THE European Court of Justice ruled today that EU member states must clearly identify the produce of illegal Israeli settlements.

“Foodstuffs originating in the territories occupied by the state of Israel must bear the indication of their state of origin,” the ruling states, so that people can make “informed choices” on whether to buy the products.

About 620,000 Israeli colonists currently occupy settlements founded illegally on Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Much of the produce grown or manufactured on the stolen land is labelled “Made in Israel” when sold.

The court said that settlements “give concrete expression to a policy of population transfer conducted by that state outside its territory, in violation of the rules of general international humanitarian law.” It said that unless products were clearly labelled, “consumers have no way of knowing that a foodstuff comes from a settlement established in breach of international law.”

Human Rights Watch welcomed the decision, with its EU director Lotte Leicht saying it represents “an important step toward EU member states upholding their duty not to participate in the fiction that illegal settlements are part of Israel.”

But Eugene Kontorovich, director of international law at Israel’s Kohelet Policy Forum, said the labelling policy harked back to the nazi persecution of Jewish people in the run-up to the Holocaust.

“The European Court is approving putting a new kind of ‘yellow star’ on Jewish-made products,” he said — referring to the Star of David that Jewish people were forced to wear in nazi Germany and countries it conquered.

He called on US President Donald Trump’s administration to specify that produce of illegal Israeli settlements sold in the US could be labelled “Made in Israel.”