The Israeli embassy in Belgium said it regrets the Belgia,n government decision to advise retailers to label clearly the origin of products made in Israeli settlements.
‘’It is suprising and regrettable that this recommendation comes at a moment when the Israeli population is under constant aggression from missiles,’’ said press release from the embassy this week.
The embassy stresses that the recommendation was published ‘’in the absence of a common position on the matter from the European Union.’’
The Belgian economics ministry said the non-binding recommendation has nothing to do with the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, noting that Britain and Denmark already had similar labelling guidelines in place.
"It's a non-binding advice to state on labels that products originating from occupied territories come from there," a ministry spokeswoman said. "We don't see this as a sanction against Israel, but EU rules stipulate that consumers have to be informed of the origins of products."
The ministry planned to send a letter to retail federations recommending the use of such labels.
According to Israel, if this recommendation is followed, a great number of Palestinians workers in Israeli companies in the West Bank will lose their jobs.