ANT KATZ

Sandy Rashty, writing on THEJC.com earlier this month, asked the very pertinent question: “Boycott? What boycott?” And rightly so, because despite the Gaza war, trade between Israel and her second largest trading partner is up a whopping 28 per cent year-on-year!

Trade between the UK and Israel is at an all-time high, despite some of the world’s most concerted efforts by pro-boycott campaigners.

At a time when anti-Israel campaigning and activity has been at a peak, figures released by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics show that bilateral trade between January and August increased by 28 per cent on the same period last year.

Trade between the two countries is now worth a record £2,5 bil (R44,2-bil at today’s exchange rate). Israel has enjoyed the major benefit as exports from Israel to the UK rose by over 38 per cent to £1,6 bil, while UK exports to Israel rose over 14 per cent to £957 mil.

Bottom line

• £2,5 bn Current value of trade between UK and Israel
• £1,6 bn Current value of Israeli exports to the UK
• 38 per cent Rise in Israeli exports to the UK during first eight months of 2014
• £957 m Current value of UK exports to Israel

Strong ties add value to both countries

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign had specifically targeted a variety of companies over their links with Israel. They included cosmetics firm Ahava; security company G4S; SodaStream (which shut its EcoStream shop in Brighton in July); computer company Hewlett Packard and waste management firm Veolia.

Nathan Tsror, the minister of economy and trade at the Israeli embassy in London, said: “Once again, the latest trade figures underline the strong business ties that exist between Israel and the UK. This relationship brings great benefit to both countries and as such is of great value.”

So far this year, there have been 37 mergers, acquisitions and IPOs (sale of company stock by a private company to the public) involving either British and Israeli companies or an Israeli firm being floated on the UK stock exchange.

Hugo Bieber, chief executive of UK Israel Business, said he was “excited” by the latest figures, “both in terms of bilateral trade and also in the flourishing M&A, investment and IPO numbers. We have seen successful IPOs of Israeli businesses on the London Stock Exchange this year and we see a strong pipeline of further businesses looking to list in London.”

“Attempts by BDS to discredit Israel failing”

Vivian Wineman, president of the British Board of Deputies, said: “This is a wonderful piece of news that shows that attempts by the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement to discredit Israel are failing. We are all better off – particularly Israelis and Palestinians – when there is strong trade between the UK and Israel, because it leads to tremendous economic growth, innovation and, most crucially, more jobs for all.”

This month, the embassy will run networking events and conferences to boost business ties in the security, water, energy and medical technology sectors. Avi Hasson, Israel’s chief scientist, will be in London for meetings with government and industry next month.

The UK is Israel’s largest export market after the US.