White House stays quiet as UK leads 11 other countries with sanctions on Israeli 'settler terrorists'

As British Prime Minister Andy Burnham launches a campaign against Israeli settlers in the West Bank, officials in Jerusalem find the United States is not rushing to their defense as usual.

The United Kingdom is placing trade sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, citing “unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion” and threats to a future two-state solution. Burnham is framing the newly unrolled sanctions — which have been adopted by at least 11 other countries, including major economic powers such as France and Poland — as an opportunity for Britain to show moral leadership on the world stage.