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Israel and Palestinian Authority reverse mutual bans on produce imports

The trade conflict lasted only a couple of weeks, and now Israel and the PA are cooperating again.

By David Jablinowitz, World Israel News 

Israel and the Palestinian Authority are doing business again after a brief trade war affecting imports of fruit, vegetables, and produce.

On December 17, Israel’s Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel announced a ban on the import of PA fruits and vegetables to Israel. Ariel said that he was responding to a Palestinian Authority move to bar the purchase of lamb from Israel.

In turn, Palestinian officials denied that they had banned the purchase of Israeli lamb. The PA Agricultural Ministry said it had banned buying lamb from Israeli importers only after the price in the Palestinian market fell below its local cost of production, clarifying that the decision only affected lamb products that Israeli poultry dealers import from abroad and did not apply to lamb grown in Israel. The Palestinian ministry also denied that there were any political motives in issuing the directive.

However, the PA did, in fact, respond to the Israeli order with a decision to bar the entry of Israeli fruit, vegetable, and poultry imports into their markets. On Sunday, Israeli Agriculture Minister Ariel said that he was lifting the ban on Palestinian Authority fruit and vegetable imports.

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“In light of the Palestinian agriculture minister’s notification that he is allowing the free entry of Israeli-bred lamb, I cancel my order to block the transfer of produce from the Palestinian Authority to Israel,” said the Israeli agriculture minister’s statement. The PA said it reserves the right to respond accordingly if Israel again attempts to harm farmers in the Palestinian Authority.