Finance Minister: Israel’s economy will be hurt if peace talks fail

Yair Lapid says Jerusalem’s announcement of plan to construct 1,400 more homes in settlements is harmful & will lead to int’l isolation.

 

Finance Minister Yair Lapid said Friday that Israel will be hurt economically by growing international isolation if it fails to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid. – Photo: Emil Salman

Yair Lapid said his ministry has run through various scenarios and found that “a continuation of the existing situation will hurt the pocketbook of each of us.”

Lapid spoke to the Israeli news website Ynet in response to an announcement Friday that Israel plans to build 1,400 more homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories the Palestinians seek for a state.

Lapid said the announcement is harmful at a time of ongoing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. He warned that “if we don’t make progress with the Palestinians, we will lose the sympathy of the world and that’s our legitimacy.”

 

View original HAARETZ publication at: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.567979