The European Union is to demand that Israel halt three controversial settlement projects in the occupied Palestinian territories, with Israeli officials fearing that it could impose sanctions for the first time.
A memo, circulated in advance of a meeting between the EU’s ambassador to Israel and officials in Jerusalem, outlines what it describes as “red lines” that, if crossed, it says would render the possibility of a two-state peace treaty between the Israelis and Palestinians impossible.
Among the red lines are three recently announced projects: a settlement in the “E-1” area, between occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, and expansion of the suburbs of Givat Hamatos and Har Homa.
The EU opposes them because it believes that, in the event