Slovenia’s prime minister on Wednesday announced a ban on the import of goods produced in what he called “Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories”—a first among E.U. member states.
“Today we [are] banning the import of goods from illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory,” Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of the government. He also said it had approved an additional aid package for Palestinians in Gaza.
Ireland’s Senate is preparing a government bill that would ban import of products made by Israelis in Judea and Samaria.
Critics of efforts to ban Israeli products from Judea and Samaria say they are unjust, harmful to Palestinian workers and too discriminatory to withstand legal action against them at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg or lower courts.
JNS approached the Jewish community of Slovenia and Israel’s Foreign Ministry for a comment on the government’s announcement.
The Slovenian government also instructed the relevant ministries to consider banning the export of goods from the Central European country intended for areas of Israel the government considers occupied, Reuters reported.
“The actions of the Israeli government on the occupied Palestinian territories, including the construction of illegal settlements, displacement, forcible displacement of the Palestinian population, destruction of their homes and systematically restricting access to basic livelihoods, constitute serious and repeated violations of international humanitarian law,” Golob said the statement.
Formerly part of Yugoslavia, Slovenia has a population of about 2.1 million people, including a Jewish community of about 200 individuals, and its trade relations with Israel are limited.
Slovenia recognized a Palestinian state in June last year, following Spain, Ireland and Norway despite objections by Israel and the United States, among other countries.
Judea, Samaria, Gaza, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights came under Israel’s control in 1967, along with the Sinai Peninsula. Israel has made eastern Jerusalem and the Golan part of its integral territory, and views Judea and Samaria as disputed territories whose final status must be determined through a negotiated solution.
