Western patience with Israel is wearing thin - Daniel Levy, US Middle East Project

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit is joined by Daniel Levy, a political analyst and President of the US Middle East Project.

Listen below:

Western politicians are showing signs of losing patience with Israel.

That's according to political analyst Daniel Levy.

He says many now believe that a softer approach towards Israel is politically costly.

The UK government announced last week that it has suspended free trade talks with Israel and hit West Bank settlers with sanctions.

It also condemned as 'monstrous' Israel’s 11-week aid blockade and renewed military offensive in the Gaza Strip. 

But Levy says it should not have taken so long for the penny to drop.

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"We should not be at the level of malnutrition and starvation being used as a weapon of war against a civilian population."

- Daniel Levy, political analyst - US Middle East Project

Levy says the lengths Israel has now gone to have shaken up what he calls a very 'indulgent' Western media.

"The Israeli leadership is telling us, they are going to force the population into a tiny area of Gaza, that they are not going to allow any supplies in, and then they have followed through and done that."

- Daniel Levy, political analyst - US Middle East Project

The UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, last week announced the suspension of trade talks and said Benjamin Netanyahu’s actions were 'wholly disproportionate' and 'utterly counterproductive'.

"Perhaps some [politicians] are looking at how this will go down in history, and people are telling them, this will not just be a footnote in your time as leader."

- Daniel Levy, political analyst - US Middle East Project

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