U.S. envoy warns U.K. against new plan to sanction Israeli settlements

London — The U.K. government announced Tuesday that it was joining 11 other nations with plans to sanction trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The move quickly drew a warning of repercussions from the U.S. ambassador in Israel, and Israel's own president called it "gross interference."In a joint statement, the U.K., Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden said they would "introduce national and/or support European restrictions on trade in goods with settlements which are illegal under international law, or that they are actively considering these and other measures, in accordance with their national procedures."The countries said they were acting to safeguard the possibility of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel — the long-discussed two-state solution — which they said was being undermined by an "unprecedented level of settler violence and settlement expansion" in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. U.K. Foreign Minister Ed Miliband said the British sanctions would target specific companies and individuals who provide services including construction, infrastructure, financin...