The letter signed by foreign ministers from 16 EU countries to the EU's foreign policy head Federica Mogherini requesting that she expedite moves to ensure the clear labeling of goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements and sold in Europe is a significant blow to Israel for more than one reason. The European Union is Israel's largest trading partner. The signatories, among them the UK, France, Holland, Italy and Spain, include some of Israel's closest allies. Although the issue of mandated labeling Europe-wide has been on the agenda for some time as a response to Israel's continued settlement building, the letter appears to mark a sharp increase in pressure for action to be brought to a head. In their letter, the ministers argue that labeling settlement products across the continent is in line with the full implementation of the EU's longstanding policy of preserving the two-state solution which goes against the continued expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, and other territories occupied by Israel since 1967, and threatens the prospect of a just and final peace agreement. The labeling of settlement goods is necessary to prevent consumers from being misled by false information. European consumers must have confidence in knowing the origin of the goods they are purchasing. All fresh fruit and vegetables, olive oil, fish, honey, red meat, poultry, eggs, organic products and cosmetics produced in occupied Arab territories must be labeled. The problem is that although an agreement reached nine years ago requires Israeli exporters marketing their products to EU states to provide the names of the settlements where the products are made, it does not require that they indicate whether the settlement is located on sovereign Israeli lands or in territories considered by the EU as occupied. Therefore, many European consumers who boycott settlement products cannot determine, just by the name, on which side of the Green Line dividing Israel from the territories the settlement is located. Customs authorities in EU countries also have a hard time sorting the merchandise based only on the name of the settlements in order to determine which exporters are entitled to the benefits of Israel's customs agreements with the EU. The effort to advance EU guidelines for labeling settlement products across the continent began in 2013, when 13 countries sent a similar letter to Mogherini's predecessor, Catherine Ashton. She began pushing the initiative forward, but put it on hold in the summer of 2013 at the request of US Secretary of State John Kerry who was trying to restart peace talks. There was another break when European countries avoided pressing ahead with the measure so as not to appear to be interfering in Israeli elections. But since the breakdown of the talks a year ago, and comments made by Benjamin Netanyahu during the recent Israeli elections in which he said he would not allow a Palestinian state to be established, the EU mood has hardened toward Israel. Should Israel continue settlement building, EU countries are willing to do even more, including taking measures against European companies that operate in the settlements, refusing to meet or speak with Israeli public figures who represent the settlements or those who publicly reject the two-state solution, recalling ambassadors from Israel, as well as efforts to raise awareness among European businesses about the risks of working with settlements. Many EU countries blame Israel for the diplomatic deadlock, especially considering continued settlement construction. They also have concern that a new coalition government by Netanyahu will have no interest in advancing a two-state solution. By asking Mogherini to take steps such as settlement product labeling, they want to increase the pressure on Israel by at least informing the European consumer about where his money is going.
