Turks and Palestinians Look for Ways to Supplant Israeli Exports

Turkish and Palestinian businessmen met in Ramallah on Sunday to explore ways to increase trade between them with the goal of supplanting Israeli exports with their own goods. The meeting was described as the first assembly of the new organization, the Palestine Turkey Coordination Council, which, according to the Ma’an news agency, was created “to strengthen commercial exchange between Turkey and Palestine in attempt ‘to replace Israeli products consumed in Palestine with Turkish products.’” The agency quoted the Turkish participants as complaining that Israel initially banned entry of its delegation but succumbed to pressure from Turkey’s foreign ministry. The value of Palestinian imports from Israel is pegged at $3 billion annually, while it imports $700 million worth of goods from Turkey. For their part, Turks import about $100 million worth of goods from the Palestinian Authority. Only Israel and China send more to the Palestinians than does Turkey. Palestinian leaders have for some time been encouraging a boycott of goods that are made in Israel, asking consumers not to buy them. But those efforts have fallen short because of the lack of replacement products not originating in Israel. Osama Amr, who headed the Palestinian delegation, told the agency that, “Several Turkish economic sectors are willing to fill the needs of the Palestinian market and we hope we can have a direct commercial exchange between Palestine and Turkey without any obstacles.”