Norway Weighs Bill to Criminalize Trade With Israeli Settlements

Norwegian Foreign Minister: “Israel has become far too accustomed to intimidating Western countries by accusing them of antisemitism whenever they criticize it over abuses or violations of international law.”

By Ailin Vilches Arguello, The Algemeiner

Norway is weighing new legislation to ban trade with Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, under which violations could result in penalties of up to three years in prison — potentially making it the latest European country to join a growing boycott campaign against the Jewish state.

In an interview with Norwegian state broadcaster NRK on Monday, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said support for a trade ban targeting Israeli settlements had grown “stronger because the situation in Judea and Samaria has become even worse,” adding that Oslo was following the footsteps of other European countries that have introduced similar measures aimed at isolating Israel on the international stage.

“Israel has become far too accustomed to intimidating Western countries by accusing them of antisemitism whenever they criticize it over abuses or violations of international law,” the Norwegian top diplomat said. “That protective cover Israel has enjoyed for so long is now gone.”

According to NRK, the proposed trade ban would go further than similar measures adopted elsewhere, barring individuals and companies from trading with Israeli communities beyond the Green Line in Judea and Samaria as well as those in Jerusalem, home to Judaism’s holiest sites.

The Israeli Embassy in Norway sharply denounced the potential measure, calling it the latest manifestation of the Norwegian government’s “obsessive anti-Israel activism on the global stage.”

The Norwegian government’s latest move comes just a few days after the United Kingdom banned trade with Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, with Canada, France, and other European countries backing similar measures as part of the growing boycott campaign against the Jewish state.

In a sharp break from Britain’s longstanding foreign policy, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused Israel of “unlawful occupation” of Judea and Samaria, denouncing what he described as an “expansionist agenda via illegal settlements.”

“The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of Judea and Samaria – perpetrated by settler terrorists,” Miliband said during a speech at the British Parliament last week. “The Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and, worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians.”

Expected to take effect within six to nine months, London’s new policy measures will ban imports of goods from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and impose sanctions on companies and individuals that “facilitate settlement expansion,” including those providing construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate services for such development.

The British government will also deny licenses for arms and other exports deemed to materially support what British officials called Israel’s “occupation,” ban advertising for settlements in the UK, and sanction a group of “extremist settlers” accused of supporting or inciting violence against Palestinians.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar sharply denounced the British government’s latest measures, announcing the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem and warning other countries against taking similar action against Israel.

The Israeli diplomat also unveiled further retaliatory measures, including barring Britain from the US-led Gaza coordination mission in Israel, ending British training for Palestinian Authority forces in Judea and Samaria and banning 12 elected officials and British citizens involved in anti-Israel or antisemitic activities from entering the country.

Besides Norway, Ireland, Belgium, and Spain are the only European countries so far to have advanced comprehensive legislation aimed at banning trade with Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.

The Netherlands is also expected to join such efforts, with a new law set to take effect on Sept. 22 that goes beyond similar measures elsewhere by banning imports from settlements not only in Judea and Samaria beyond the Green Line but also from the Golan Heights.

Under the current Israeli government, settlement construction in Judea and Samaria has accelerated, with new housing approvals and the legalization of previously unauthorized communities expanding Israel’s presence in the territory — land Palestinians seek as part of a future independent state and which most of the international community considers a violation of international law.

Israel disputes claims that the settlements are illegal, pointing to historical and legal ties to the land as well as arguing they provide strategic depth and security considerations.

Earlier this year, the Israeli government announced plans to advance the E1 project, a settlement initiative east of Jerusalem that would effectively bisect Judea and Samaria and sever its connection to this area — a move that drew widespread international condemnation and renewed calls from some governments for sanctions against Israel.