Poll: Israelis Fear Boycott, Agree with Criticism of Kerry

Most Israelis fear a boycott if peace talks with the Palestinians fail but agree with criticism of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry over such a threat, a poll published Friday showed.

Israel's hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, however, rejected concerns over an economic boycott and took to Kerry's defense.

"We don't want to turn our friends into enemies. We don't agree with Kerry over everything, but he is a true friend of Israel," Lieberman said at an economic forum, quoted by army radio.

Kerry, trying to hammer out a framework agreement to advance peace talks, has come under fire from Israeli ministers after warning last week that the Jewish state faced growing delegitimization if negotiations collapsed, also referring to "talk of boycotts".

According to a poll in the Jerusalem Post, 67 percent of Israelis said they agreed with the criticism of Kerry, with some saying it should not have taken place publicly.

The same poll, conducted by Geocartography Institute among 500 people with a margin of error of 4.2 percent, also found that over two thirds of Israelis "agreed with the concerns about a potential boycott".

Only 17 percent said they had no such worries.