[Pongo]

After 40 years of EU war against Israel, started with October 1973 Oil embargo, the shoe is finally on the other foot.


Under the euphemism of “peace process,” the EU has made Israel the cornerstone of its relations with the Arab states. Under Arab pressure, the EU has willingly made Israel hostage to its own Arab policy. With the dwindling oil weapon by the Arabs and Muslim invasion to Europe a new geopolitic reality is opened in the region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered Israel's Foreign Ministry to suspend contact with European Union institutions over all issues related to the peace process with the Palestinians, in response to the EU's decision to label products made in the West Bank.


By Barak Ravid
Published 23:15 29.11.15

Emmanuel Nahshon, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, said that all communications conducted directly with EU member states like Germany, Britain and France over the peace process will continue.

Nahshon added that Netanyahu ordered the ministry to "reassess" the level of involvement that Israel would allow the EU's foreign affairs service, the European Commission and the rest of the EU's institutions in Brussels regarding issues related to the diplomatic process with the Palestinians.

Once the "reassessment" is complete, Israel will decide if and how to renew communication on the Palestinian issue with the European Union institutions in Brussels and the EU's representatives in Israel.

A senior official at the Foreign Ministry said that in the upcoming days, discussion will be held into the repercussions of suspending contact with the EU on the Palestinian issue. According to the source, the move is intended to signal to the EU that Israel is opposed to their decision to adopt guidelines to mark settlement goods, which Israel calls a "discriminatory step that smells like a boycott."

The official added that "it is inconceivable that Israel will hold dialogue with EU institutions on how to advance a peace process while the EU simultaneously initiates measures against Israel." Israel, the official said, "will examine each case individually with the guiding principle of making sure Israel's interest vis-à-vis Europe and EU nations are not harmed."

Netanyahu's decision to suspend dialogue with EU institutions is symbolic. De facto, Netanyahu has rebuffed a string of much harsher responses suggested by the Foreign Ministry in recent weeks, eventually choosing the most moderate response which included a public statement devoid of any practical ramifications.

Thus for example, Netanyahu chose to act against the EU's foreign affairs service and its chief, Federica Mogherini, but refrained from taking retaliatory steps against EU member states like France, which led the campaign to mark settlement goods. France's activities in support of the decision will not prevent Netanyahu from leaving for Paris on Monday to participate in the climate summit taking place in the city, or even from meeting French President Hollande, in a meeting during which the Palestinian issue is likely to be discussed.

"This decision is almost completely devoid of any real significance," a senior Israeli official with close knowledge of Israel's ties with the EU said. "It's like the EU saying it is cutting communications with Israel but continuing to hold talks with each of its minister's independently."

Netanyahu's instructions are a continuation of preliminary steps announced on the day that the EU published the new guidelines. On the same day, EU ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen was called in to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem for a dressing down, and was updated that Israel had decided to cancel a few political consultation meetings that were scheduled to take place between the parties in upcoming weeks.

Foreign Ministry officials told the EU ambassador that Israel would suspend part of the diplomatic dialogues it is holding with the organization, and in effect would cancel a meeting on human-rights issues and a meeting on international organizations that were scheduled to take place in upcoming weeks.

The ministry noted at this stage, a date will not be set for another meeting with the EU as part of talks on the advancement of projects related to the Palestinians in the West Bank's Area C. The first and only meeting of this type took place in September.

In the beginning of November, the European Commission adopted the notice on indication of origin of goods from the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967. The notice will contain guidelines for labeling of products from West bank settlements.

The guidelines state that the EU does not recognize Israeli sovereignty beyond the June 1967 borders, regardless of the status of those territories according to Israeli law, and that it is interested that EU legislation and regulations reflect this position. Accordingly, "products of Palestine" that are not produced in settlements will be labeled "products from the West Bank (Palestinian product)" or "product of Gaza" or "product of Palestine.

