Netanyahu's Decision to Halt EU Talks on Palestine Populist

Alla Shainskaya, a member of the Meretz Party Executive Committee called the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to suspend his country's contact with EU institutions "absolutely unwise."

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to suspend his country's contact with EU institutions in order to reassess the involvement of EU bodies in the diplomatic process with Palestinians is purely populist, a member of the Meretz Party Executive Committee told Sputnik on Monday.

On Sunday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry stated that it would sever all contact with EU institutions and representatives upon receipt of an order from Netanyahu to reassess their participation in the process to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

"This is a populist move, not the one of state. If it was a state one, there would be no such decision [to cut contact with EU institutions] at all," Alla Shainskaya said.

Shainskaya labeled the decision "absolutely unwise," adding that it would not lead to "anything good."

The Israeli decision followed European Commission instructions to mark all Israeli goods produced in the occupied territories of the West Bank, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem for sale in the European Union.

Most of the areas claimed by the State of Palestine were seized by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity and has continued to build settlements in occupied territories, prompting condemnation from the UN.