EU: new Israeli settlements is threat for peace

Israel’s decision to build new colonies far inside the West Bank weakens prospects for peace with the Palestinians, the European Union’s diplomatic service said on Friday, echoing US criticism that a two-state solution was at risk.

In a statement, the European Union External Action Service said Israel had broken with public statements not to build new colonies, calling the plans “effectively a new [colony] in the northern West Bank.” “The decision to continue [colony] building and expansion... weakens rather than strengthens the prospects for a two-state solution to the Middle East peace process, and makes the possibility of a viable Palestinian state more remote,” the EEAS said in a statement.