By John Irish
PARIS, Sept 8 (Reuters) – France will launch a process to ban products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Tuesday, amid rising settler violence that has further undermined prospects for a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
“France is going to put an end to its commerce with Israeli settlements in Palestine, along with 11 other countries which have also undertaken similar engagements,” Barrot wrote on X.
“Why are we doing this? Because the West Bank is close to exploding – there is frenzied expansion of the settlements, a flare up of violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers, and acts of terror which have been attacked by Israeli authorities themselves,” added Barrot.
The move comes as frustration has grown among some European Union states, which have sought for the bloc to take a decision, but failed to gain a qualified majority with the notable opposition from Germany.
On Tuesday, Britain announced a trade ban on goods made in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank in coordination with France and Canada.
“Given the situation on the ground we can’t wait, so we are taking this national decision,” a French diplomatic source told reporters in a briefing ahead of the announcement.
The modalities of the ban have yet to be finalised and it was not immediately clear when it would be implemented.
“This announcement is part of the joint initiative between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, which was discussed in particular during their meeting in London and to which several of our partners in the European Union and beyond have signed up,” the source said, adding as many as a dozen countries would follow suit.
The source said it was not a boycott of Israel.
Britain’s decision was met by some angry reaction Israel with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calling for the UK ambassador to be expelled.
France’s ties with Israel have been strained for several months and took a turn for the worse last September after France led efforts at the United Nations to recognise a Palestinian state.
The source said the acceleration of settlements was undermining the prospect of a viable Palestinian state and the decision by the Israeli government to publish tenders for the E1 project was deemed a red line not only for Europe but also for the vast majority of the international community.
“We have also seen an intensification of violence committed by settlers, which is unacceptable and, moreover, poses an increasingly serious risk of destabilising the West Bank and the region. We regret that no sufficient measures have been taken to put an end to this situation,” the source said.
(Reporting by John Irish;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
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