The Biden Administration is working on a plan to reverse a policy enacted in 2020 under then-President Donald Trump that requires goods produced by Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as “Made in Israel.”
The move comes as Israel is fighting for its survival in a multi-front war launched by Iranian proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
According to a report by the Financial Times, the Biden Administration would remove the “Made in Israel” label from such goods.
US officials told the news outlet that a green light on the policy — and its timing — has not yet been approved.
Prior to 2020, the United States had maintained the discriminatory policy, along with the European Union which continues it to this day.
Earlier this year, the Biden Administration also declared that construction and expansion in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria — including the extension of a pergola on a home in an existing Israeli town — is “inconsistent with international law.”
The move reversed another Trump-era policy approved by then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who announced on November 18, 2019 the “The establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not per se inconsistent with international law.”
Known as the “Pompeo Doctrine,” the policy reversed the stance of prior American administrations that maintained Israeli cities and towns in Judea and Samaria were illegal.
The Biden Administration revoked the Pompeo Doctrine this past February, along with announcing sanctions against Jewish Israeli residents in Judea and Samaria accused by the Palestinian Authority of violence against its citizens.
The accusations were not substantiated, nor had they yet been taken through any legal process by the State of Israel.
Last year, the Biden Administration also ceased funding for Israeli academic institutions in Judea and Samaria.
Removing the “Made in Israel” label from goods made in Israeli communities located in Judea and Samaria would further facilitate boycotts against the products by anti-Israel groups, fueled by the international Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) economic war on Israel.
Such a move by the federal government comes in direct opposition the state laws prohibiting cooperation with contractors who support the BDS campaign. As of 2024, 37 states have passed anti-BDS bills and executive orders blocking state contracts with supporters of the boycott.
It’s clear the Biden Administration is working hard to increase pressure on Israel to accept plans to establish a sovereign Palestinian state.
This move directly contradicts the parameters set forth in the internationally-recognized 1993 Oslo Accords — brokered by the United States! — requiring direct talks to reach a final settlement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
At present there are more than 600,000 Jewish Israelis living in Judea and Samaria’s Area C, which under the Oslo Accords was placed under the complete legal and security authority of the State of Israel.
The Palestinian Authority, encouraged and supported by the European Union, has been steadily encroaching on Area C, establishing its own schools, communities and agricultural fields in an area intended for Israelis.
