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| European Union Moves to Label Products From Israeli Settlements | European Union Moves to Label Products From Israeli Settlements |
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| LONDON — The European Union pushed ahead on Wednesday with rules for labeling consumer goods from Jewish-owned businesses and farms in the land Israel captured during the 1967 war, creating new strains in relations between Europe and Israel. | LONDON — The European Union pushed ahead on Wednesday with rules for labeling consumer goods from Jewish-owned businesses and farms in the land Israel captured during the 1967 war, creating new strains in relations between Europe and Israel. |
| European officials played down the move, saying the guidelines merely clarified existing rules, but Israeli leaders condemned it as provocative, discriminatory and intended to fuel a growing international movement to boycott the country. | European officials played down the move, saying the guidelines merely clarified existing rules, but Israeli leaders condemned it as provocative, discriminatory and intended to fuel a growing international movement to boycott the country. |
| The issue has been percolating for years, and Israel has lobbied hard against the labeling requirements. The European Union’s decision to go ahead came against the backdrop of several European countries formally or symbolically recognizing a Palestinian state, actions that have prompted deep unease in Israel. | The issue has been percolating for years, and Israel has lobbied hard against the labeling requirements. The European Union’s decision to go ahead came against the backdrop of several European countries formally or symbolically recognizing a Palestinian state, actions that have prompted deep unease in Israel. |
| The European Union is Israel’s top trading partner, with total commerce estimated at 30 billion euros, or $32 billion, last year: €13 billion in imports from Israel and €17 billion in exports to Israel. There are no official European statistics on imports of goods from Israeli settlements, but they are believed to represent less than 1 percent of the total trade. And the new guidelines are only mandatory for some goods, mostly fruits and vegetables, so while stinging, they are largely symbolic. | |
| “This is no way changes our stance with respect to the Middle East peace process,” a spokesman for the European Commission said by telephone, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. “This in no way affects the agreement we have with Israel with respect to preferential treatment for their products sold in the European Union. All ‘Made in Israel’ products will continue to come into the European Union with very low, or no, tariffs. What will also not change is that products coming from the settlements cannot benefit from those preferences.” | “This is no way changes our stance with respect to the Middle East peace process,” a spokesman for the European Commission said by telephone, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. “This in no way affects the agreement we have with Israel with respect to preferential treatment for their products sold in the European Union. All ‘Made in Israel’ products will continue to come into the European Union with very low, or no, tariffs. What will also not change is that products coming from the settlements cannot benefit from those preferences.” |
| The spokesman added that the European Commission was acting at the behest of member governments and to reconcile conflicting advice. European Union members — Britain in 2009, Denmark in 2013 and Belgium in 2014 — had begun issuing their own guidelines for labeling consumer products from the land outside Israel’s original borders. | The spokesman added that the European Commission was acting at the behest of member governments and to reconcile conflicting advice. European Union members — Britain in 2009, Denmark in 2013 and Belgium in 2014 — had begun issuing their own guidelines for labeling consumer products from the land outside Israel’s original borders. |
| But Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, condemned the move as “an exceptional and discriminatory step,” especially “when Israel is confronting a wave of terrorism targeting any and all of its citizens.” Israel summoned the European Union’s ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, for a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. | But Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, condemned the move as “an exceptional and discriminatory step,” especially “when Israel is confronting a wave of terrorism targeting any and all of its citizens.” Israel summoned the European Union’s ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, for a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem. |
