ISRAEL risks international isolation if it uses its military superiority to crush the Palestinians, France’s parliamentary speaker Raymond Forni said during a visit to Egypt on Sunday. “The Israelis, even if they are militarily superior, cannot allow themselves to crush the Palestinians, because they would isolate themselves,” the speaker of the French National Assembly said. Forni also denounced “the continued nibbling away at the territories” by Israeli settlements. The Socialist speaker urged the two sides to resume their negotiations, which were last held in January under Israel’s prime minister Ehud Barak, days before he was defeated at the polls by hardliner Ariel Sharon. – AFP