In the wake of declarations by retail chain bosses that they will stop marketing Turkish products, Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has said he disapproves boycotting Turkish goods.

He said, "We must completely separate trade from the diplomatic process. We must not allow trade to be politicized and I am not prepared to accept use of boycotts as a means to apply political pressure. I am strongly against boycotts in general and against Turkey in particular, so that I disapprove the initiatives we have heard about to boycott Turkish products in recent days."

Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor director general Sharon Kedmi has approached managers of large marketing chains and asked them to behave responsibly and cautiously so as to not make the situation worse. He said, "There is no doubt that recent events have caused strong feelings among Israeli citizens but we must all look ahead and see the serious outcome of these acts, which can snowball and translate into the most severe economic damage for Israelis."

Cautioning against a boycott Ben-Eliezer added, "We may know what we are starting but we don't know where it will end."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 15, 2010

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