Pompeo says settlement products to be labeled 'Made in Israel'
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also announced the United States would identify and label groups that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as "anti-Semitic."
In a reversal of longstanding US policy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that imports to the United States coming from settlements in the West Bank will now require a label indicating they were made in Israel. Washington’s top diplomat made the announcement during a high-profile visit to the Jewish state that also saw him pledge to identify US-based groups that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and label them anti-Semitic.
In a move that Pompeo said is “consistent with our reality-based foreign policy approach,” goods produced in Israeli settlements and exported to the United States will be required to mark their products as “Israel,” “Product of Israel” or “Made in Israel.”
“We will continue to oppose those countries and international institutions which delegitimize or penalize Israel and Israeli producers in the West Bank through malicious measures that fail to recognize the reality on the ground,” Pompeo said in a statement.
The move follows calls from a group of Republican senators who issued a letter to Pompeo on Wednesday urging him to change the country-of-origin labeling guidelines and “continue [the administration’s] string of pro-Israel policy changes.”
