Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his finance minister Bezalel Smotrich have decided to backtrack on plans to impose a total embargo on imports of goods from Turkey – including those destined for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) – in response to Ankara’s announcement last May that it was suspending all trade relations with Israel over its brutal offensive on Gaza.
According to reports published a few days ago by the Hebrew-language Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth – Israel’s largest daily newspaper – the Israeli finance minister reportedly announced plans last May to abrogate the free trade agreement between the two countries after Turkey announced the suspension of all trade ties with Israel. The plan also included an embargo on the import of Turkish goods by the PNA.
Initially, the proposal was to be submitted to the Knesset (Israeli parliament) for approval; however, Smotrich’s announcement quickly drew pressure and criticism from Israeli government economic experts and advisors, as well as representatives of the business community, with one senior Israeli Finance Ministry official describing the embargo on Turkish imports as ‘total madness’ that ‘will do far more damage to Israel than it could do to Turkey’, according to the Hebrew newspaper.
Following this pressure, and after a series of meetings of Israeli employers’ representatives and ministry advisors with the Netanyahu government, the latter finally concluded that the announced embargo would have a serious impact on the national economy. Finally, last week Smotrich reportedly accepted that the harms of an embargo on Turkey would far outweigh its theoretical benefits, so he finally decided to backtrack on his decision.
Shahar Turgeman, president of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, was among those who publicly expressed his delight at the decision to reverse the embargo on Turkish imports, which would have mainly harmed Israeli consumers: ‘A trade war at the present juncture is unnecessary, and would mainly aggravate the cost of living,’ said Turgeman. Israeli media have recently reported on the rising cost of agricultural products due to Ankara’s decision to suspend trade relations with the country.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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