Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said products from West Bank settlements will contine provisionally to bear a ‘Made of Israel’ label and stressed that his country is opposed to boycooting goods from Israel.
Speaking at a joint press conference with visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres, Rutte also said the issue of labelling goods from the settlements – which has been initiated by several countries within the EU - had not even been considered in the country.
Earlier this year, Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said products from the West Bank, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem could not bear the label ‘’Made in Israel’’ anymore ‘’in order to protect the consumers.’’
Regarding the new controversial EU guidelines banning Israeli entities beyond the Green Line from any EU funding and grants, the Dutch Prime Minister said his country ’’was working within the European Union to reach a consensus and find a solution which does not harm the peace process.’’
Peres thanked the Prime Minister and said, "Europe, like Israel, understands that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only be solved through negotiations and dialogue, not through sanctions. A day after the European announcement, (US) Secretary of State John Kerry announced the resumption of talks for nine months – if a deal is reached between the sides there will be no need for the European sanctions, they will be irrelevant. I am sure Europe did not plan to make the negotiations more difficult but if the sanctions are implemented that will be the effect."
Peres called upon Holland, as a central member of the European Union, and to other European countries to oppose the Iranian nuclear threat and not to allow Iran to complete its race to achieve long range missiles with nuclear warheads.
"Europe's support is important to preventing the Iranian threat. I hope that the new voices will bring a new reality in Iran – but nuclear weapons for mass destruction are a threat to the entire world and we must work to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons," he said.
During the meeeting the Israeli President and the Prime Minister of Holland also discussed the Iranian nuclear threat, the situation in Syria and the bilateral relations.
Earlier on Tuesday, Peres began the third day of his state visit to Holland with a visit to the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague where he was received by King Willem-Alexander.
The two inspected an honor guard, saluted the national anthems and then held a private meeting.
At the start of the meeting, King Willem-Alexander welcomed President Peres and said that it was a great honor to host the President of the State of Israel as his first official guest at the Palace.
The ing added that he had visited Israel on a number of occasions and was always impressed by the country and its people and that he looked forward to strengthening the relations between the two countries.
Later in the evening, Peres was scheduled to deliver a speech before the two chambers of the Dutch parliament before being guest guest of honor at a state dinner hosted by King Willem-Alexander.