Israel feels heat of United States, European Union, United Nations criticism

The United States, European Union and the United Nations have issued unusually stern criticism of Israel, provoking a sharp response from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and raising Palestinians’ hopes of steps against their neighbour.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday described Israel’s settlements as “provocative acts” that raised questions about its commitment to a two-state solution, nearly 50 years after occupying lands the Palestinians seek for a state.

Mr Ban also laid some of the blame for four months of stabbings and car rammings by Palestinians at Israel’s door, saying “as oppressed peoples have demonstrated throughout the ages, it is human nature to react to occupation, which often serves as a potent incubator of hate and extremism”.

Mr Netanyahu’s response was quick and furious. Mr Ban’s remarks “give a tailwind to terrorism”, he said, and ignore the fact “Palestinian murderers do not want to build a state”.

“The UN lost its neutrality and moral force a long time ago,” he added, singling Mr Ban out for personal criticism.

While terse words between Israel and the United Nations are nothing new, Israel’s closest allies, the United States and the European Union, have publicly expressed their own frustration with the policies of Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

Speaking at a security conference last week, US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro questioned how equitably justice is applied in the occupied West Bank, saying: “At times there seem to be two standards of adherence to the rule of law: one for Israelis and another for Palestinians.”

That, too, drew an angry response from Mr Netanyahu. Mr Shapiro later said he regretted the timing of his remarks, made on the day an Israeli mother of six, stabbed to death by a Palestinian in a West Bank settlement, was buried.

The European Union’s policy of labelling products made in Israeli settlements has provoked similar anger from officials, while Sweden’s foreign minister was branded an anti-Semite after calling for an independent investigation into Israel’s efforts to quell the current wave of violence.

The criticism has raised Palestinian hopes that world powers might finally be minded to support a United Nations resolution condemning Israel’s settlement policy outright.