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.