Leading members of Israeli farmers’ organizations are calling on Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to intervene in order to stop the government from issuing unilateral decrees to lower import taxes on agricultural goods. In a letter sent on February 10, representatives of the organizations’ leadership said that farmers are in favor of reform in the agricultural sector, but only if it will improve food production capacity and benefit Israeli farmers and consumers.
“The same government that declared a national goal of doubling settlement in the Golan can’t then turn around and wipe out Israeli agriculture and still expect to meet that goal,” the farmers wrote, adding that “the same government that talks about strengthening the Upper Galilee and the communities along the Gaza border can’t approve a reform whose entire purpose is to destroy agriculture and working class towns.”
“It takes a lot of courage to bet on the future of Israeli agriculture based on guesses and gut feelings,” the letter continued. “The proposed reform would be a death sentence for Israeli agriculture; it would represent the State of Israel losing its way and lowering the flag to half-staff. To stop working the land along our borders is tantamount to sending an open invitation to trespassers. What’s left of Israeli agriculture, what Hamas and Hezbollah didn’t manage to destroy through terrorism, the Israeli government will eradicate with this wretched ‘reform.’”
The farmers also announced an emergency conference which took place on February 13 at a kibbutz next to the Gaza border. In addition to farmers, the conference was attended by members of Knesset, heads of regional councils, and former military leaders.
According to the farmers, there is a legitimate need for reform based on real recognition of the circumstances in the field and assessing their costs and benefits. They claim that the expected monthly savings that a typical household would see as a result of the Ministry of Agriculture's proposed reforms would only amount to a couple of shekels (less than a dollar), and that even this estimate is only based on the dubious assumption that importers and supermarkets will pass the savings from reduced import taxes along to consumers.
Their estimate relies on a model that was developed by economists in the Hebrew University’s Department of Agriculture. According to this economic model, which was developed over the course of 10 years, the impact of the proposed reforms on Israel’s social and geographic periphery would lead to an estimated reduction of 50-65% in farmers’ incomes in the Negev, Gaza border communities, the Upper Galilee, and the Golan Heights. Additionally, the model predicts that the elimination of vast swaths of agricultural land devoted to fruit and vegetable production will have serious ecological and security consequences and will make large areas virtually ungovernable.
The farmers’ letter presented data that undermine the government’s claim that the reform offers direct support to farmers that is equivalent to what farmers receive in European Union countries. The letter pointed out that the EU has substantial import taxes and offers farmers additional benefits, making the comparison irrelevant. Agricultural import taxes in the EU stand at an average of 11.4%, in addition to direct government support, while Israeli import taxes currently stand at 12.5%.
Fruit and vegetable producers in Europe also benefit from substantial additional subsidies directed primarily towards agricultural organizations in order to enable a vast array of investments and joint ventures. The letter noted further differences between the compositions of Israeli and European agriculture, including that the share of Israeli agricultural output from fruits and vegetables is 5.2 times greater than that of the EU. This is significant because fruits and vegetables production uses a fraction of the amount of land that products such as wheat or beef require, and direct support to farmers in the EU is based on total land area.
The letter was signed by: Shai Hajaj – Chairman of the Center for Local Authority, Dubi Amitai – Chairman of the Presidents of Business Sector and the Farmers’ Union, Amit Yifrach – Chairman of the Israeli Farmers’ Union and General Secretary of the Moshav Movement, Nir Meir – General Secretary of the Kibbutz Movement, Avshalom Viln – Secretary General of the Israeli Farmers’ Union, and Ya’akov Bachar – Chairman of the Union of Collective Financial Organizations.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Sam Edelman.
