European Commission officials claim the new guidelines are meant to serve only as a clarification of existing rules, but Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said that for the EU to publish such a document after recent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli Defense Forces was “an exceptional and discriminatory step”.
Advertisement
European Jewish Congress President Dr. Moshe Kantor has called on the new European Union labeling regime “very problematic”.
The Foreign Ministry added, that “Product labeling strengthens the radical elements advocating a boycott against Israel and denying Israel’s right to exist”.
It said Frank Lowenstein, the acting USA special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, would visit Israel next week to discuss those three issues.
The Israeli foreign ministry argues the EU’s move could threaten Israel’s relationship with Europe and make it more hard to resume peace talks with Palestinians.
He added that “the European Union has once again moved from the level of statements to taking concrete policy decisions”.
“We believe that more actions are necessary to hold Israel accountable for the crimes it continues to commit against the land and people of Palestine”, he said in a statement. Goods from Palestinian-owned manufacturers will have labels that say “Product from Palestine”.
Products from those areas will still be welcome on the European market, he said, but they must have an accurate indication of origin on them.
The EU’s position is that the lands Israel has occupied since the 1967 Middle East war – including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights – are not part of the internationally recognized borders of Israel. This impact would be minimal compared to the 30 billion euros in annual trade between Europe and Israel.
Israeli products from those regions will have to bear the expression “Israeli settlement”.
The European Union insists the move is a “technical” issue, not a political stance.
JERUSALEM The European Unions decision Wednesday to start labeling Israeli products made in the West Bank delivered a resounding show of global disapproval over Israels expansion of Jewish settlements and raised the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to renew peace efforts with the Palestinians. Now all 28 European Union member states would have to apply labels.
Labeling was mandatory, it said, for fresh fruit, vegetable, wine, honey, olive oil, eggs, poultry, organic produce and cosmetics.
Israel, however, sees it as a political stigma that would push consumers away. Many Israelis want to keep the West Bank and east Jerusalem – territories captured from Jordan in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war – citing security concerns as well as the deep religious significance of the territories for devout Jews.
Israeli wine expert Tal Gal Cohen said Israeli wine production in the West Bank has grown dramatically in the last 15 years, driven in part by government investment in Israeli wineries, and partly by ideal conditions of high altitude and sharp differences in temperature between day and night.
Advertisement
He drew the same comparison in September when he said that Israelis “remember history and we remember what happened when the products of Jews were labelled in Europe”. Israels centrist and dovish opposition also supports the idea of a Palestinian state, saying a separation is the only way to preserve Israels Jewish majority. In a first step, it summoned the EU ambassador to convey its objections and suspended the meetings of several bilateral working groups with the EU.Israeli officials noted the decision came amid a two-month wave of violence, which has been characterized by dozens of seemingly random Palestinian stabbing attacks, and would weaken any incentive for the Palestinians to return to negotiations.
