Talk about delicious BDS fails:
While Israel’s world trade dropped 18 percent in the last three months of 2023, trade with Arab countries decreased by only four percent in the same time period.
A joint investigation by the Middle East Eye (MEE) and Arabic Post has revealed that hundreds of food products from companies across several Arab countries have been certified as kosher and continue to be sold in Israel.
Despite ongoing international condemnation and calls for boycotts due to allegations of genocide and the deaths of more than 37,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, dozens of new kosher certificates have been issued for products from these countries since October of last year.
The investigation revealed a total of 3367 kosher products from several Arab and Muslim countries were imported to Israel. This includes 442 products from 80 companies based in Arab countries.
This underscores the robust trade connections between Israel and regional nations such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco.
Mahmoud Nawaja, the general coordinator for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, accused the Arab governments of complicity through their ongoing trade relations with Israel.
“The trade growth between these Arab countries and Israel can only be considered as their involvement and complicity in Israeli crimes against Palestinians, and the genocide in Gaza specifically,” he said.
“It does not reflect the position of the Arab people, who have been calling for a complete boycott. These states are sustaining the Israeli colonial regime under the direction of the U.S.”
—
According to MEE, these kosher-certified products from Arab nations are prominently displayed in Israeli supermarkets and are available online.
Some companies contacted by the news agency have denied exporting goods directly to Israel, suggesting their products might have reached Israeli markets via third-party countries.
Others claimed their products were meant for Palestinian markets, despite kosher certification not required.
However, Israel’s trade data reflects this ongoing exchange.
Imports from Egypt to Israel in May 2024 were valued at $25m, double the amount from the same month in 2023.
However, total imports for the first five months of 2024 slightly decreased to $85.6m from $90.7m the previous year.
Jordan and Morocco’s imports also decreased, from $129.1m from $184m and $7.4m from $8.6m respectively.
Meanwhile, the UAE’s imports for the same period increased to about $1.2bn, up from $988m.
So while the Israel-haters would like everyone to believe Israel is becoming more and more isolated, this is not the case. I mean, when Arab companies won’t even boycott Israel..
Mind you, even Hamas has traditionally found boycotting us very difficult.
