US escalates ahead of UK trade sanctions on Israeli settlements – POLITICO

LONDON — U.S. 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.