The governor of Bethlehem Jibrin al-Bakri on Wednesday gave a directive to ban the entry of watermelons from Israel into Bais Lechem markets.
In a statement, al-Bakri said that the decision is in line with the instructions of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas seeking to protect Palestinian farmers and Palestinian national products.
The local decision follows a controversy in early June, when the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture banned the import of Palestinian agricultural products after its Palestinian counterpart banned the import of Israeli watermelons in order to product the local industry.
The issue was resolved quickly after Palestinian authorities backed down on the watermelon ban, leading Israel to remove its own prohibition.
Only one-third of the watermelons sold in the Palestinian market are from Palestinian farmers, with the rest apparently being primarily from Israeli farmers, assistant undersecretary for administrative and economic affairs at the ministry said.
ISRAEL Maan News
{Matzav.com Israel}
What a tzaddik. He’s keeping shmittah
Yes, mayim. They’re keeping Shmittah.
But, as per the article, only a third of their market comes from their own farmers. The other 2/3 comes from Israeli farmers.
when they start feeling the pinch, they will come up with a ‘Heter Mechirah’ for Israeli watermellons.