EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS WANT TO LABEL all products from Israel. (Maybe they'd like to label Israeli products with a yellow star.)
That could turn out to be good for Israel.
Back in 1947, when it was the soon-to-be Nation of Israel vs. The Hordes of Arabs waiting to invade the nascent nation once the English evacuated, the world (mostly) stood by Israel as the underdog David to the Arab's Goliath.
Having successfully fended oft repeated attacks by its neighbors, and in the process regaining land promised Israel by the English and UN, the world started to view the adversaries in a reverse light - millions of Arabs now were the David to a few thousand Jewish Goliaths.
Now, Israel once again is David, but this time the Goliath is the European Union.
IF THE PRO-ARAB SYMPATHIZERS want to label all products from Israel with a design that even the most illiterate consumer can recognize as Made in Israel then I think Israel should aid and abet in this effort.
All products from Israel should carry an image of the Israeli flag someplace on the product or product's container.
Fruits and vegetables from Israel should carry - as do products imported into the U.S. from Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, and other "South of the Border" suppliers - a sticker showing the country of origin.
Most packaged products list the country of origin on the packaging - box or bottle. Sometimes it is very small print, but the nation of origin is supposed to be on the product.
Even clothing identifies the country of origin.
For most Americans, electing to buy one nation's products over another comes down not to politics but to quality and price.
That's not to suggest that for some consumers politics is not absent in their purchase choice; there are those who simply won't purchase a Blue and White product because they accept as fact the fallacies proclaimed by the BDSers. Never having BEEN to Israel and never being willing to listen to anyone other than the BDSers, they won't buy any Israeli product even, as was Soda Stream, it was largely manufactured by "Palestinians."
For these people, many of whom are Jews, Israel can do no right.
ON THE OTHER HAND, there are people who will, given the opportunity and a competitive price and quality, buy Israeli products as quickly as they would buy a product from almost anyplace else.
While I personally prefer to Buy American, if the American product is inferior or substantially (>10%) more expensive than an import, I'll buy the import. If there is no American product, e.g., Minhag Morocco sidurim and machzorim, I'll buy from whatever country makes what I want; in this case, that country is Israel (although to be fair, Israeli bookbinding is terrible).
As a Jew I occasionally go out of my way to "Buy Blue and White," but usually if I (a) need/want the product and (b) if the product is well made.
The world is a place of many different languages. To avoid trying to have "Product of Israel" labels created in 70 languages, Israeli products should bear a universal symbol of the Jewish state - a small flag stuck on, imprinted on, or sown on to every product exported from Israel.
Let EVERYONE know the product is Israeli - and at the same time, make certain Israel's quality assurance/quality control is A Number 1; no shoddy products to denigrate Israel's name. The "Made in Israel" identifier also must be an identifier of quality.
