U.S joins EU in demand for West Bank product labeling

Oded (picture), who works in a central west Jerusalem wine and spirits shop, displays two bottles of wines 30 November 2015 from two Israeli wineries, both of which are produces in the West Bank, or pre-1967 Arab lands now controlled by Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau has slammed the EU for demanding Israeli products made in the occupied territories are labeled as such. Netanyahu has ordered the Foreign Ministry tomsuspend contacts with representatives of some 16 countries over their orders to label such products, 'made in settlements' or 'made in the West Bank.' Both the wineries Psagot and Gva'ot are located in the West Bank, north of Jerusalem.

“Made in Israel” is not acceptable for any product made over the Green Line for both Washington and Brussels

The United States reiterated on Thursday, January 28^th, 2016 a directive that affirms that products made in the West Bank or Gaza cannot be branded “made in Israel,” AFP reports. The question now is whether Israel will consider that Washington is boycotting Israeli products, as has been suggested in the case of the EU.
US Policy
The Guidance to U.S. Customs toughens the stand against settlement policy. The State Department’s spokesman, Mark Toner, specified that this was nothing more than a reissue of existing regulation in response to (nine) “mislabeling complaints”: “It in no way supersedes prior rulings or regulations,” he said. The United States opposes Israel’s settlement of these regions but does not discriminate between settler-made or Palestinian products, insisting on the same labeling.
The U.S. Customs statement makes reference law in place since 1995 and 1997, requiring that goods from Gaza and the West Bank be labeled as such. The United States opposes Israel’s settlement of the area, but insists its labeling regulations don’t discriminate between Israeli and Palestinian producers.
EU Policy
Washington guidance constitutes mounting diplomatic pressure on Jerusalem from Washington, following similar measures from Brussels in 2015. All EU member states are required to label to label Israeli goods manufactured in the West Bank, beyond the Green Line, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed EU policy on West Bank/Gaza products as “a boycott.” It was in September 2015 that EU’s foreign relations chief, Frederica Mogherini, raised the issue of differentiating its dealing with Israel and the territories occupied in 1967. In July 2015, the influential European Council on Foreign Relations had published a policy paper suggesting that the EU will be violating its own norms if it encourages Israel to prolong the occupation of territories occupied after 1967, namely the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The Israeli government at the time had described Europe’s steps on labeling as discriminatory and, in essence, anti-Semitic. When the European Council President, Donald Tusk, visited Israel in September, the President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin stated that “the labeling of Israeli products will be a further obstacle to peace.”
Belgium
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, canceled a meeting with Belgium’s foreign minister in the beginning of December 2015 because Brussels supports clearly labeling settlement products stemming from the post-1967 occupied territories. Netanyahu has also suspended contacts with the EU on the Middle East process. Belgium’s Foreign Minister, Didier Reynders, announced at the time he would not be visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories in the near future.
In fact the move was aiming at the EU, not Belgium.  One week before, in Luxemburg, Federica Mogherini was close to finalizing guidelines for labeling settlement products. Israel’s last line of defense was to suggest that Brussels was applying “unfair discrimination,” because the EU does not have a similar policy towards other occupied territories like northern Cyprus or the Western Sahara.
Israeli tough stand
In July 2015 Israel passed a law that penalizes organizations or individuals that are calling for Israel’s boycott. The political and diplomatic interpretation thus far is that calling for the clear labelling of products produced over the Green Line is a “boycott.”
The consequences are serious because all EU companies are required to comply.  Individuals or representatives of such organizations are forbidden from visiting the State of Israel and – for all practical purposes – the Palestinian areas.