Palestinians are boycotting imports of Israeli livestock and Israelis banned export of fruits and vegetable from Palestinian Authority.

 

Israel has banned the export of agricultural products from the Palestinian Territories. Until further notice, the products may no longer be exported across the Allenby Bridge on the border with Jordan. It is reacting to an import ban on Israeli calves by the Palestinian Authority (PA), said the competent authority, Cogat. This is a loss for Israeli ranchers.

The boycott of imports of Israeli calves and sheep has been in effect since September 2019. The Palestinians mainly produce for their own market, but also deliver to Israel, including cucumbers and tomatoes. A PA spokesman last October confirmed that Israel wanted to break away economically. They will continue to try to replace Israeli products with Arab alternatives.

"The moment the Palestinian Authority withdraws its decision to harm the cattle trade with Israel and the free market, the situation will normalize again," said a Cogat statement. At the beginning of the month, Israel's Defense Minister Naftali Bennett had already banned agricultural products from the Palestinian territories from being imported into Israel. In return, the PA then stopped importing other Israeli goods such as fruit, vegetables and water bottles. Israel controls the import and export of the Palestinian Territories, for example on the border with Jordan.



A Peace Plan for Nobody

In October 2018, the Palestinian leadership declared that it no longer wanted to recognise Israel as a state because of the halting peace process and wanted to end all cooperation. The Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) had announced at the time that this affected both security and the economy.

In a new peace plan, US President Donald Trump recently advocated a two-state solution that provides for a state of Palestine with the capital, East Jerusalem, in the suburbs of the metropolis. However, all of Jerusalem, as well as the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, are to become Israeli. This peace plan is rejected by the Palestinians. They demand the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem for their state - the areas that Israel conquered in the Six Day War in 1967.