Netanyahu suspends diplomatic dialogue with EU

[Jefferson23]

In response to EU decision to label Israeli settlement products, the prime minister instructed the Foreign Ministry to reevaluate the EU's involvement in peace efforts with the Palestinians.

Itamar Eichner

Published: 11.29.15,


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the Foreign Ministry on Sunday evening to suspend contacts with European Union representatives regarding the political process with the Palestinians to protest the bloc's decision to label Israeli exports from the West Bank.


The Foreign Ministry said that Netanyahu had ordered contacts frozen until a "reassessment process is completed." It did not go into detail as to which institutions are affected.


The move came in response to a decision made by the EU to label "settlement products" produced by Israelis in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.


http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4732577,00.html

[Ernesto]

1. All Netanyahu needs is orange hair!........ n-t

[Ghost Dog]

2. EU issues guidelines on labelling products from Israeli settlements

...The measures will primarily cover fruit and vegetables and should affect less than 1% of all trade from Israel to the EU, which is worth about €30bn...

On some products, like fruit and vegetables, the labelling referring to settlements will be mandatory, while on others it will be voluntary...

/... http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/11/eu-sets-guidelines-on-labelling-products-from-israeli-settlements

Israeli industrial zones within the occupied territories hold hundreds of companies, ranging from small businesses serving the local Israeli settlers to large factories which export their products worldwide. Several settlements, especially in the Jordan Valley and the Golan Heights, produce agricultural goods, such as fruits and flowers, and sell them in Israel and abroad.Settlement production benefits from low rents, special tax incentives, lax enforcement of environmental and labor protection laws and other governmental supports. Palestinians employed in these industrial zones work under severe restrictions of movement or organization, and with hardly no governmental protections, this many times results in exploitative employment practices and labor rights violations...

/... http://www.whoprofits.org/involvement/settlements-products

[Jefferson23]

3. Israel exploiting Palestinians who would otherwise have even less options? nah.

[2naSalit]

4. He'll find a way to

circumvent the ruling somehow.

[shira]

5. The EU is not going to like being kept out of the I/P political process. n/t

[azurnoir]

8. The EU is quite free to meet with the Palestinians

so not much of a loss and any whining about it from Israel can now be easily dismissed as it was Israel who cut off contact, over honesty in labeling

[Little Tich]

6. Any excuse to thwart peace is good enough for Netanyahu, I guess. n/t

[Jefferson23]

7. This week's bitter dispute between Europe and Israel, explained

November 30, 2015

It's been a bad couple of days for relations between Israel and the European Union. On Sunday, Israel announced that it would suspend contact with EU diplomats working on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. It threatened to go further on Monday morning: Israeli officials warned that Jerusalem might stop helping the EU's economic projects in the West Bank, making it hard for the EU to serve its Palestinian beneficiaries.

This is retaliation, pure and simple. On November 11, the EU set up guidelines requiring all Israeli products produced in West Bank settlements to be labeled as coming from a settlement rather than from Israel proper. Israel believes this rule will further enable boycotts of Israeli products, which it sees as a threat to both its economic livelihood and — even more important — its legitimacy in the eyes of the international community.

The economic stakes here aren't that high for Israel: Settlement-made goods are a tiny percentage of Israel-EU trade. But there's a bigger dispute underlying here: The EU and Israel disagree, fundamentally, about how to handle Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank. And as long as that disagreement exists, the relationship between Israel and its largest trading partner will be fraught.

Where the labeling fight came from

http://www.vox.com/2015/11/30/9821634/eu-israel-settlement-labels

[azurnoir]

9. so it is Israel who stands to lose in this grudge match it seems

[Jefferson23]

10. Possibly, yes. What's not talked about in this piece is kind of important.

Back then the US and the EU had warned Israel if you don't negotiate
a peace deal this is what you'll be looking at in the future..and the
future is here now.

Obama has said we, the US, won't be able to protect Israel from
all actions that may come as a result of the continued settlement
expansion and then the failed deal.

So it looks like they're following through and I do not expect
the US to stand in the way of the EU unless Israel decides
they'll negotiate again.

I feel as you do, Israel would prefer to wait for the next US
president..one who will be more sympathetic in their minds
about the occupation.

The threat comes from the fact that Israel is being held
to account for the occupation..obviously they don't
appreciate that narrative of responsibility.

[azurnoir]

12. I think Bibi is digging in his heels and waiting to see who the next POTUS is

Hillary has already made overtures to Bibi

[Jefferson23]

13. Yea, a win win for him either way. n/t

[FBaggins]

11. Not really. Trade works both ways.

The EU exports a few billion Euros more to Israel than trade in the opposite direction, so you could say that they have slightly more "to lose"... but both sides tend to lose in a "grudge match".