Palestine Economy Portal

Translated by Tamara Barakat

The Ministry of National Economy announced the Government’s decision to boycott five Israeli companies and ban their products from entering the Palestinian market. These companies include Tnuva, Strauss, Tara, Tapuzina, and Soglowek.

Azmi Abdel Rahman, an official at the Ministry of National Economy, told the Palestine Economy Portal that the decision was made in response to an earlier Israeli decision to ban the products of five Palestinian companies from entering Jerusalem two weeks ago.

He explained that these five Israeli companies produce equivalent products to those Israel banned from entering Jerusalem’s market. These include dairy products, meat products, and juice.

Moreover, he said that banning Israeli products from entering the Palestinian market will contribute to compensating the Palestinian companies for their losses resulting from being prohibited from selling their products in Jerusalem. The overall annual losses of the five companies are estimated at 1 billion and 300 million shekels.

According to the Ministry of National Economy, the market share of the five Israeli companies accounts for 50% of the Israeli food products sold in the West Bank.

The Government said the decision will come into force starting Tuesday, but it will take some time before the Israeli products already available in the Palestinian market are sold out.

Last week, Israel banned the entry of dairy products produced by Al-Hamoda, Al-Juneidi, and Al-Rayan Companies, and meat products produced by Al-Salwa and Siniora Companies.

The Government’s decision follows public demands for banning the products of the aforementioned five Israeli companies from entering the Palestinian market, in response to the Israeli decision that breaches all commercial agreements and protocols regulating Palestinian and Israeli economic relations.