US to allow settlement goods to carry ‘made in Israel’ label

The U.S. announced that imported products made in some Israeli settlements to be labeled as “Made in Israel,” Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said Thursday during a visit to the country.

Pompeo said in a statement his agency is “initiating new guidelines to ensure that country of origin markings for Israeli and Palestinian goods are consistent with our reality-based foreign policy approach.”

Goods produced in the areas of the West Bank where the Palestinian Authority maintains “relevant authorities” should be marked as products of West Bank, while those produced in Gaza should be marked as products of Gaza, Pompeo said.

Four Republican senators—Marco Rubio of Florida, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia—sent a letter to President Donald Trump earlier this week urging him to change U.S. customs policy to permit goods produced in Judea, Samaria to be labeled “Made in Israel.”

“Your administration should continue its string of pro-Israel policy changes by undoing these misguided Clinton-era guidelines, thereby allowing Israeli goods produced in Judea and Samaria to be labeled as ‘Made in Israel,’” the senators wrote. “This decision would be yet another achievement by your administration that would support Israel and would push back against anti-Semitism.”

The U.S. in 1995 adopted a policy to require “Made in West Bank” labels on goods produced in Judea and Samaria.