| “It is puzzling and even irritating that the E.U. chooses to apply a double standard concerning Israel, while ignoring that there are over 200 other territorial disputes worldwide, including those occurring within the E.U. or on its doorstep,” Mr. Nahshon said in a statement. “The claim that this is a technical matter is cynical and baseless.” | “It is puzzling and even irritating that the E.U. chooses to apply a double standard concerning Israel, while ignoring that there are over 200 other territorial disputes worldwide, including those occurring within the E.U. or on its doorstep,” Mr. Nahshon said in a statement. “The claim that this is a technical matter is cynical and baseless.” |
| The guidelines state that the term “product of Israel” should not be used for goods produced by Israeli businesses and farms in the West Bank, as well as in the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in moves that were never internationally recognized. Nor are labels like “product of West Bank” considered acceptable. Under the rules, the term “settlement” or “its equivalent” must be added — possibly with parentheses, as in “product of West Bank (Israeli settlement).” | The guidelines state that the term “product of Israel” should not be used for goods produced by Israeli businesses and farms in the West Bank, as well as in the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in moves that were never internationally recognized. Nor are labels like “product of West Bank” considered acceptable. Under the rules, the term “settlement” or “its equivalent” must be added — possibly with parentheses, as in “product of West Bank (Israeli settlement).” |
| Non-settlement products from the territories can say “product of Palestine” or “product of West Bank (Palestinian product).” | Non-settlement products from the territories can say “product of Palestine” or “product of West Bank (Palestinian product).” |
| The labeling rules are mandatory for fresh fruit and vegetables, wine, honey, olive oil, eggs, poultry, organic products and cosmetics. The rules are voluntary for prepackaged foodstuffs and industrial products other than cosmetics. | The labeling rules are mandatory for fresh fruit and vegetables, wine, honey, olive oil, eggs, poultry, organic products and cosmetics. The rules are voluntary for prepackaged foodstuffs and industrial products other than cosmetics. |
| The guidelines from the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, come after several years of wrangling. Foreign ministers from a variety of European countries had twice — in 2013, and again in April of this year — urged officials in Brussels to take action. | The guidelines from the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, come after several years of wrangling. Foreign ministers from a variety of European countries had twice — in 2013, and again in April of this year — urged officials in Brussels to take action. |
| The reaction from Israel was immediate. Mr. Nahshon, of the foreign ministry, said that “product labeling will strengthen the radical elements advocating a boycott against Israel and denying Israel’s right to exist, contradicting positions that the E.U. publicly opposes.” | The reaction from Israel was immediate. Mr. Nahshon, of the foreign ministry, said that “product labeling will strengthen the radical elements advocating a boycott against Israel and denying Israel’s right to exist, contradicting positions that the E.U. publicly opposes.” |
| Michael B. Oren, a member of Parliament and a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, circulated a statement of condemnation with a photograph from the Nazi era showing a storefront painted with Jude, the German word for Jew, and a Star of David on it. Avigdor Lieberman, an ultranationalist former foreign minister, posted on Facebook: “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.” | |
| David Simha, president of the Israeli-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce, a private group promoting joint business ventures, estimates that the products requiring labeling represent just 0.1 percent of Israeli exports. | David Simha, president of the Israeli-Palestinian Chamber of Commerce, a private group promoting joint business ventures, estimates that the products requiring labeling represent just 0.1 percent of Israeli exports. |
| “If you’re talking about economy by itself, it will not make a lot of effect,” he said. “The numbers are so small, so it will not affect, actually, the business in a big rate. But the atmosphere, of course, the atmosphere is not a good thing.” | “If you’re talking about economy by itself, it will not make a lot of effect,” he said. “The numbers are so small, so it will not affect, actually, the business in a big rate. But the atmosphere, of course, the atmosphere is not a good thing.” |
| Avi Roeh, chairman of the settlers’ council, noted that thousands of Palestinians work in Israeli businesses in the West Bank, which he described as “islands of peace.” | Avi Roeh, chairman of the settlers’ council, noted that thousands of Palestinians work in Israeli businesses in the West Bank, which he described as “islands of peace.” |
| “Businesses like these, in which Arabs and Jews work together, should be used as the gold standard for peace, not boycotted,” he said. “If the E.U. wants to see real coexistence, they should come and visit Judea and Samaria, then it would be clear they are labeling the wrong people.” | |
