For the past several months, and especially ahead of Ramadam the price of vegetables in Jordan have increased.
This week, members of Jordan's parliament blamed Israel.
Representative Ahmed Al-Qatawneh accused the government of selling vegetables to the Israeli market, which, he claimed, decreased local availability. He said that the government is expanding its relations with Israel and threatening Jordan's sovereignty, asking, "Is it reasonable for the Jordanian government to export vegetables to Israel, in light of a global food crisis due to Corona and in light of the Russian-Ukrainian war?"
The Jordanian Minister of Agriculture pointed out that exports to Israel are only about 10% of total Jordanian vegetable production and exports. Israel currently gets 1,300 tons per month out of 12,500 tons exported outside the kingdom. Jordanian farmers produce about 150,000 tons a month of vegetables during the winter, and far more in the summer. Jordanians consume about 80% of the crop, with the rest being exported to other countries. Obviously Jordanian farmers benefit from exporting their crops to Israel.
When Qatawneh made the same accusations in January, the Jordan Valley Farmers Union strongly criticized him.
In other words, the MP's complaints aren't motivated by any interest in what is best for Jordan or its farmers and are pure hate for Israel.
In short, antisemitism.
Israel signed an agreement with Jordan last year to increase its imports of Jordanian vegetables to make up for the shortfall in local production by Israeli farmers who observe Shmitta, the Biblical sabbatical year for farmers.
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