Israeli settlement wines back on Berlin store shelves

The iconic department store Kaufhaus des Westens in Berlin - known as KaDeWe - announced that eight Israeli wines it had removed from its shelves would be sold after all.

KaDeWe said that the wines had been temporarily removed so the importer could relabel them in accordance with new European Union rules that require products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be labeled as such.

The department store apologized and stated on its Facebook page that "in this matter, which was about a European Union recommendation, we acted too quickly and insensitively."

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the German department store's actions constituted "a boycott in every respect." He added that the iconic store in Berlin was once owned by Jews before the Nazis seized it.

Netanyahu: 'Wrong from a moral point of view'

"We protest stringently against this wrong step - wrong from a moral point of view, wrong from a factual point of view and wrong historically," he stated, adding that he expected the German government to act on the matter.

On November 11, the European Commission issued guidelines explaining that fruit, vegetables and cosmetics from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Golan Heights labeled as produce from Israel was misleading consumers and should be changed.

The decision angered Israel, which considers the move to be unfair and discriminatory, linking it to a growing international boycott movement.

das/kms (dpa, AP)