More than half the European Union’s foreign ministers are pushing for the labeling of Israeli goods produced in Jewish settlements as “West Bank.”
Sixteen of the 28 foreign ministers wrote to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on April 16 asking her to advance the process, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz, which obtained a copy of the letter. Among the signatories are the foreign ministers of France, Britain, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Malta, Austria, Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia, Hungary, Finland, Denmark, the Nether-lands and Luxembourg.
The letter says the move is needed so consumers are not “misled by false information.”
“European consumers must indeed have confidence in knowing the origin of goods they are purchasing,” the letter says. “Green Line Israel and Palestinian producers will benefit from this.”
In response to the ministers’ letter, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman sarcastically suggested stamping settlement goods with yellow stars like the ones Jews were forced to wear under Nazi occupation.
“They can … label all products from Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights with a yellow star,” Liberman said on Israel Radio April 17. “I think that is extremely fitting to the cynical and hypocritical position expressed in this letter.”
Earlier this month, the SodaStream company changed the labels on some of its products to note that they were manufactured in the West Bank. — jta