Israel’s Minister of Strategic and Intelligence Affairs Yuval Steinitz (centre, front row) at the Hula Lake Ornithology and Nature Park in Israel. Photo: Reuters

US Secretary of State John Kerry is holding a gun to Israel’s head in peace talks with the Palestinians by warning it could face international isolation if negotiations failed, a senior Israeli Cabinet minister said yesterday.

The remarks by Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, followed recent accusations by Israel’s Defence Minister that Kerry was being “messianic” in his pursuit of a peace deal.

At a Munich security forum on Saturday, Kerry touched a nerve in Israel by pointing to “an increasing de-legitimisation” campaign building up against it internationally and “talk of boycotts” if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not end.

“Are we all going to be better with all of that?” asked Kerry, who is seeking a framework deal to set a path toward a final accord on peace and Palestinian statehood.

Steinitz seized on the top US diplomat’s remarks as a threat against Israel that would only encourage the Palestinians to harden their positions in the six-month-old negotiations, which have shown few signs of progress.

The things Kerry said are hurtful, unfair and intolerable

“The things... Kerry said are hurtful, they are unfair and they are intolerable,” Steinitz told reporters.

“Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with a gun to its head when we are discussing the matters which are most critical to our national interests.”

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, in an e-mailed statement, said Kerry remained staunchly opposed to any boycott of Israel and was simply describing “previously stated facts about what is at stake for both sides” if peacemaking failed.

“Secretary Kerry... expects all parties to accurately portray his record and statements,” she said.

Netanyahu, in public remarks at the weekly meeting of his cabinet, was more guarded than Steinitz – making no direct mention of Kerry.

But, calling any attempts to impose a boycott “immoral and unjustified”, Netanyahu said: “No pressure will cause me to forfeit the State of Israel’s vital interests, chiefly the security of its citizens.”