THERESA MAY drew “surprise” from the US yesterday after attempting to slap down Washington for not slavishly supporting Israel.

Downing Street said outgoing US Secretary of State John Kerry’s description of the Israeli administration as the “most right-wing in history” was “not appropriate” given that “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leading the democratically elected government of an ally.”

It came after the US took the almost unprecedented step of abstaining in a United Nations security council vote condemning Israeli settlement-building in the Occupied Territories.