Not 'Made in Israel': the row over new EU labelling rules

The European Commission’s (EC) decision that products made in the Palestinian territories should not be labelled “Made in Israel” has infuriated Benjamin Netanyahu and his government. In a document entitled Interpretative Notice on indication of origin of goods from the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, the EC states: “The European Union, in line with international law, does not recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, namely the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and does not consider them to be part of Israel’s territory, irrespective of their legal status under domestic Israeli law.” Guidelines The notice is a set of guidelines, calling for all produce originating from Israeli settlements to be clearly labelled. Products originating from the region and being sold in the European Union would, therefore, have to be labelled differently, if the interpretative notice were to be made into a binding document. “This is a technical issue not a political stance. Products originating in Israel, within its internationally recognised borders benefit from preferential tariff treatment upon their entry into the EU. This situation will not change. So the EU does not support, in any form, a boycott or sanctions against Israel,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue. Lars Faaborg-Andersen, the EU Ambassador to Israel told Reuters: “It’s an indication of origin, not a warning label.” ‘Europe should be ashamed’ While, for Europe, this may be regarded as a technicality, Israel sees it as an issue of discrimination. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has suspended forthcoming meetings with the EU, while Prime Minister Netanyahu likened the European Union’s labelling decision to the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses during the 1930s and 40s. Shortly before the announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a Facebook video in which he appeared to liken the European Union’s decision to the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses. “The labelling of products of the Jewish State by the European Union brings back dark memories,” he says. “Europe should be ashamed of itself. [...] It (the EU) took an immoral decision,” he continued, adding: This will not advance peace, it will certainly not advance truth and justice. It’s wrong.” However, the European Union has pushed aside the suggestion of a boycott and insists that it is not telling consumers what to buy. Those wishing not to purchase goods from the Palestinian Territories probably already avoid them, while those wishing to support them may now actively seek them out. ‘Harmful,’ above all, to Palestinian workers Netanyahu also said the Israeli economy wouldn’t be hurt by the move, but rather it is “the Palestinian workers in Israeli enterprises in Judea and Samaria that will be hurt.” (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));האיחוד האירופי צריך להתבייש.==The European Union should be ashamed.Posted by ‎Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו‎ on Wednesday, 11 November 2015 Protesting against the label change Israel’s former Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman also took to Facebook to express his outrage at the decision. “Each time Europe marks Jews is a sign that anti-Semitism, insanity and hypocrisy have taken over and will lead to disaster for the entire free world.” (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));בכל פעם שאירופה מסמנת יהודים סימן שהאנטישמיות, הטירוף והצביעות השתלטו ושהם מובילים לאסון לעולם החופשי כולו.Posted by ‎Avigdor Liberman - אביגדור ליברמן‎ on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 36 Senators urged the EU not to implement a new labeling policy which could promote a de facto boycott of #Israel - pic.twitter.com/j0y4Bt34Z8— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) November 10, 2015 There have also been counter campaigns, such as this new suggestion for a label… EU surprised to find it's "label" guidelines backfired...#Israel #Jewish... pic.twitter.com/dn334zZjlK— Seth Frantzman (@sfrantzman) November 11, 2015