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European Union Moves to Label Products From Israeli Settlements E.U. Move to Label Israeli Settlement Goods Strains Ties
(about 4 hours later)
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. JERUSALEM — In a stinging rebuke of Israel over its treatment of Palestinians, the European Union pushed ahead on Wednesday with rules for labeling some goods produced by Jewish-owned businesses and farms in the land Israel captured during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The step exacerbated strained relations between Europe and Israel as a cultural, academic and economic boycott of the country gains momentum.
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 on goods sold in Europe. But Israeli politicians across the spectrum condemned it as an anti-Semitic echo of Holocaust-era practices of branding European Jews and their storefronts with yellow stars.
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, though products from the occupied West Bank, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem are believed to comprise a small fraction of Israel’s $13 billion in annual exports to the bloc’s 28 countries.. And though the labeling is mandatory only for certain foodstuffs and cosmetics made or grown in areas under Israeli control, broader application of similar rules could affect many Israeli companies, which generally operate on both sides of the 1967 lines.
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. For example, Israeli banks that provide mortgages to homeowners in the West Bank could become vulnerable to new measures that might include sanctions, along with retail stores with outlets in settlements, or manufacturers that use parts made in factories there.
“This in 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 Israeli pushback is about trying to intimidate Europeans from not going further down this path,” said Daniel Levy, Middle East director at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “The Israelis want this process to move as slowly as possible, because at a minimum it’s a headache, and at a maximum, ultimately, it could be devastating.”
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 European Union’s decision to proceed on guidelines years in the making, despite fierce lobbying by Israel and intervention by a group of United States senators, came after several of its member states, and its own Parliament, formally or symbolically recognized an independent Palestinian state. Those resolutions reflect mounting frustration in Europe over the stalemated peace process and the growing political pressure on leaders in countries with large Muslim populations sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
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. A spokesman for the European Commission, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said Wednesday’s move “in no way changes” the bloc’s stance on the peace process or Israel’s special treatment in European markets, where “Made in Israel” items carry little or no tariffs. But “products coming from the settlements cannot benefit from those preferences,” the spokesman said.
“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.” Israel summoned the European Union ambassador, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, to the foreign ministry and informed him that Israel was suspending diplomatic talks scheduled for various forums in the coming weeks.. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a host of other Israeli leaders denounced the move as hypocritical because no similar labels were proposed for products from occupied territories elsewhere in the world, and they said it was particularly painful after weeks of Palestinian attacks against Israeli Jews.
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 E.U. should be ashamed,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement. “The E.U. has decided to label Israel, and we are not prepared to accept the fact that Europe is labeling the side that is being attacked by terrorism.”
Non-settlement products from the territories can say “product of Palestine” or “product of West Bank (Palestinian product).” The labeling rules apply to fresh fruit and vegetables, wine, honey, olive oil, eggs, poultry, organic products and cosmetics coming from Israeli-owned businesses and farms outside the state’s original borders.
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. Rather than “product of Israel,” these goods must be labeled with the term “settlement,” as in “product of West Bank (Israeli settlement).” Goods from Palestinian-owned businesses can say “product of Palestine” or “product of West Bank (Palestinian product).”
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. Producers of packaged foods and industrial products can decide on their own if they want to use such labels on goods sold in Europe.
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 producer, exporter and importer are responsible for complying with the regulations, but it is up to member countries to ensure that the rules are followed, officials in Brussels said.
Michael B. Oren, a member of the Israeli Parliament and a former 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.” The guidelines from the European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, come after foreign ministers from some member nations, first in 2013 and again this April, urged Brussels to take action. Some nations — Britain in 2009, Denmark in 2013 and Belgium in 2014 — had already issued their own labeling guidelines.
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. Palestinian leaders welcomed the initiative, but said it did not go far enough.
“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.” Settlement-based businesses “make products with stolen natural resources on the land of the Palestinian people,” Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said in a statement. “Those products should not only be labeled, but should be banned.”
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.” Mahmoud Nawajaa, a Palestinian leader of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, known as B.D.S., said labeling was “hardly a proportionate response to repeated Israeli war crimes.”
“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.” There are about 1,000 Israeli companies operating in more than a dozen industrial zones in West Bank settlements, and roughly 23,000 acres of Jewish-run farms. The Golan Heights has many wineries whose wares have won international accolades.
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.” About 25,000 Palestinians work legally for Israelis in the West Bank, earning as much as three times the wages paid by Palestinian companies, and Mr. Netanyahu and other Israelis said they would be the first to suffer from the step. But Mohammed al-Arqawi, a Palestinian union leader affiliated with the boycott movement, said such consequences were worth achieving a broader goal.
She added, “This is how it started 70 years ago, by marking people, products, Jewish stores.” “We believe that economic and political pressure is needed to challenge Israel’s ability to deny us our basic rights,” he said in a statement. “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.”
Palestinian leaders welcomed the news but said it did not go far enough. Israeli politicians aligned with Mr. Netanyahu and those very much opposed to him seemed to be competing in their condemnations of any move that they view as part of a “delegitimization” effort.
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. Yair Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, said the move “discriminates against Israel and encourages terror,” while Itzik Shmuli of the center-left Zionist Union called it “a stupid, harmful and useless decision that leaves a huge stain on Europe.”
“Those products should not only be labeled, but should be banned,” he said. Avigdor Lieberman, the ultranationalist former foreign minister, wrote in a post 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.” Michael B. Oren, a lawmaker in Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition and former Israeli ambassador to Washington, appended to his denunciation a Nazi-era photo of a storefront painted with “Jude,” the German word for Jew, and a Star of David.
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.” For Vered Ben-Sadon, it was profoundly personal. She is co-owner of the Tura Winery in the West Bank settlement of Rechalim, which exports 40 percent of its 56,000 bottles annually with labels that say “wine from the Land of Israel.” She is also the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor.
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.” “In the past Jews were marked with a yellow patch, and today they are looking to mark our products,” Ms. Ben-Sadon, 38, said on Israel Radio. “Europe, rather than atoning for what it did 70 years ago, is repeating the same ideas. This is how it started 70 years ago, by marking people, products, Jewish stores.”
The labeling rules affect products from about 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. But Yariv Oppenheimer, director of the Israeli group Peace Now, said that anyone who likened labeling to a boycott — which he opposes — was “getting confused.”
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. “This decision can strengthen Israel because it says there is a difference, and what is produced in Israel is legitimate — buy it, invest and continue the ties,” Mr. Oppenheimer said in a radio interview. “It is the right of every person and every country to say we don’t want to be part of this thing you are doing in the territories, we oppose this and don’t want to finance this and advance this.”
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.