The Co-operative Group is to cut ties with Adafresh, Agrexco, Arava Export Growers and Mehadrin, all of which supply the food retailer with fresh produce from settlements built on Palestinian territory in the West Bank.
The settlements are regarded as illegal by most of the international community and the Co-op was keen to emphasise that its decision was not a boycott of Israel at large.
In a statement on its Facebookpage, the company said: 'We will no longer do business with four companies, accounting for £350,000 worth of sales. However, the group will continue to trade with Israeli suppliers that do not source from the settlements, and currently has supply agreements with some twenty Israeli businesses, a number of which may benefit from a transfer of trade.'
The Co-op, which is the UK's fifth-largest supermarket group, has not accepted any produce from the settlements since 2009 and regards its decision simply as an extension of this policy.
The announcement has been welcomed by pro-Palestinian campaigners including Hilary Smith, a Co-op member and Boycott Israel Network agricultural trade campaign co-ordinator: 'The Co-op has taken the lead internationally in this historic decision to hold corporations to account for complicity in Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights. We strongly urge other retailers to follow suit and take similar action.'
The Jerusalem Post reported the view of a pro-Israeli blogger, Elder of Ziyon, who suggested that the move to halt trade would affect Palestinian growers whose produce is sold to Europe by Agrexco under its Coral brand.
