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Israel suspends dialogue with EU over labelling settlement products

Xinhua, November 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israel suspended contacts with the EU on Sunday over issues regarding the peace process with the Palestinians, following the 28-country bloc's decision to specifically label products produced in Jewish settlements.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently acting foreign minister, has ordered to "reassess the involvement of EU institutions in issues concerning with diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians," according to the Foreign Ministry.

"Until the reevaluation process is complete, the prime minister ordered that diplomatic contact with EU institutions and their representatives be suspended," a statement read.

However, direct diplomatic contacts with individual countries, such as Germany, Britain, and France will continue, according to Emmanuel Nahshon, a foreign ministry spokesman.

He said the move was in the wake of the EU's new guidelines to label goods produced in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the northern Golan Heights.

The EU decision, issued on Nov. 11, has triggered an immediate angry response from Israel of denouncing it as a "hypocritical" move and a "reward for terrorism."

Israel captured those territories during the 1967 Middle East War and later annexed the Golan Heights, originally a Syrian territory, and East Jerusalem, but the move has never been recognized by the international community.

The West Bank settlements are illegal under the international law, which has been deemed as undermining the prospects of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Endit