In August this year, the EU’s High Representative Office issued a statement noting that the E1 settlement project which envisages 1,200 housing units, “harms the prospect of the two-State solution.” Yesterday, 500 former politicians and diplomats wrote to the EU to state the same rhetoric.

The only difference is that while the EU statement emphasised the illegality of settlements under international law and urged Israel to withdraw the tender, the open letter to the EU cited yesterday urges the EU to take action against Israel. And yet, underpinning both stances, is the two-state paradigm, which both former and current diplomats know is obsolete.

Five hundred former diplomats warning the EU to take action is noteworthy for the wrong reasons. “Despite the far-reaching consequences of the new land annexation, the EU has taken no measures to deter E1,” the open letter partly states.

True, but that also applies to the period when the 500 former politicians and diplomats were still active in their respective roles.

The EU has never taken action on settlement expansion. It has recently........

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