"Actually, even before this assault on Gaza, there's been a steep decline in Israeli exports, especially to Europe. Some Israeli economists try to say, well, this is just because of the economic crisis inside Europe; it has nothing to do with political issues. But now we're seeing entire sectors of the Israeli economy that are suffering directly.
"So the sector that has probably suffered the most is the tourism sector. The tourism sector, they're not saying, we're being boycotted by people because of political opinions; they're saying people are afraid to go because of the war, and that's why we see so many cancellations and so many losses.
"But I think the agricultural sector, that's where we really see the impact very wide and very deep, because a lot of Israeli companies--there is an Israeli fruit company that produces fruit juice, and they were in negotiations with some European companies in Sweden, France, and Belgium to sell their juice in Europe, and these companies initially told them, you know, if you--just give us proof that you don't source your fruit from the occupied territory, that it doesn't come from the West Bank.
"But then they changed their tune and said, you know what?
We don't want any kind of product that says 'Made in Israel'.
"That's obviously because of the boycott movement.
"And what these farmers do, what these agricultural companies do then is they try to seek, very desperately, other markets, because with agriculture you can't keep the goods forever. They're perishable goods. So their growing market now is Russia.
"Russia is under international sanctions because of the crisis in Ukraine, and there are Russian companies that are willing to buy these goods from Israel. But they're paying less. The prices are lower."
Ready for that big FLUSH?
Israeli Agribusiness Demanding Relief From Government as BDS Intensifies