Belgium's newly announced plans to mark products manufactured in Judea, Samaria, and east Jerusalem as not made in Israel sparked an immediate backlash on Wednesday.
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The Foreign Ministry was among the first to take diplomatic action and condemn to measure. Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll, who had just arrived in Europe for talks in Belgium and Luxemburg, canceled his meetings with the Belgian Foreign Ministry officials as well as the Belgian parliament in response to the decision.
"The Belgian government's decision strengthens extremists, does not help promote peace in the region and transforms Belgium into a force that does not contribute to Middle East stability," Roll said.
Oded Revivi, Mayor of Efrat and former Chief Foreign Envoy of the Yesha Council (the umbrella group representing settlements) also lashed out at the Belgian government, saying that "it is sad to see that people sitting in Brussels are landing an ax blow to the common industrial areas of Israelis and Palestinians."
He added that "marking and boycotting these products will increase unemployment among Palestinians, close factories, and put a stop to joint ventures."
According to Revivi, "the decision to create a blacklist will directly harm the very places where peace exists. Deputy Minister Idan Roll was correct in his decision not to meet with those whose actions send a message of boycott and harm to both sides."
For decades, the European Union has excluded Judea and Samaria settlement products from the EU-Israel free trade agreement. For the last six years, it has guided EU member states with means through which they can lawfully affix consumer labels to Israeli products manufactured over the pre-1967 boundaries in Judea, Samaria, and east Jerusalem.
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