Israel suspends dialogue with the EU after entity require product labeling

Netanyahu considered discriminatory even before the announcement


Israel announced on Wednesday the suspension of a series of bilateral meetings scheduled with the European Union after the directive approved by the European Commission for the labeling of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned the EU ambassador in Tel Aviv, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, to express the malaise caused by the initiative and announced "the suspension of political dialogue with the EU in various forums in the coming weeks", he said in statement the spokesman folder, Emmanuel Nahson.

He explained Nahson Efe, conversations cease on a temporary basis in discussion forums on relations with the Palestinians, human rights, international organizations and projects that the parties perform in known as Area C in the occupied West Bank (under administrative control and security Israel).

Before knowing the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had criticized harshly EU stance, which tacked the "hypocritical and two weights and two measures", since only Israel, "and not another 200 conflicts in world ", is the subject of a similar measure.

"The EU should be ashamed," dosse Netanyahu said in a statement, in which he stated that Israel "is not prepared to accept the fact that Europe label the part that is being attacked by terrorism."

Netanyahu assured the Israeli economy "support" the coup, as "those who are damaged are Palestinians working in Israeli factories."

As planned for days, Brussels announced this morning the rules on the labeling of products produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied territory in 1967, which includes the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan (in Gaza there is no longer colonies) to be binding on all Member States.

The adoption of the directive, which the EU was accepted as relevant standards in place for a decade, has caused outrage in the Israeli leadership.

"This is a technical issue related to European consumer law, which does not express any political initiative," Faaborg-Andersen told a group of reporters in Jerusalem.

The goal is "to ensure that consumers know the origin of the goods we consume" indicated, and recalled that "the EU does not recognize as Israel areas beyond the Green Line (occupied in 1967), just like 99% of the world's countries ".


The secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Saeb Erekat, said he hopes that European action is "a significant step toward full boycott of Israeli settlements, built illegally on occupied Palestinian land."