According to the document, enforcing the guidelines will be under the authority of the agencies within the 28 EU member states. Member countries will determine which punishments they will enforce on anyone who does not abide by the regulations.

http://www.haaretz.com/misc/iphone-arti ... m-1.689050

Commentator Eldad Beck urged Israeli government to take tough line against disoriented EU.

If Europe is sinking, let's make sure Israel drowns first

BERLIN - The obsessive welcome the European Union's bureaucratic establishment has given the settlement product labeling issue in the past few years is very concerning.
Eldad Beck

At a time when the EU is buckling under the pressure of existential crises - the terror threats, the euro crisis, the Ukraine crisis, the Greece crisis, the refugee and illegal migrant crisis, the undermined democracy crisis - the only issue which succeeds in creating almost complete unity is the obsessive need to pressure Israel and make it accept compromises and agreements which could jeopardize its existence. It's like they are saying: If Europe is sinking, let's make sure Israel drowns before us.

The EU, which began as an industrial, economic and commercial alliance, has been trying to turn into a world power in the past two decades . For this purpose, it established a Pan-European foreign ministry, which controls many human and financial resources. The declared goal was and still is to reshape Europe's immediate surroundings and encourage the neighbors of "the old continent" to adopt the EU's values: Democracy, liberalism, peace and comradeship among nations.


But this neocolonial European approach has gone completely bankrupt: The Mediterranean dialogue with the North African and Middle Eastern countries never took off, and crashed while still on the runway. Moscow succeeded in thwarting any attempt to expand the EU borders in its direction. Brussels' "good neighborliness" policy now resembles the "zero problems with neighbors" policy, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to lead. In other words, a miserable failure.

This failure stems not only from the fact that Europe's neighbors are unwilling to receive any dictations from Brussels, but also from internal tensions within the EU which are preventing the formation of a unified foreign policy and even an agreement on a shared list of values. The main dispute is over whether Europe is essentially a Christian club or a religious-cultural melting pot seeking to turn into a migration continent.

The supporters of the migration multiculturalism see the EU as a successful formula for overcoming tribalism, nationalism and borders, but reality is hitting them in the face: The more the bureaucratic establishment in Brussels tries to force Europe's nations to let go of their national identity, they are turning their back on it and becoming even more nationalist.

And as the EU's foreign policy deteriorates, there is a growth in the obsessive urge in Brussels to punish Israel - the EU's only neighbor, which is interested in good and balanced relations with Europe and which can contribute a lot to the EU in different areas. Hatred of Israel allows the EU's bureaucratic establishment to present some sort of productivity.

Admittedly, this approach is also being fed by Israeli elements who received funding from the EU and are trying to use it to create a political situation in Israel which matches their desires and ideas.

Some Israeli academics and politicians who pushed the EU to use Israel as a "test case" for the formation of a unified foreign policy. The basic conditions in Israel - the existence of an active and open civil society and the failure to restrict external involvement in the internal politics - have given the EU a golden opportunity to implement this "test case."

Through the funneling of a significant amount of funds to different bodies and initiatives in Israel, the EU has created a situation of economic dependence, which now allows to try to impose political solutions on Israel which Israel doesn’t approve of. Too many Israeli governments have contributed to this situation, out of neglect or premeditatedly, but Israel can decide not to go down together with Europe.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 01,00.html

[wat0n]

Oh come on, if anything I suspect the EU is happy that it can stop giving a fuck about the issue with little political cost.

And FWIW, the labeling issue will have little effect on the Israeli economy. I was actually surprised that they didn't regard goods produced in the West Bank as produced outside Israel.

That said, if the EU doesn't apply the same policy in other similar instances (e.g. labeling goods produced in northern Cyprus as being produced in the Republic of Cyprus rather than the TRNC), Israel is free to complain about this in the WTO, and would actually have a decent chance of winning, it seems. But I would also be surprised if they did not.

[Heinie]

It pleases me that Israel is hitting out at the European Union. The deplorable supine attitude of the English who designed the Jewish state and the Germans who cannot live-down The Holocaust has prevented the other European states from being objective and moral in their dealings with the Zionists. Netanyahu's brazen loudmouth will permit some moral courage from Europeans now.

