’s hand with a fairly limited action because of the election.”

Netanyahu “badly wants Trump’s support, explicit if possible, implicit if not, and certainly doesn’t want him to make some expression that suggests Trump thinks things would be better with a different government,” he told CNN. “I think Trump’s got a lot of leverage, but I don’t think he’s really used it yet.”

Another former senior US official expressed doubt that Netanyahu would rein in the settlers in before the election.

This former official called the planned sanctions “a warning shot.” Another US official questioned whether they will be effective.

“These sanctions coming now are rallying people around Israel and somewhat around Netanyahu, giving credence to his argument that the world is against us now,” they said.

凯文迪奇/盖蒂图片社/FILE

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普及其高级外交政策顾问、国务卿马可·卢比奥并未谴责英国、法国、加拿大和其他国家计划对被占领的西岸定居点实施制裁——这对于自诩为历史上“最亲以色列”的政府而言，是一个值得注意的进展。

据CNN报道，现任和前任美国官员表示，他们对新制裁的最终立场仍不明朗。不过，迄今为止缺乏谴责之声仍然引人注目，尤其考虑到本届政府过去对以色列和巴勒斯坦地区的政策——例如取消对西岸暴力定居者的制裁——以及美国驻以色列最高外交官的警告。

周三，当被问及制裁问题时，特朗普一反常态地保持沉默，称他将“与以色列对话”。

“我完全明白发生了什么，但我很想知道为什么会突然发生这种事？”他告诉记者。消息人士称，在周二的声明发布前，英国已向美国进行了通报，包括首相安迪·伯纳姆致电特朗普。

消息人士暗示，特朗普和卢比奥的反应可能表明他们对以色列在西岸的政策感到不满。尽管特朗普曾表示不会允许以色列吞并西岸，但以色列却不断巩固对该地区的控制，扩大定居点并侵占领土。

Hazem Bader/法新社，盖蒂图片社

消息人士称，尽管特朗普政府极不可能对以色列实施制裁，但自制裁宣布以来，美国政府高层一直保持沉默，这引起了美国外交官和盟友的关注。他们猜测，特朗普最终是否会倾向于采取一些行动。即使是针对定居点的最轻微措施，也会在以色列面临日益严重的国际社会孤立之际，标志着以色列与其主要盟友美国之间出现重大裂痕。

支持制裁，甚至继续不予谴责，可能表明特朗普对下个月即将面临选举的以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡越来越不满。

然而，消息人士称，最终的回应取决于特朗普想要如何回应——这可能是一种战略性的做法，因为本届政府既要继续在外部支持以色列，又要应对国内对西岸局势日益增长的不满。

鲁比奥也拒绝就新的制裁发表评论或谴责，但他周二表达了对这种沮丧情绪的理解。

“鉴于目前西岸地区局势动荡，我们不希望看到任何破坏稳定的事件发生。我们认为，这也会影响我们在加沙问题上取得进展的能力，以及我们非常重视的20点计划和和平委员会，”他告诉记者。

“显然，我们不会效仿英国的做法，”鲁比奥说道，但他补充道，“我们事先已经知道他们会做出这个决定。我们也听取了他们的理由。”

当被问及此事时，白宫让 CNN 参考特朗普周三的讲话。

美国前驻以色列大使丹尼尔·夏皮罗表示，最初缺乏谴责“至少在某种程度上表明，美国政府已经意识到，以色列极端分子在西岸的暴力行为，以及以色列政府中极端主义部长们的言论和行动，正变得越来越成问题。”

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特朗普和卢比奥的简短评论与迈克·赫卡比大使的评论形成鲜明对比。赫卡比大使指责英国政府“仇恨犹太人”，尽管外交大臣本身就是犹太人。他还在英国宣布相关决定之前警告说，这可能会对英国企业产生“巨大影响”。

一位白宫官员表示，这些言论并未与白宫或国务院协调。

一位美国前高级官员告诉 CNN，哈克比的“反应与他几十年来对以色列、定居点和西岸的看法一致”。

他们指出：“这可能正是他所预料的，因为根据政府的历史和他们之前表达的观点，许多人都会认为这会是政府的最初反应。”

在特朗普第二任期初期，其政府取消了拜登政府对暴力以色列定居者实施的制裁。与国际伙伴不同，美国并未公开谴责以色列推进E1定居点项目的计划。该项目实际上将西岸一分为二，使建立一个领土完整的巴勒斯坦国几乎成为不可能。E1项目还将东耶路撒冷——未来巴勒斯坦国设想中的首都——与西岸其他地区分隔开来。

以色列极右翼财政部长贝扎莱尔·斯莫特里奇曾公开支持扩大定居点建设，以此“埋葬”巴勒斯坦建国的构想。斯莫特里奇在E1项目获得最终批准时表示：“巴勒斯坦建国不是靠口号，而是靠行动被抹杀。”以色列在1967年的战争中占领了东耶路撒冷和西岸地区。根据国际法，这两个地区均被视为被占领土，以色列在那里的定居点也被普遍认为是非法的。

现任大西洋理事会高级研究员的沙皮罗表示，就西岸暴力事件而言，“由于选举的关系，特朗普可以利用这种影响力，采取相当有限的行动来迫使内塔尼亚胡采取行动。”

内塔尼亚胡告诉CNN：“他非常渴望得到特朗普的支持，如果可能的话，最好是明确的支持，如果不能明确支持，也希望得到隐晦的支持。他当然不希望特朗普发表任何暗示他认为换个政府情况会更好的言论。我认为特朗普现在有很多筹码，但他还没有真正动用这些筹码。”

另一位美国前高级官员表示怀疑内塔尼亚胡能否在大选前控制住定居者。

这位前官员称计划中的制裁是“一次警告”。另一位美国官员则质疑这些制裁是否会有效。

他们说：“这些制裁现在正在团结人们支持以色列，并在某种程度上支持内塔尼亚胡，这印证了他关于世界现在与我们为敌的论点。”