Netherlands Challenges EU Order to Label Israeli ‘Settlement’ Products

A Dutch Member of Parliament has submitted a motion to the European Union (EU) challenging its highest court’s ruling which mandates that Israeli products coming from Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights must be labeled as coming from “settlements” and not from Israel.

Dutch politician Joël Voordewind submitted a motion that challenges the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) verdict that pertains solely to Israeli products and does not apply to all other disputed areas.

While there are several contentious occupations closer to Europe, including Russia’s occupation of Crimea, Turkey’s occupation of northern Cyprus, Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, and Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara, the EJC’s ruling applies only to Israel.

The Dutch motion demands that the verdict relates to products coming from all disputed areas, “otherwise, this will be a violation of the principle of non-discrimination,” Voordewind said.

Israel’s Ambassador to The Netherlands Naor Gilon on Monday thanked Voordewind “and all the supporters of this motion.”

He expressed hope that “in case the Dutch government fails to persuade the EU to implement only if applicable to all territories in dispute, they will adopt their own recommendation and not implement a discriminatory resolution.”

Israel and several organizations have vowed to fight the ruling.