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UN may be biased, but it has a weakness for Israeli products

For the U.N. to choose Israeli innovation “is a demonstrable vote of confidence in our capabilities and an economic lever for the local industry,” said Danon.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Israeli-made products are becoming more popular every year at the United Nations, the Israeli mission to the international body said Friday.

Despite the anti-Israel bias prevalent at the U.N., it has spent a total of $256 million on goods and services produced in the Jewish state since 2016, and the trend appears to moving upward, although the amount spent on Israeli products is only a fraction of what the organization spends annually on its worldwide activities. The U.N. bought $66 million worth of blue-and-white products in 2018, up from $48 million three years ago.

The purchased Israeli goods run the gamut from medicine to defense, water treatment to energy, with giants of Israeli industry Teva, Paz, Mer and the ministry of defense getting U.N. business.

The deal with Paz, Israel’s leading energy corporation, is worth over a quarter of the total. The company signed an $18 million contract with the U.N. Office for Project Services, which supplies international projects with their technical needs.

The Mer Group–Israel and the defense ministry are providing defense systems for U.N. forces and bases in Africa. Odis is supplying one of its signature products, water filtration systems, and Teva is helping the U.N.’s Development Program, which works to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable development.

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“For the organization to choose Israeli innovation to advance its global activities is a demonstrable vote of confidence in our capabilities and an economic lever for the local industry,” said Israeli U.N. ambassador Danny Danon.

In an event last Thursday, Israel’s U.N. mission showcased Israeli innovation to diplomats and government representatives as part of a week dedicated to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals program.

Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin told the attendees that the participating companies “change reality from a social, technological, agricultural and environmental perspective. This is Israel’s contribution to the advancement and implementation of narrowing gaps – in Israel and around the world.”