Bahrain Does U-Turn After Minister OKs Settlement Goods

Bahrain’s government on Sunday quickly walked back its own industry, commerce and tourism minister’s words from Friday, insisting the Gulf state would not import Israeli products made in West Bank settlements despite normalizing relations with the Jewish state. An official from within the ministry told Bahrain’s state news agency that Minister Zayed bin Rashid Alzayani’s statement “was misinterpreted” and reiterated the government’s “unwavering stance regarding adherence to the resolutions of the United Nations.” During a visit to Israel over the weekend, Alzayani said Manama would not distinguish between goods produced in Israel and those produced in the disputed territories conquered by Israel in the 1967 war. In 2019, the European Union decreed all imported settlement products be clearly labeled as such, making a distinction between “legitimate” Israeli goods and “questionable” ones. The United States under President Donald Trump has taken the opposite course, removing any such customs distinctions and declaring the settlements themselves as “not contradictory to international law, per se.”