What's steering the PA ban of importing Israeli calves?
Israeli farmers are growing increasingly anxious over a decision by the Palestinian Authority to ban the import of calves from Israel.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is far from resolution, but economic cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians is flourishing. For instance, agricultural products from Gaza, including tomatoes and eggplant, are sold on the Israeli market in huge quantities. Gaza fishermen sell to the Israeli market during certain seasons. Israel also helps Gaza merchants to a certain extent to export products to markets around the world. From the other side, Israel exports a lot of products to Gaza and the West Bank. By virtue of the Paris Economic Protocol (1994), the Palestinian economy in the West Bank and Gaza is in effect based on the importation of products from Israel.
Under the existing economic arrangement and situation, the Palestinian meat market, estimated at NIS 700 million ($197 million) a year, depends primarily on imports from Israel. Dozens of Israeli farms, mostly on kibbutzim, sell fatted calves (weighing 500 kilograms, or 1,102 pounds) for slaughter to butchers in the West Bank.
