Israel risks losing support from US, Europe
The continued settlement policy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might drive the United States to reduce its diplomatic support of Israel, thus damaging its strategic security interests and ability to respond to security threats.
We are today at a historic low point in the strategic relationship between the United States and Israel. This strategic relationship has not been shaken this much since President John F. Kennedy’s letters to Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in the early 1960s questioning Israel’s nuclear program. What the nuclear plant in the town of Dimona did then, the East Jerusalem Arab neighborhood of Silwan and housing for settlers have done now.
A senior State Department source told Al-Monitor that the US administration is considering a policy change toward Israel. On one side, the security cooperation will only be enhanced, but on the diplomatic side, Washington is seriously contemplating not vetoing UN Security Council resolutions on the settlements. Simultaneously, Washington might not restrain EU members from taking punitive measures regarding settlements, such as enhancing the boycott on Israeli businesses active beyond the Green Line.
