European Parliament delegation calls product labeling 'a mistake' - Shlomo Cesana and Israel Hayom Staff

by Shlomo Cesana and Israel Hayom Staff

"Europe is loud about Israel, but quiet about 200 other conflicts around the world," says European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Israel chairman Fulvio Martusciello, during Knesset visit • "We will not boycott Israeli goods," says Croatian MP.

 

The EU has decided to label Israeli products made in Judea and Samaria, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights | Photo credit: Reuters

Israel on Tuesday received a boost of support on Tuesday as it continued to voice its outright objection to the European Union's decision to label Israeli products made in Judea and Samaria, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. 

European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Israel chairman Fulvio Martusciello, visiting the Knesset with his delegation on Tuesday, called the decision to label Israeli products "a mistake."

"Europe is loud about Israel, but quiet about 200 other conflicts around the world," Martusciello told his Israeli hosts.

European Parliament Member Marijana Petir, of Croatia, reiterated Martusciello’s sentiments, saying, "We will not boycott Israeli goods."

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein warned the visiting European parliamentarians that marking products manufactured across the Green Line would actually "hurt the Palestinians workers, employed in the Israeli factories."

According to Edelstein, "If this decision causes factories to close, unemployment and desperation will rise on the Palestinian side -- and from that point the road to terrorist activity is a short one."

Likud MK Avi Dichter, who attended the meeting, added that "marking goods is akin to marking people."

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with visiting Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto, thanking him for expressing opposition to the EU decision.

Szijjarto had called the decision "an inefficient instrument."

"It is irrational and does not contribute to a solution [to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict], but causes damage," Szijjarto said.

Shlomo Cesana and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=29771

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