William Hague says Israel has ’lost international support’ over its policies

 Speaking on the final day of a two-day visit to the Holy Land, Mr Hague said Israel had lost international support across the Western world in recent years - largely because of Jewish settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, where the Palestinians hope to have a future state.

But he said this should not be used to justify boycotting Israel.

"The way to deal with that is to promote the peace process, to resolve these problems," he told a news conference at the British consulate in east Jerusalem.

"We should not be a country that goes in for boycotts and de-legitimisation."

The Foreign Secretary was responding to fears voiced about Anglo-Israeli relations by Yuval Steinitz, Israel's intelligence and strategic affairs minister.

Mr Steinitz told The Daily Telegraph in an interview that he was worried about "animosities and incitement" in Britain towards Israel. He also said attitudes in the UK were markedly cooler towards the Jewish state than in other English-speaking countries like the US, Canada and Australia.

"We heard many times about [attempts] to boycott Israeli products, Israeli universities in Britain by this or that organisation and of course we are concerned," Mr Steinitz said during a 90-minute conversation in the Israeli prime minister's bureau. He said some of the boycott campaigns could amount to "disguised anti-Semitism".

Mr Hague pointed to an agreement signed with Ya'acov Perry, Israel's science minister, on Thursday as evidence that Britain still valued close ties.

"I signed yesterday the agreement with the science minister of Israel about academic cooperation on medical research and our work together in the scientific field in particular is a good example of what we are doing bilaterally together," he said.

"I think our bilateral relationship with both Israelis and Palestinians is in good shape and our diplomats do great work on both those relationships."

Mr Hague - whose visit coincided with that of the US secretary of state, John Kerry - repeated previous warnings that chances for a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians were in danger of fading away.

He said Britain supported Mr Kerry's diplomatic efforts to revive peace talks between the two sides, which have been stalled for nearly three years and said the time for framing an agreement could be measured in weeks rather than months.

Referring to his meetings on Thursday with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, he said: "These are leaders whom we respect. They understand the urgency and immense importance that the rest of the world attaches to these efforts.

"I have made the case to the Israeli and Palestinian leaders that there isn't going to be [another] moment....it's very important in weeks, not months, to make the most of this opportunity."