Before the new Israeli government came into power a few weeks ago, we submitted an official plea to the Israeli Consumer Protection And Fair Trade Authority, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Economy, calling to enforce the law about pertaining to foreign-made goods on settlement products.

We found out that many products that are being manufactured in settlements are being marketed in Israel as Israeli-made products, which gains them false legitimacy and is misleading to Israeli consumers. This is done in spite of Israel’s official policy, which clearly defines said settlements as being located outside of Israel’s legal borders. 

In the absence of a reply, let alone any enforcement of the law, we decided to help by going out to stores that market such products ourselves, and inform Israeli consumers about the real place of manufacture of these products by placing informative stickers on them.

After the Israeli government changed, we resubmitted our plea to the relevant authorities and personnel. 

This week we received a reply from the Israeli Consumer Protection And Fair Trade Authority, which agrees with our plea regarding the current law and the present problematic situation when it comes to the accurate marking of products. However, they claim that, as far as they know, there is no other country in the occupied territories and that it is not under their jurisdiction to enforce the law in the given situation. So the authorities agree with us that the products we refer to are not being manufactured in Israel, but refuse to force the manufacturers who make them to inform the public about the real place of manufacture. 

There is no other place in the world that receives the same treatment. No products that are manufactured in China, for example, receive the same lack of enforcement by Israeli authorities. This is another example of how the occupation is designed from the top in a systematic way.