Israel attacks sanctions threat

Date: 24/05/01

By David Cronin

Israel's EU ambassador has branded the Union's threat to ban the duty-free imports of goods produced by Israeli firms in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as counter-productive, predicting that Palestinian workers will be the losers.

This week EU governments warned Israel that they would impose trade sanctions in protest at the recent use of excessive force by its troops in the disputed territories. This follows emphatic allegations by the Commission that Israel was abusing the terms of the 1995 association accord with the EU by exporting fruit and flower products from the occupied areas, bearing the label "Made in Israel".

Harry Kney-Tal, Jerusalem's Ambassador in Brussels, said that this move will be a major bone of contention and could cause major strains in EU-Israeli relations. "The Palestinians may be celebrating this so-called political victory but the people who will be hurt most by this are the Palestinians employed in industrial parks."

The Palestinian general delegate to the EU, Chawki Armali, welcomed the threat, which is due to be discussed by the Union's foreign ministers on 11-12 June.

Israel's EU ambassador has branded the Union's threat to ban the duty-free imports of goods produced by Israeli firms in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as counter-productive, predicting that Palestinian workers will be the losers.