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| US says settlement products can be labelled ''Made in Israel'' |
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Jerusalem: The US State Department has announced that products from Israeli settlements can be labelled “Made in Israel,” breaking with longstanding policy. The move was announced shortly after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited a settlement in the occupied West Bank, a first by a top US diplomat. President Donald Trump''s Mideast plan, which overwhelmingly favored Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians, would allow Israel to annex up to a third of the West Bank, including all its settlements. The State Department said the change in the labeling policy is “consistent with?our?reality-based foreign policy approach.”
The Palestinians and most of the international community view the settlements as a violation of international law and an obstacle to peace. The European Union requires member states to label products originating in the settlements. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo paid the first-ever visit by a top U.S. diplomat to an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank on Thursday after announcing a new initiative to combat the international Palestinian-led boycott movement. The visit to the settlement, and the announcement that the U.S. would brand the boycott movement as anti-Semitic and cut off all funding for groups that participate in it, together offered a parting gift to Israel from an administration that has broken with decades of U.S. policy to endorse Israel''s claims to territory seized in war.
A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the visit to the Psagot winery in a settlement near Jerusalem to reporters traveling with Pompeo, who were not allowed to accompany him. Pompeo had earlier said he would pay a visit to the Golan Heights. Israel seized the West Bank and the Golan Heights in the 1967 war and later annexed the Golan in a move not recognised internationally.
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