| Vered Ben-Saadon, a co-owner of the Tura Winery in the West Bank settlement of Rechalim and the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, said that “Europe, rather than atoning for what it did 70 years ago, is repeating the same ideas.” | |
| She added, “This is how it started 70 years ago, by marking people, products, Jewish stores.” | |
| Palestinian leaders welcomed the news but said it did not go far enough. | |
| Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, said through a spokesman that settlements “make products with stolen natural resources on the land of the Palestinian people,” and that they amount to a war crime. | Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, said through a spokesman that settlements “make products with stolen natural resources on the land of the Palestinian people,” and that they amount to a war crime. |
| “Those products should not only be labeled, but should be banned,” he said. | “Those products should not only be labeled, but should be banned,” he said. |
| A boycott activist, Mahmoud Nawajaa, who has called on Europe to ban all dealings with settlement companies and to cut off military assistance and arms sales to Israel, called the move “hardly a proportionate response to repeated Israeli war crimes.” | A boycott activist, Mahmoud Nawajaa, who has called on Europe to ban all dealings with settlement companies and to cut off military assistance and arms sales to Israel, called the move “hardly a proportionate response to repeated Israeli war crimes.” |
| Mohammed al-Arqawi, a Palestinian union leader, brushed off Israeli officials’ contention that boycotts would harm Palestinian workers in settlement businesses. “We are well aware of this and call for a boycott because we believe that economic and political pressure is needed to challenge Israel’s ability to deny us our basic rights,” he said. “People who are genuinely concerned about Palestinian workers should take action to end Israel’s deliberate destruction of the Palestinian economy and its exploitation and oppression of our people.” | |
| The labeling rules affect about products from 1,000 companies operating in more than a dozen industrial areas in West Bank settlements, as well as produce from roughly 23,000 acres of farmland. The Golan has many wineries whose products are widely exported and have won international awards. | The labeling rules affect about products from 1,000 companies operating in more than a dozen industrial areas in West Bank settlements, as well as produce from roughly 23,000 acres of farmland. The Golan has many wineries whose products are widely exported and have won international awards. |
| Since 2004, the European Union has coded Israeli products to allow customers to distinguish those made within its original borders from those made in areas captured in the 1967 war, but the new labeling guidelines would make that distinction more apparent, and they are focused on consumers, rather than trade rules. | Since 2004, the European Union has coded Israeli products to allow customers to distinguish those made within its original borders from those made in areas captured in the 1967 war, but the new labeling guidelines would make that distinction more apparent, and they are focused on consumers, rather than trade rules. |
| Over the past six months, as the guidelines have come closer to finalization, and amid reports of Israeli academics facing slights from colleagues and a Palestinian effort to suspend Israel’s soccer teams from international competition, Israel has taken a much more aggressive stance against boycotts. The Foreign Ministry, as well as Israel’s industrial association, have designated people to focus on countering boycott movements, and politicians of all stripes have denounced such campaigns as anti-Semitic. | |
| The controversy has also attracted notice in the United States. On Monday, 36 senators — led by Ted Cruz, a Republican presidential candidate from Texas, and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York — wrote to Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, to express concern about the labeling initiative. The senators called it a “troubling precedent” that would help the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which they called “an effort to delegitimize Israel rather than promote a resolution of outstanding issues between Israel and the Palestinians.” | |
| But Human Rights Watch encouraged other countries to follow the European Union’s lead, suggesting it was their duty to ensure compliance with international law. “Labeling products produced in Israeli settlements gives businesses and consumers the information they need to avoid supporting industries that contribute to violations of human rights,” said Sarah Saadoun, a researcher at the group. | But Human Rights Watch encouraged other countries to follow the European Union’s lead, suggesting it was their duty to ensure compliance with international law. “Labeling products produced in Israeli settlements gives businesses and consumers the information they need to avoid supporting industries that contribute to violations of human rights,” said Sarah Saadoun, a researcher at the group. |