Arab firms still trading kosher-certified food products to Israel
Hundreds of food products made by companies in Arab states have been certified as kosher and many are still being sold in Israel, according to the findings of an investigation published jointly by Middle East Eye (MEE) and Arabic Post. The investigation highlights enduring trade links between Israel and a number of regional countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco since the start of the war in Gaza, even as Israel has faced international condemnation and calls for a trade boycott over accusations of genocide and the killing of more than 37,000 Palestinians.
By Heba Nasser
and Simon Hooper
Journalists
According to a database of kosher-certified products published by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, new certificates have been approved for dozens of products manufactured in these countries since October last year.
MEE also found examples of kosher-certified products imported from Arab countries on sale on shelves in Israeli supermarkets and online.
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is a religious institution that issues kosher certificates, indicating compliance with Jewish law, which are necessary for food products intended for sale in most Israeli shops and supermarkets.
Some companies contacted by MEE and Arabic Post denied exporting goods to Israel but said their products may have found their way into Israeli markets via companies and distributors in third countries.
Others said their products were intended for Palestinian markets, although kosher certification is not required for products marketed only to Palestinians in Israel or the occupied territories.
Under Israeli food import laws, the responsibility for obtaining kosher certifications lies with the importer.
While the certifications are not necessarily indicative of recent trade, the volume of certificates approved for Arab products is indicative that the infrastructure for trade between Israel and regional countries remains in place.
The latest data published by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics also provides insight into the extent of continuing trade between Israel and a number of Arab countries.
Imports from Egypt to Israel in May 2024 were valued at $25m — double the figure for the same month in 2023, though total imports for the first five months of the year were down slightly at $85.6m compared with $90.7m for the equivalent period a year previously.
Imports from the UAE for the first five months of the year were valued at nearly $1.2b, down from $988m, while imports from Jordan were valued at $129.1m, down from $184m. The value of both countries’ imports in May was higher than in May 2023. Imports from Morocco for the first five months of the year were valued at $7.4m, down from $8.6m.
Mahmoud Nawaja, national committee general coordinator for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, told MEE: “The trade growth between these Arab countries and Israel can only be considered as their involvement and complicity in Israeli crimes against Palestinians, and the genocide in Gaza, specifically. It does not reflect the position of the Arab people, who have been calling for a complete boycott. These states are sustaining the Israeli colonial regime under the direction of the US.”
The full article first appeared
on Middle East Eye.