Turkish exports to Israel plunge 99% after trade halted over war

Turkey’s exports to Israel all but ground to a halt in May, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government stopped trade until Gaza receives enough humanitarian aid.

Shipments to Israel dropped 99% on an annual basis to $4.4 million, preliminary data from Turkey’s main exporters association showed on Monday. The official statistics service TurkStat will publish full trade data for last month, including imports, later in June.

The Turkish Trade Ministry announced at the start of last month that trade ties would be paused until Israel allowed “uninterrupted and sufficient flow” of humanitarian aid to Gaza, where Israel has been waging war against Hamas since October.

Turkish exports to Israel in the first five months have decreased by 40% from the same period of last year, the data showed. 

Prior to the start of the war, Turkey and Israel were in the midst of normalizing their ties after a decade of tensions. Total trade volume was $6.8 billion last year, according to the Israeli Economy Ministry.

Erdogan intensified his criticism of Israel after his ruling party suffered stinging defeats across the nation in March’s local elections. The setbacks have in part been blamed on a relatively muted government response to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.