Growers of fruit in Israel have been hit by delays and a drop in orders from abroad following Israel’s recent military assault on Gaza.
International boycotting campaigns dissuading people from buying Israeli products have been reinvigorated, and many Israeli farmers now say that much of their produce is being held in warehouses due to cancelled orders.
This comes at the height of the avocado, persimmon and citrus seasons.
“We export persimmons, and because of the fighting a number of countries and distributors are cancelling orders,” Giora Almagor, of the southern town of Bitzaron, told Ynet News. “The longer the fruit waits in storage after sorting, the more its quality decreases. We also have to pay for cooling the merchandise that should have already left, and the cost in considerable.”
According to Ilan Eshel, director of the Organization of Fruit Growers in Israel, Scandinavian countries have been responsible for many of the cancelled orders, in addition to Jordan and the UK.
