As reported yesterday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee made some out-of-character remarks expressing sympathy for Arab-American victims of settler violence in a visit to a village which has been under siege in the West Bank. Huckabee described the assaults by violent settlers as “illegal” and acts of “Jewish terrorism,” though he offered no indication that the U.S. would move to prevent the terrorism from being continued.

However, Huckabee used the announcement by UK Foreign Secretary Miliband to backtrack from any display of empathy for the Palestinians targeted for “ethnic cleansing.” He told BBC News that the UK announcement of imposing sanctions against products imported by the UK from West Bank settlements represents “irrational action” and “discrimination against the Israeli government. It’s a discrimination against the Jewish people.” He threatened that the U.S. would respond to the sanctions, warning of a “huge economic impact on British businesses.”

He was backed up by Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, who threatened state action against any UK companies which complied with the sanctions against trade with Israeli firms. As a member of the Florida legislature, he pushed through a bill to punish any companies complying with measures restricting trade with Israel, banning those companies from becoming contractors for the state.