Germany on Wednesday defended Israel against the European Union’s decision to label Jewish goods from Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

Blasting the move as one which “could be exploited for anti-Israel campaigns,” Germany dubbed the measure a “mistake.”

German parliementarian Jurgen Hardt of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling Christian Democratic Union party told Channel 2 that his country stood firmly with Israel on this matter. 

“The decision to label products from the West Bank is not a step for consumer protection, but will lead to the creation of stigma against Israel,” he asserted.

“Behind [the measure] is a movement hostile to Israel which wants to boycott settlement products entirely,” he added. “We view the EU decision as a mistake.”

Germany’s concerns echo an assessment of experts from NGO Monitor who told Arutz Sheva on Wednesday that the move is merely the first stage towards a total boycott of all Israeli products.

Israel, meanwhile, has responded to the EU decision by informing EU ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen that Israeli officials would not attend a number of scheduled meetings.

“Because of the latest EU decision, Israel is suspending its diplomatic dialogue with the EU in various forums which had been scheduled to take place in the coming weeks,” the foreign ministry said.