Itongadol.- Jerusalem suspended diplomatic dialogue with the EU to furiously protest Brussels\’ Wednesday decision to publish legislation guidelines that allow member states to place consumer labels “not made in Israel” on products produced over the Green Line.
In the evening, the Foreign Ministry met with EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen and condemned the discriminatory decision, which it said reflected the doubled standard by which the EU treats Israel.
"During the meeting, Foreign Ministry representatives informed the ambassador that because of the recent EU decision, Israel is suspending its diplomatic dialogue with the EU in various forums in which it has meetings scheduled in the coming weeks," the Foreign Ministry stated.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachson later clarified that the decision pertained mostly to Palestinian and human rights related issues, but that all other bilateral dialogue, particularly in the area of science, education, culture and agriculture, would continue.
Although there are 200 territorial conflicts in the world, Israel is the only country against whom the EU has produced legislative guide-lines for such labels.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the EU should be “ashamed of itself” as he lashed out against the decision, before leaving Washington to return to Israel on Wednesday.
The labeling decision, he said, “singles out Israel and not the 200 other conflicts around the world.
“The EU has decided to label only Israel, and we are not prepared to accept the fact that Europe is labeling the side that is being attacked by terrorism. The Israeli economy is strong and will withstand this; those who will be hurt will be those Palestinians who work in Israeli factories,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry added, that “product labeling strengthens the radical elements advocating a boycott against Israel and denying Israel’s right to exist.”
But Faaborg-Andersen told reporters earlier in the day that the decision was purely technical.
“This is not a boycott,” he insisted. “How can it be a boycott, if the products can come on to the market?” he asked.
He explained that the move did not prevent the marketing of the products in Europe and in some cases could even improve sales, because there are consumer who would be more inspired to buy the items once they knew they were made in West Bank settlements.
“The EU is against sanctions, against boycotting, against the isolation of Israel and therefore the measures that we have taken are all based on existing legislation,” he said.
This is about letting the consumer know the product’s correct place of origin, he said.
It can not say “Made in Israel,” because the EU does not recognize that that the areas over the pre-1967 lines — such as east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights — are part of Israel,” Faaborg-Andersen said.
The guidelines have been in the works since 2012.
The EU has consistently downplayed the impact of the guidelines as a technical matter. A commission spokesman said they would simply “ensure the uniform application of the rules concerning the indication of origin of Israeli settlement products. The aim is to ensure effective implementation of existing EU legislation.”
Since 2003, the EU has placed a numerical code on Israeli imports to allow customs to distinguish between products made within the Green Line and those that are produced beyond it.
Products produced in east Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the West Bank are excluded from the Israel Free Trade agreement with the EU.
The guidelines extend that process one step further, providing member states legal instructions as to the placement of consumer labels on relevant products to inform European consumers that they are not made in Israel.
The EU had delayed the publication of the guidelines in 2013 at the request of the US, which at the time was brokering a nine-month negotiation process between Israel and the Palestinians. That process failed in April 2014 and no new initiatives have replaced it. In the absence of any prospect of renewed negotiations, the EU is pressing forward with the consumer labels.