JERUSALEM — What has caused more calamities throughout history: the harmful intentions of evil people or the misguided mistakes of well-intentioned people? My bet is on the latter.

This question came to my mind as I sat in my Jerusalem office this week and read the new directives published by the European Union that prohibit it from financing institutions, like research and nonprofit groups, in academia, culture, science and sport, in Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights. The rules were finalized Friday and take effect on Jan. 1.

The move is more symbolic than crippling: It largely strengthens existing E.U. rules and does not affect trade or the private sector. This gesture may resonate among European champions of peace, but as a minister in Israel’s government and chairman of a party that is wholly committed to the peace process and a two-state solution, I wish to note one problem with these new directives: They will encourage nothing but delay in the resumption of peace negotiations.

Why? As the American secretary of state, John Kerry, leads new efforts to reinvigorate peace talks among Israelis and Palestinians, one of the obstacles — if not the main one — is the presence of extremist Palestinians and their supporters. I’m referring to a diverse group of thugs with automatic weapons: Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda and fighters backed by Iran. They are all demanding the same thing of Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority: Stall. From their perspective, as long as the Palestinians steer clear of the negotiating table, their situation will improve.