Israel To Stop Exporting Settlement Poultry, Dairy to E.U.
Israel will stop exporting poultry and dairy from settlements to the European Union, Israeli and European officials announced.
Effective Sept. 1, Israeli poultry and dairy exports to the EU will be restricted to products from within the Green Line, Israel’s pre-1967 borders, the French news agency AFP reported.
An Israeli official involved in discussions with the EU told AFP that Israel does not export a significant amount from the settlements and that most of those products cater to observant Jews.
However, a Foreign Ministry official told The Jerusalem Post that certain technicalities in the EU legislation barring these imports, which were approved in February, could allow for a wider ban on settlement products.
The EU already labels such products, but has no ban on the sale of settlement products. The new policy concerning poultry and dairy stems from the European Commission’s decision not to recognize the authority of inspection agencies over the Green Line.
Israel’s Agriculture Ministry told dairy farms and factories that it plans to comply with the edict, even as it works to sway the EU to repeal it, according to The Jerusalem Post.
David Elhayani, who heads the Jordan Valley Regional Council, told the Post that the EU policy is “anti-Semitic” and that many farms are focusing on alternative markets, particularly Russia.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!