On Wednesday, legislators from ten different European nations criticized the E.U. policy of only labeling products produced on Israeli soil, claiming it violates the accepted definition of antisemitism.
The controversial statement made by the pro-Israel parliamentarians concerns an E.U. policy that prohibits labeling products as “made in Israel” if they were created in territories that Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, such as eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
According to the MPs, “labeling products exclusively from the only Jewish state violates the internationally recognized IHRA definition of antisemitism.”
At a meeting at the Czech Parliament in Prague, lawmakers from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and the United Kingdom signed the one-sentence proclamation.
The lawmakers, all members of the European Israeli Allies Caucuses in their respective national legislatures, vowed to keep fighting the order inside their chambers.
“The E.U. should revoke the rule requiring items from Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, Judea, and Samaria to bear labels indicating their origin, according to Bert Jan Ruissen of the Netherlands, the chair of the European Parliament’s Israel Allies Caucus.
He declared, “This [directive] is anti-Zionist and based on discriminatory presumptions.”
The European Union’s top court, the European Court of Justice, subsequently supported the decision, holding that the disputed lands are not a part of Israel’s internationally recognized borders and, as a result, goods from there cannot bear the generic “Made in Israel” label and instead should be marked as coming from “settlements.”
Israel responds that the policy is unfair and uses a double standard, pointing out that the European Union hasn’t taken comparable action about hundreds of territorial conflicts in other parts of the world.
In a keynote address, Knesset member Sharren Haskel said, “Europe is punishing Israel’s citizens through a discriminatory product labeling campaign because it is frustrated that there isn’t an immediate resolution to the [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict.”
She claimed the European Union was advancing its foreign policy goals using a consumer protection rule.
“The labeling of a product’s origin was created to protect consumers so they know where a product is from,” the spokesperson stated. It was not intended to be a means of retaliation against one side in a local conflict.
Interestingly, the EU. Palestinians who work in Israeli-owned firms in the region, some of which have relocated, suffer due to the sanctions. Furthermore, unlike the European Union, the United States has acknowledged Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Haskel, a member of the opposition National Unity Party and co-chair of the Christian Allies Caucus in the Knesset, came to Prague with a nanny for her newborn twins after obtaining special permission from the Ethics Committee of the Knesset to substitute a nanny for a parliamentary personal assistant.
She told her 10-month-old children, “Their future is at risk of suffering from ever-increasing anti-Semitism.”
As vital voices of reason against these discriminatory policies, our Christian allies are at the forefront of the boycott movement against Israel, according to Haskel.
A motion opposing the labeling order was earlier approved by the national parliament of Norway by the members of the Israel Allies Caucus.
The head of the Israel Allies Foundation, Josh Reinstein, declared, “Our allies are mobilized and ready to fight against these racist regulations that single out Israel.”
The European gathering is a component of a global network of more than 50 pro-Israel groups operating under the auspices of the Israel Allies Foundation. These groups mobilize political support for Israel based on common Judeo-Christian beliefs.
The conference ended on Wednesday afternoon with a celebration honoring Israel’s 75th anniversary and the unification of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, hosted by Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda and Israeli Ambassador to the Czech Republic Anna Azari.
The lawmakers want to deliver a unified statement to their Czech hosts pleading with other European nations to relocate their embassies to Israel’s capital.
A resolution urging the Czech government to move its embassy to Jerusalem is anticipated to be adopted by the Czech House of Representatives in the latter part of this year.
One of Israel’s most prominent European supporters is the Czech Republic, which served as the venue for the two-day event.
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