The European Union’s decision to label products from Israeli settlements ‘’was a mistake,” Italian Member of the European Parliament Fulvio Martusciello said during a visit in Israel.

“Europe is loud about Israel, but quiet about 200 other conflicts around the world.”

Last week, the European Commission announced new guidelines for all 28 of its member states on how to label settlement products manufactured in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Golan Heights and sold on the European market.

The move had been in the works for a while. In September, the European Parliament voted 525-70 in favor of it. Israeli settlement products have been excluded from EU trade preferences since 2004.

Martusciello, who chairs the European Parliament delegation for relations with Israel, said that many European countries doubt the helpfulness of the decision.

He leads a delegation of 8 MEPs who are meeting their counterparts from the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem.

Another member of the delegation, Marijana Petir, from Croatia, pointed out that the labeling is not mandatory and member states can decide whether to implement it or not.

“We will not boycott Israeli goods,” she added.

MEP Bastiaan Belder from the Netherlands, co-chairman of the European Parliament delegation, stressed that the EU ‘’cannot play the role of an honest broker between Israel and the Palestinians when it targets only one of the parties.’

Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein, who met the parliamentary delegation, said Israel was very disappointed by the decision, pointing out that many Palestinians work in Israeli factories in the West Bank and Jerusalem. “If this decision leads factories to shut down, it will increase unemployment and despair on the Palestinian side, and the way from there to terrorism is short,” he warned.

The head of the Knesset delegation for relations with the European Parliament, Yaakov Peri, said that Israel often feels that Europeans do not understand the situation, and criticize it unjustly without looking into the details. He called the labeling directive “shameful, patronizing, mistaken, and inspired by BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement.”

Another member of the Knesset, Avi Dichter, compared labeling products to labeling people, while Karin Elharar argued that the policy will lead fewer Israelis to support peace efforts.

Addressing Monday an Israeli think tank, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said his country does not support the labeling decision, saying the move ‘’does not contribute to a solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict but causes damage.”

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin last week canceled his long-scheduled visit to Brussels where he was due to speak at a session of the European Parliament and meet EU senior officials on December 2.

Although the President’s Residence confirmed the trip was ‘’postponed’’ but did not give a reason for the change, it is widely believed that the cancellation is part of Israel’s strong protest against the EU’s new labeling guidelines.

EU’s Ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, was informed of Rivlin visit’s cancellation after being summoned to the Israeli foreign ministry in Jerusalem as a result of the labeling decision announcement by the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm.