11/30/2023–|Last updated: 11/30/202303:50 PM (Mecca time)
Occupied JerusalemThe shortage in agricultural crop production in Israeli stores and markets continues, along with the rise in prices, since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation launched by the Palestinian resistance, led by the Al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) – on the 7th of last month, where a state of anticipation and anxiety prevails.
Farmers in the settlements of the Gaza Strip and the Western Negev are facing direct and indirect damage, and they are joined by farmers whose fields and orchards are located in the Upper Galilee, close to the Lebanese border, and the damage is particularly severe. Because many foreign workers have left Israel, Palestinian workers are not allowed to enter it.
In an attempt to save what remains of the current agricultural season Initiatives were launched to attract Israelis to volunteer to work in the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip. The direct losses for this season are estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars, since the war broke out at the beginning of the period of harvesting agricultural crops in the fall.
Volunteering and support
Volunteering and public support for local Israeli agriculture will not be useful in the current winter agricultural season, says Calcalist newspaper correspondent Nurit Kadosh, which requires preparing large areas of land estimated at tens of thousands of dunams for winter farming, and these areas are close to the combat zones on the Gaza front, which are still On fire.
In this regard, the Ministry of Agriculture reveals that from December until next April, a shortage of vegetables, especially tomatoes, is expected, and the shortage is supposed to be compensated for by thousands of tons through imports.
There is another dilemma facing imports, which is that before the war, Turkey was a major destination for importing agricultural products, but it has now become a source of problems, according to Simi Spülter, correspondent for the economic newspaper “De Marker”, who explained that the statements of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prompted many retailers, Among them are the largest Israeli shopping networks, to announce that they will stop importing Turkish products.
Under normal circumstances, about half of agricultural production of some types of vegetables depends on imports, most of which come from Turkey, so the decision to stop importing from Turkey may cause a major shortage, according to the Israeli journalist, who confirmed that some retailers are studying the possibility of importing from other countries.
But importing from other countries, which will often be European, will make vegetables more expensive, compared to importing from Turkey, and it is not clear whether it is possible to import the targeted quantity in the required time, due to the geographical distance.
Shortages and damages
The economic newspaper “Galbus” quoted an executive in one of the shopping networks as saying, “In a week or two there will be a major shortage here. At the end of each week we estimate the amount of agricultural products we will need: we check how much each of the farmers who work with us can provide.” We take into account a 10% decrease and import the difference.”
The executive official added to the newspaper, “Now we are getting 20% to 30% less than the farmers in the country, and things will get worse. And that is without talking about the expansion of the war on the northern front, or the damage to the ports.”
The Knesset Research Institute recently published a report consistent with these claims, assessing the potential damage to agriculture and reviewing the size of agriculture and cultivated areas by subsector.
The report concluded that due to expected future shortages, prices of agricultural products will rise significantly due to limited supply.
Attracting labor
Despite the statements of Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat, seeking to bring in 170,000 foreign workers, this measure will not be effective in the near future as it requires procedures that take a period of several months, while the agricultural sector urgently needs workers on farms surrounding Gaza and the south, so the Ministry seeks Agriculture to employ Israeli workers by providing incentives.
The Ministry of Finance approved a wage for new Israeli workers who join agriculture of 3,000 shekels ($800) for the first month, 3,000 shekels for the second month, and 6,000 shekels ($1,600) for the third month.
The wage will be higher for workers from towns and settlements that were recently evacuated, as the wage will be 4,000 shekels ($1,100) per month in the first two months and 8,000 shekels ($2,200) in the third month.
On normal days, about 15,000 Palestinians worked in the agricultural sector, along with about 22,000 Thais. The shortage of agricultural workers existed even before the Al-Aqsa Flood.
Through research conducted by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, to examine the potential impact of the war on local agricultural production, it was found that Gaza envelope farms are responsible for 30.4% of the land allocated to growing vegetables in Israel.
70% of the tomato crop in Israel is concentrated there, as well as 37% of the carrot and cabbage growing areas, and 60% of the potato growing, and although only 9.5% of the orchards and orchards are located in the cover settlements, 59% of the country’s lemon orchards are in the region, and about 30% of the country’s lemon orchards are located in the area. % of orange groves.
