Israeli President Shimon Peres. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Israel’s President Shimon Peres appealed Thursday to the European Union to renege on its plan to adjust guidelines with regards to how it deals with Israeli institutions beyond the 1948 armistice line.

“Wait with your decision – make peace a priority. Don’t put in place irresponsible sanctions which will damage the peace process. The decision by the European Union is unnecessary and untimely. The issues are complex and sensitive, delay your decision,” he said.

A report by the Hebrew-language Haaretz Tuesday, said that the European Union on July 19 will issue a directive to all of its member nations that bans cooperation with Israeli entities in the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, all territories acquired by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.

The report was met with a harsh response from Israeli officials, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying, “We will not accept any outside diktat about our borders.”

Peres argued that efforts by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to restart talks between Israelis and the Palestinian Authority, “will bear fruit on both the Israeli and the Palestinian side ” and warned that EU intervention by way of its new guidelines “could lead to another crisis in our region,” and spoil any chance at peace.