Defense Minister Naftali Bennett on Friday instructed the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun, to immediately stop the imports of agricultural produce from the Palestinian Authority into Israel.
The minister's decision was made after months of repeated attempts by the defense establishment to resolve, using dialogue, a crisis which led to serious and ongoing damage to the cattle breeders’ sector in Israel and to the collapse of hundreds of farms in the industry.
In September, Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet leader Mohammad Shtayyeh prohibited the import of Israeli cattle and other livestock to PA territories.
As the PA has refused to end the boycott which restricted trade from Israeli farmers and significantly reduced the volume of imports, Bennett instructed COGAT to implement the ban on PA produce.
Accordingly, agricultural imports from the PA will be halted as of 6:00 a.m. on Sunday.