Following ‘cattle crisis,’ Israel bans import of Palestinian agricultural products
The measure marks a new step in a prolonged crisis after PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh prohibited the import of Israeli cattle and other livestock to the PA territories.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFA WOMAN shops for vegetables at the Carmel market in Tel Aviv.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Friday that Israel would implement a ban on importing agricultural products from the Palestinian Authority. The measure marks a new step in a prolonged crisis, as in September PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh prohibited the import of Israeli cattle and other livestock to the PA territories in the context of his plan for “economic disengagement” from the Jewish state.According to a statement by Bennett, in the past months, Israeli authorities have worked to resolve the crisis, which has hurt the sector badly, but to no avail.Palestinian merchants and consumers have also been badly affected by the PA’s initiative, to the point that by the end of October, the merchants announced a series of measures to protest it.“Shtayyeh’s decision was taken at the request of the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture without any previous study and without our knowledge,” said Omar al-Nabali, a representative of the Palestinian Butcher Stores union. “This decision has negatively impacted many Palestinians, including farmers and butchers.”Al-Nabali emphasized that thousands of Palestinian families lost their livelihood as a consequence of the cattle ban.More than 90% of the beef calves consumed in the West Bank came from Israel.Israel threatened to halt the import of Palestinian agricultural products in October.According to the Defense Ministry statement, the ban will come into effect on Sunday at 6 a.m.Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report.
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