AMMAN — In reply to MP Ahmed Qatawneh’s question about his meeting with Israeli officials, Minister of Agriculture Khaled Huneifat said the meeting was held in “the national interest”, with the goal of enhancing agricultural exports and identifying new markets to help farmers.
اضافة اعلان
Head of the Agricultural Materials Traders and
Producers Association Mohammad Baibars, however, disagrees with the minister,
saying that Jordan’s marketing potential may be found in other countries, not
Israel, and that the amount intended for export to Israel, “however large, is
still small in comparison to other countries’ import opportunities”.
Baibars said that he is speaking on behalf of the
members of the association, “which constitutes an important component of the
agricultural sector about which the minister of agriculture talked”, and the
majority of them oppose trade with Israel for whatever reason.
“The globe as a whole provides various possibilities
that would divert Jordan’s attention away from trade with Israel, which many
countries avoid and which other countries, not only Arab countries, boycott,”
he stressed.
Abdelhadi Falahat, former head of the Jordan
Agricultural Engineers Association, told
Jordan News that he completely
disagrees with the minister of agriculture’s stance, and that “despite the
sector’s suffering, there is no underlying national interest in trade with
Israel”.
According to Falahat, the national interest, as well
as the interests of the agricultural sector and farmers, can be served through
the search for solutions to the challenges that Jordanian farmers face, such as
the high production cost, which is the sector’s main challenge.
In light of a worldwide food crisis, there are other
options to improve the sector’s situation than resorting to exporting to
Israel, such as Arab integration and opening Arab markets, he said, stressing
that “the greatest way is to address the underlying issues”.
While these issues are not being addressed, he
added, the problems of the agricultural sector continue to grow, “as the
government and officials focus on the symptoms and consequences of the problem,
rather than the cause”.
“The first step should be to find appropriate and
reasonable solutions that meet the needs of farmers and alleviate their
suffering,” he added.
Ali Abu Nuqta, the current head of the Jordan
Agricultural Engineers Association, said that “the association’s position is
clear”, that “it would always support national and religious principles, and
will retain its stance against normalization with Israel, regardless of what
the government thinks”.
Read more National news
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
