Israeli officials: Demanding Israel to label products made in Judea & Samaria rewards and emboldens the Palestinians, discouraging their leaders from returning to peace talks.

By The Associated Press & Israel Hayom Staff

Israel would be required to label products that are made in Judea and Samaria and exported to Europe under guidelines being prepared by the European Union.

A sign promoting the boycott of Israel – Photo: Reuters

The move is the latest sign of international discontent with Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria, as well as frustration over the bleak state of Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

It also comes as a grassroots movement promoting boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel appears to be gaining steam.

Israeli officials reject the European labeling plan, saying it would amount to a type of boycott and help discourage Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from returning to peace negotiations.

An EU official said Tuesday the 28-nation bloc’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, told European foreign ministers on May 18 that work was underway and that a set of guidelines would be “finalized in the near future.”

The Palestinians claim Judea and Samaria and east Jerusalem — territories taken by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War — as parts of a future independent state. The international community opposes Israeli construction in these areas, saying it undermines the goal of dividing the land between two countries. More than 550,000 Israelis live in Judea and Samaria and easy Jerusalem.

EU opposition to Israeli settlements is not new. A free-trade agreement with Israel already excludes settlement goods, even if they say they were made in Israel. Likewise, Israel is barred from spending money it receives under a landmark technology-sharing pact in Judea and Samaria or east Jerusalem. Several European countries have approved voluntary labeling guidelines for settlement products.

The new guidelines would take things further by requiring Israeli exporters to explicitly label products as being made in the settlements — a potential stigma that could deter consumers from buying them. The EU began work on labeling guidelines in 2012, but appears to have decided to revive that effort following the formation of Israel’s new government.

The EU official said it would likely be months before the guidelines are complete. A second official said much would depend on the policies of the new government. If peace talks with the Palestinians are restarted, the effort could once again be shelved. But if talks remain frozen and Israel steps up settlement construction, the EU will move forward, he said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal EU deliberations with the media.

For now, the odds of Israel and the Palestinians relaunching peace talks appear slim.

The Palestinians have been moving forward with a campaign against Israel in international organizations like the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. Two weeks ago, Israel fended off a Palestinian attempt to expel Israel from FIFA, the global soccer federation.

At the same time, the grassroots pro-Palestinian boycott movement, known by its initials BDS, appears to be gaining strength. Last week, Britain’s national student union endorsed the BDS movement, while the chief executive of French telecom giant Orange said he wanted to cut business ties with Israel to help gain favor with the Arab world.

Orange CEO Stephane Richard subsequently backtracked, telling France’s BFM television station Monday that his decision was only a business move and he is “radically opposed to all forms of discrimination.”

The station said Richard planned to go to Israel soon to speak to the nation’s leaders. But the uproar in Israel has not subsided.

Politicians across Israel’s political spectrum have blasted the BDS movement, and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi) said Thursday she had ordered experts to plan legal steps against it. “In this arena, we will move from the defense to the offense,” she said.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the global pressure on Israel was undermining hopes of resuming talks.

“The Palestinians have a nifty trick up their sleeve, they refuse to negotiate and then get international pressure, sanctions, boycotts on Israel for there not being negotiations,” he said. “It’s the perfect Catch-22.”

An EU labeling effort would deliver an especially tough diplomatic blow. In contrast to the BDS movement, whose leaders often voice hatred of Israel, Western European countries are among Israel’s closest allies.

Europe also is Israel’s largest trade market, importing about $14.7 billion in goods last year, according to EU figures. Products from the settlements, including wines, honey, cosmetics and agricultural produce, make up just 1.5 percent of that total, according to the Finance Ministry.

“If Europe begins labeling settlement products, then this will mean that they have put their political position into effect in the sense that there will be a real and true boycott of settlement goods,” said Mohammed Shtayyeh, the Palestinian cabinet minister in charge of economic development.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said Israel fears that consumers will not differentiate between settlement products and Israeli products.

“It will be a de facto boycott against Israel,” he said.

Nahshon said Israel is in “close contact and dialogue” with the EU on the matter.

“We have been conveying our positions, and we hope they will be accepted by the EU,” he said.

Israel has traditionally used its closest allies in Europe, such as Britain and Germany, to blunt EU decisions, which require a consensus.

Regardless of what the EU’s executive arm decides on labeling, its member states remain divided about what to do, said Pierre Vimont, a former top EU official who is a senior associate at Carnegie Europe, a Brussels-based think tank.

“Preparation has been going now on for two years, and we are more than ready to go ahead,” he said in a recent interview. “But we have been avoiding this difficult moment because we know member states are split, and it could be a very ugly discussion among us. At the end of the day, this could be the tricky issue.”

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