The Foreign Ministry confirmed Thursday that it has obtained unofficial information regarding a Dutch [2] directive instructing retail chains in Holland to state the origin of products from settlements.
The government has yet to be officially notified about the plan and it is yet unclear who is behind the initiative – the Dutch cabinet or Holland's agricultural or finance ministries.
State officials however believe the information relates to the branding of wines, food products and cosmetics.
The Foreign Ministry [3] said in response, "If the purpose of labeling settlement goods is to inform the public that the origin of the product is from a disputed area, then all products from all disputed areas in the world must be marked. Otherwise, it is blatant discrimination against Israel."
Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Eli Yishai said in response, "It is strange that Holland hasn't thought it right to fully compensate Jews for the land stolen from them in the 1940s but finds it right to label Jewish products.
"Settlement products, like the products from within the Green Line are proudly blue and white. The State of Israel will stand united against any attempt to boycott its products."
The plan could be another step in an international trend that is a source of major concern in Israel. Last August, South Africa [4] put the final seal on a measure requiring special labeling for goods originating from Israeli settlements. Products that originate in the settlements will no longer receive the "Made in Israel" label.
In February, it was reported that the European Union continues its efforts to ban products from the West Bank [5] or the Golan Heights [6]. Germany's Der Spiegel [7] claimed that Israeli producers evade European Union legislation and falsely mark products made in the Golan Heights and the West Bank as "made in Israel."
The report cited EU regulation that say that certain products, such as wine from the Golan Heights, must be marked with their exact place of production, in order to adhere with various European country's preference not to import or sell products made in what Brussels deems as "illegal settlement."
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