JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended contacts between Israeli officials and European Union institutions and representatives involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The order Sunday comes in the wake of the EU decision to approve special labeling for Israeli products made in the West Bank and Golan Heights.
Netanyahu, who also holds the foreign minister portfolio, ordered the Foreign Ministry to “reassess” the involvement of EU and European Commission agencies in the peace process. But Israel will continue to maintain diplomatic contact with individual European countries that are member-states of the EU, such as Germany, Britain and France.
The labeling regulations adopted last month require separate labeling for Israeli products sold in the European Union when they are either packaged or produced in the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem or the Golan. It also requires labels on such products specifying whether they were produced by Israelis or Palestinians.
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