The European Union is expected to release new guidelines on the labelling of products from West Bank settlements that are sold in European shops next week.
The guidelines are expected to be released on 11 November. However, nobody outside of a limited group of EU officials in Brussels appears to have any detail on their contents.
Senior officials in Jerusalem have said that despite efforts by the Israeli embassies in the 28 EU countries, the document has been guarded to such an extent that it is believed that fewer than 10 people have access to it and it is being kept on a computer without internet.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to try to defer or halt the release of the guidelines, saying that they are discriminatory and damaging to the peace process.
Mr Netanyahu has also asked Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to intervene on Israel’s behalf, but they told him that at this point in the proceedings the report could not be stopped.
A senior Israeli official said: "The European guidelines for labelling goods from the settlements are a prize for terror and Palestinian refusal.
"In addition, they encourage an atmosphere of boycott against Israel. We hope that the Israeli effort will succeed and that Europe will understand the uselessness of these guidelines."
The guidelines were due to be released last month, however their publication was delayed by the wave of terror attacks sweeping through Israel.
