Israeli manufacturers say the Palestinian Authority is punishing its own people with the boycott it has declared against leading Israeli food products.
Although Israeli sales to Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank and Gaza amount to some $250 million annually, they represents no more than one to three percent of the sales by the top five food makers.
“The impact of a boycott like that on the big companies’ bottom line will be infinitesimal, even zero,” one industry executive told the daily Haaretz. Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip are the ones “who’ll feel the pain because they need Israeli food products more than the companies need their purchases.”
The PA announced Monday it would bar products by Strauss Group, Tnuva, Jafora-Tabori, Osem and Prigat in response to Israel’s decision to stop the transfer of tax revenues that it collects for the PA.
Palestinian merchants were given two weeks to sell off any their stocks of these products.
Source: i24news
