Israeli embassy makes political statement by sending gifts to White House from settlements

Israel’s ambassador decided this year to make a political statement about his nation’s sovereignty with holiday gifts made in occupied territories.

Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., on Monday tweeted that all of the gifts he is sending this season, including those sent to the White House, will be products produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Golan Heights.

The gifts will include wine, olive oil, body cream and halva, the Israeli embassy told The Huffington Post.

In a letter to gift recipients, Mr. Dermer described his gift selection as an effort to “combat the latest effort by Israel’s enemies to destroy the one and only Jewish state,” and specifically referenced the European Union’s recent decision to label goods produced in the settlements to differentiate them from products made within Israel’s 1967 border.

Mr. Dermer also accused the EU of supporting broader efforts to boycott all Israeli goods, not just those made in occupied territories.

He claimed the boycott movements that have recently gained such celebrity endorsers as Roger Waters of Pink Floyd are led by “fanatics who actively seek to eliminate Israel” and promote “a new anti-Semitism.”

“Unfortunately, they are occasionally joined by fools who naively believe that in promoting [boycotts, divestment and sanctions], they are advancing peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” Mr. Dermer said.

In November the European Union voted to label goods from Israeli settlements and rejected that it did so out of any desire to harm Israel saying it already required member states to label the origins of some food products.

” ’Made in Israel’ used for the products coming from Israeli settlements would mislead the consumer and therefore is inconsistent with existing EU legislation,” a fact sheet explained at the time of the decision in November.