An Israeli minister has accused the European Union of “disguised anti-Semitism” in response to a decision by the EU to start labeling products made in the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The EU’s proposal to order the labeling comes as it is dissatisfied with the Israeli regime's continued settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

According to an EU official, whose name was not mentioned in the reports, a decision could be made in the Belgian capital of Brussels as soon as Wednesday.

The 28-member bloc has already banned goods manufactured in the Israeli settlements from receiving customs exemptions.

Accusing the EU of targeting Israel, Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli energy minister, said on Tuesday, “What you see is really that some people, and here unfortunately some institutions in the European Union, are taking steps against Israel that are unparalleled in similar situations.”

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz (AFP photo)

“We cannot conceive it but as some disguised anti-Semitism,” the Israeli minister stated.

Products made in the Israeli settlements account for a small portion of Israeli exports. However, labeling the goods has a symbolic meaning and could discourage consumers from a purchase.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in 1967.

Much of the international community regards the settlements as illegal because the territories were occupied by Israel in 1967, and they are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied land.

The Israeli regime accuses its critics of anti-Semitism and harasses them with other bullying tactics.