EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are to discuss ways to find a solution to the diplomatic crisis between the two sides over the EU’s labeling of settlement products, a senior EU official told European Jewish Press (EJP).

Asked about reports in the Israeli media about current diplomatic talks between Israel and the EU to find a solution to the current diplomatic crisis stemming from the EU’s labeling decision, the EU official couldn’t elaborate. ‘’I cant say too much at this stage. Obviously we are taking to find a way forward,’’ he said.

Netanyahu and Mogherini already discussed the issue when they met last month in the framework of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

According to a report in Israeli daily Haaretz, Helga Schmid, the EU’s Deputy Secretary General for the External Action Service and a close adviser to Mogherini, secretly visited Israel last week and met with Israeli foreign ministry Director General Dore Gold, as well as representatives of the National Security Council in the Prime Minister’s Office and officials from other ministries.

According to an unnamed official, Israel conveyed to Schmid that a condition for renewing dialogue with the EU regarding the Palestinian issue was that the EU take on a more respectful and balanced approach towards Israel.

“We told them that the decisions of the EU’s council of foreign ministers and the decision on the labeling of [settlement] products were unilateral and in fact adopted the Palestinian narrative. That’s no way to conduct a respectful dialogue,” the official told Haaretz.

The EU stands firm in its decision -taken last November- to label products made over the Green Line. However, Haaretz writes the EU is reportedly willing to provide Israel compensation in order to resume suspended EU involvement in diplomatic dialogue on peace efforts with the Palestinians.

Immediately after the EU issued the labeling ‘’interpretative notice’’ guidelines, branded as ‘’discriminatory’’ by Israel, Jerusalem suspended its diplomatic dialogue over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the EU for a few weeks.

The guidelines call for member states to place consumer labels “Not made in Israel” on products produced over the Green Line.

In January, EU Foreign Ministers issued a statement saying that ‘’the EU and its Member States are committed to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlement products,’’ while stressing that ‘’this does not constitute a boycott of Israel which the EU strongly opposes.’’

‘’The EU expresses its commitment to ensure that – in line with international law – all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel which the EU strongly opposes,’’ the statement issued by the EU Foreign Affairs Council said.

The foreign ministry in Jerusalem responded to the statement by saying that the EU continues to hold Israel to double standard, while ignoring the Palestinian role in stalled peace talks and about 200 other conflicts over territory in the world.