ELNET is deeply concerned by today’s European Court of Justice decision to label Israeli products from areas beyond the pre-1967 Armistice Lines. The ECJ ruling, delivered as Palestinian terrorists fire hundreds of rockets at Israel’s population centers, threatens to severely erode the European Union’s role as a credible partner in the eyes of the Israeli public. The ruling undermines the principle that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be resolved through direct negotiations between the parties.
We are deeply concerned the decision will provide backwind to the extremist BDS campaign to delegitimize and boycott the state of Israel and further inflame the toxic environment threatening Jewish communities in Europe.
The ECJ ruling is based on a deeply flawed EU policy, which unfairly singles out Israel and is inconsistent with the EU’s stated adherence to the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, by applying a double standard to Israel not required from other countries involved in territorial disputes, such as Turkey’s 45 year occupation of northern Cyprus. We are concerned that trade relations between Israel and European countries applying the ECJ ruling will be harmed as a result. We strongly call on the European institutions to amend this discriminatory policy.
Labeling Israeli goods will adversely affect more than 36,000 Palestinians employed by Israeli enterprises on the West Bank, providing for some 200,000 family members and injecting $300 million into the Palestinian economy.