Norway’s Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt has defended her country’s announcement that goods imported from the West Bank, the Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem must be labeled accordingly, a decision which was condemned the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which claimed it could have a negative effect on relations between the two countries.
The Foreign Ministry condemned the Norwegian labeling decision, saying that it ‘’will not contribute to the promotion of good relations between Israel and the Palestinians,” and would also negatively affect Norway’s ability to influence Israeli-Palestinian relations.
“Norwegian consumers have the right to know whether a product sold in Norway is produced in Israel or in an area occupied by Israel,” the Norwegian minister stated. Norway said the labeling decision was taken in line with a European Court of Justice ruling in 2019 requiring products from these territories to be labeled as originating from an “Israeli settlement.”
The Norwegian minister said that ‘’this is by no means a boycott of Israel.’’ We believe that boycott is the wrong policy,” she said. “Norway has a good relationship with Israel. We will continue to have that.”
Source: ejpress.org