[pugsville]

Pretty much empty rhetoric by both sides. The labelling will be sporadically enforced and sporadically circumvented by each side in turn making very little difference.

Israel has been t hunting it;s nose at international law like forever and will continue to do so. Sometimes various Nations and international bodies will complain a bit.

[Pongo]

Tough stand against German "anti zionists". In a cabinet meeting earlier Sunday, Netanyahu criticized the products' withdrawal, noting that KaDeWe "department store was under Jewish ownership, the Nazis took it."

A German department store that came under fire for removing Israeli settlement goods from its shelves reversed the decision and apologized on Sunday, shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the store for its conduct.

By Ofer Aderet 22/11/15



In a statement, the Berlin-based KaDeWe, the largest department store in Europe, said its decision to not sell settlement products was too hasty and insensitive.

"We regret that this wrong behavior of the KaDeWe Group led to misunderstandings and would like to apologize for this," the department store said.

The department store said the earlier decision applied to eight Israeli wines that would be back in the store as of Sunday.

The store's statement contradicted a previous statement posted on its Facebook page, which claimed that the products were removed as part of a routine inspection of foodstuffs. "Different period tests are standard tasks especially in our foodhall," the previous statement read. "During those period tests we normally take the articles out of the assortment for a short time. Afterwards we get them back in our shelves immediately. In this case it will of course be the same."

Regarding the Israeli products, the statement said: "The KaDeWe offers an international assortment and we are very proud of it. Of course our assortment contains many products from Israel… The KaDeWe stands for cosmopolitanism and internationality. We reject any form of discrimination and intolerance. Of course we continue with great pleasure to offer a large assortment of Israeli products at the KaDeWe."

The statement also contradicted remarks made by the store's spokesperson in an interview with Der Spiegel, published Friday, in which she said that the products removal was meant to correct their labels in accordance to the new EU guidelines.

In a cabinet meeting earlier Sunday, Netanyahu criticized the products' withdrawal, noting that KaDeWe "department store was under Jewish ownership, the Nazis took it."

"Absurdly, this department store is now labeling products from communities in Judea, Samaria and the Golan, and now we have been informed that they have removed them from the shelves. A boycott for all intents and purposes."

The prime minister called on the German government to intervene. "We vehemently protest this step, which is unacceptable morally, practically and historically," he said. "We expect the German government, which has opposed the marking of these items, to take action on this serious matter."

The department store's decision to remove settlement products from its shelves was first reported Saturday on Der Spiegel. The development came in the wake of the European Union's decision to label products from West Bank settlements and the Golan Heights. In an interview with the magazine, the store's spokeswoman, Petra Fladenhofer said: "Only after fixing the labels, we'll return the products to our shelves."

The lavish KaDeWe department store was opened in 1907. It occupies 60,000 square meters and eight floors, and houses 2,000 stores selling hundreds of thousands of products.

In 1926, the store was sold to a Jewish-owned company, Herman Tietz. The company renovated and expanded the store, but in 1933, after the Nazis rose to power, it was forced to sell the store to German owners.

The current owner of KaDeWe is a privately-held Thai firm named Central Group.

KaDeWe's decision to withdraw the Israeli products from its shelves went against the position of Germany’s ruling party. Earlier this month, the CDU/CSU party spoke out against the European Union’s new labeling guidelines for goods made in Israeli settlements.

The labeling guidelines "might not bring advantages in consumer protection,” Jürgen Hardt, the party's foreign policy spokesman said. “In this case there foremost is a danger of a stigma. An anti-Israeli movement might exploit the decision and put it to use on anti-Israeli campaigns.”

http://www.haaretz.com/misc/iphone-arti ... m-1.687638

Traditional antisemitism was repackaged as a universal moral duty to defend the Palestinian cause.

[Heinie]

There is not a single thing that can strike fear deep into the psyche of any German like the accusation of being anti-Semitic especially when uttered by an Israeli politician.