Region | Palestinian Territories

Israel turns to Turkey for help in tomato crisis

Expensive tomatoes affect businesses in Israel, government seeks Turkey's help out of the crisis

  • By Habib Toumi, Bahrain Bureau Chief
  • Published: 15:03 October 10, 2010

  • Image Credit: By Norwich Bioscience Institutes/The Washington Post
  • Prices of tomatoes, a dietary staple in Israel and around the Mediterranean Sea, have reached a record in the wake of the extreme heat wave over the summer.

Manama: Rocky politics or not, Israel is turning to Turkey to help it extract itself from the tomato crisis gripping the country.

Prices of tomatoes, a dietary staple in Israel and around the Mediterranean Sea, have reached a record in the wake of the extreme heat wave over the summer, which killed buds and damaged crops.

Relations between former allies Turkey and Israel have dramatically deteriorated following deep divergences over Gaza and the fatal raid by Israeli troops on a Turkish ship carrying aid to Palestinians in May.

However, Tel Aviv is now turning to Turkey in bid to allay the tomato crisis. The imported tomatoes are expected to come also from Jordan, Egypt and Italy.

The Israeli agriculture minister has asked his ministry's top officials to work with the Tax Authority to revoke the import tax on tomatoes to help smooth the immediate import of 2,000 tonnes of the fruit, Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday.

The high prices have driven restaurants to change their menus, and around five per cent of restaurants have removed tomatoes from their menus, now serving salads without them, the daily reported.

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