Israeli fruit seized from Saudi market

The Arab League's boycott of Israel has been in place since 1948, although its enforcement varies by country.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
Persimmons found in Saudi Arabia. (photo credit: Courtesy)
Persimmons found in Saudi Arabia.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Saudi authorities seized 140 kilos of persimmons from Israel at a local market near the border with Jordan, local media reported.
The fruit had Israeli stickers on it and was found in the city of Qurayyat, in northern Saudi Arabia.
The head of the municipality’s environmental health department, Abdulaziz al-Masaed, said that authorities acted on information that Israeli fruit was being sold in the market.
“The municipality team conducted a surprise inspection after the closing hours of the fruit market and confiscated the fruit boxes that originated from Israel,” he said, according to a report in the Saudi Gazette.
Masaed said that the Commerce and Industry Ministry had been notified. He added that he did not know how the fruit could have entered the country, as its origin was marked.
A source in the Commerce and Industry Ministry said that an investigation is under way, noted the report.
The Arab League boycott of Israel, in place since 1948, is maintained by the Central Boycott Office in Damascus. However, its enforcement varies across the Arab world.
In an article last year in Middle East Economy, Yitzhak Gal, from Tel Aviv University’s Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, wrote that “Israel’s exports to Middle Eastern markets in 2011 are estimated at over $6 billion, about 13 percent of overall Israeli exports.”