EU Ambassador Warns Israel of Isolation if Talks Fail

If Settlements Wreck Talks, World Will Blame Israel

Israeli officials may say that the settlement expansions into the occupied West Bank totally aren’t a problem, but they’ve clearly been a source of strain on the peace process, and if the talks fail Israel will be blamed because of that.

This was the message from EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen, who warned in an interview with Channel 2 that Israel is going to find itself increasingly isolated because of the settlement expansions, and that something of an ad hoc boycott might wind up being imposed by “a myriad of private economic actors.”

Andersen’s comments echo similar ones made over the weekend by Secretary of State John Kerry, who warned that the status quo is “not sustainable” and that Israel needs to be aware that calls for boycotts would expand if the talks fail.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the talk of boycotts, saying they would “push peace farther away,” while other Israeli officials have downplayed the chance of any peace deal at any rate, saying they believe they’ll be fine at any rate.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.