Arab Support for “Israel” and Betrayal of the People of Gaza

https://www.al-waie.org/archives/article/19636

(Translated)

Al-Waie Magazine, Issue 460 - 461

Thirty-ninth year, Jumada al-Ula - Jumada al-Akhira 1446 AH corresponding to December - January 2025

While the Zionist army was committing daily massacres, brutal siege, systematic starvation and genocide against innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip, some irresponsible Arab regimes were secretly supporting “Israel” and its army with food supplies, that were in severe shortage. Then these regimes announced that they were unable to provide relief to Gaza. with food aid and medicine, and called on the international community to stand up to “Israel”, in order to prevent genocide, lift the siege and provide relief to the oppressed. Arab support for “Israel” became an undeniable fact. It became even more clear after the “Israeli” Ministry of Health issued a decision to stop importing fruits and vegetables from Jordan, due to the discovery of cholera bacteria in the waters of the Yarmouk River, and in agricultural products imported from there. This reinforced the belief in those news about Arab support for “Israel” during the aggression, and exposed the regimes that support “Israel” in secret, and fail Gaza in public.

In a report by the Abraham Accords Peace Institute, a pro-“Israel” organization based in the United States, it praised the strength of trade support from some Arab countries for “Israel” since the start of the war on Gaza. It said that exports from “Western” countries to “Israel” fell by 18% in the last three months of 2023. However, exports from “Arab” countries fell by only 4%. According to the report, Egypt’s exports to Israel increased by 168%, and “Israel’s” imports from Morocco doubled, by more than 200%, since the start of the aggression on Gaza. Recently, data from the “Israeli” Central Bureau of Statistics revealed the exports of Egypt, the Emirates, Jordan and Morocco to the Jewish entity, amidst its aggression on Gaza. The value of exports from Egypt to “Israel” in May alone amounted to about $25 million, and during the first five months of this year, they amounted to about $1.2 billion from the Emirates, about $129.1 million from Jordan, and $7.4 million from Morocco. The Hebrew website Walla confirmed that the UAE has established a land bridge across Saudi Arabia and Jordan, reaching the port of Haifa, with a length of 2,000 kilometers, carrying commercial shipments to thwart the Houthi attempts to besiege “Israel” so that it stops its aggression on Gaza.

To understand the extent of support and services provided by some irresponsible Arab governments to “Israel,” in light of the “Israeli” government’s strict secrecy regarding information related to the repercussions of the war on the domestic front, the “Times of “Israel”” published a dangerous article last April entitled “Israeli” relief organizations intervene before Passover to address food crisis due to repercussions of the war.” The article reveals the suffering of “Israelis” from food shortages, and rising prices after the Palestinian resistance’s attack on the Gaza Envelope settlements. The newspaper says that the Hamas attack paralyzed agriculture in “Israel,” and the newspaper revealed for the first time that the agricultural sector in “Israel” lost nearly 40% of its workforce, and 30% of its agricultural land on October 7, when the country’s agricultural center, meaning the Gaza zone, became a war zone, death, and total destruction. About 20% of “Israel’s” agricultural land is located in the Gazar region. According to an article published in Globes in mid-October, quoting the head of the “Israeli” Farmers Union, 75% of the vegetables consumed in “Israel,” 20% of the fruits and 6.5% of the milk come from the Gaza area, all of which stopped production after October 7. All of these losses could have dissuaded Netanyahu from continuing to destroy Gaza and kill civilians, if it weren’t for the support of irresponsible Arab governments in providing alternative food supplies.

At the same time, the occupied area in northern Israel, which has been subject to Hezbollah rocket attacks in Lebanon, constitutes a third of the agricultural land of the entity, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in “Israel.” the Galilee and Golan regions provide about 73% of the local production of eggs and chickens. This production has also stopped, and could have been an additional deterrent to Netanyahu to stop the war, had it not been for the irresponsible Arab support. As for the farms whose infrastructure was not damaged or destroyed, they have almost stopped production due to the lack of available labor. About 10,000 foreign workers fled the country after October 7, and 20,000 Palestinian workers are no longer allowed to enter “Israel,” according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This means that agricultural production has almost stopped within the entity. All this is dangerous information, rarely published by the “Israeli” media. It reveals the extent to which food security within “Israel” has been damaged by the war, and the possibility of it stopping its war, had it not been for the support of those irresponsible Arab governments.

Amidst the Egyptian government allowing the export of vegetables and fruits to “Israel,” the Egyptian citizen suffers from high food prices. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that Egypt needs one billion dollars per month to import basic foodstuffs. The World Bank announced that food prices in Egypt, which imports 65% of its food needs, have been the highest in the world since the middle of last year. The UAE, which launched a land bridge to supply “Israel” with food supplies during the war on Gaza, imports more than 90% of its food needs, according to the US Department of Agriculture in 2024. Jordan is not among the rich countries that have a food surplus. The World Trade Organization classified Jordan, in 2022, as a country suffering from a food deficit, as it imports about 70% of its basic food needs, according to the Carnegie Institute, on 2021, and imported products worth $2.7 billion, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture in 2022. So why does the government risk supporting “Israel” at the expense of its citizens? Although Israel’s losses due to the war do not compare to what children, women and 2.3 million civilians in Gaza are suffering from, sometimes by starvation, and sometimes by bombing, the irresponsible Arab governments are striving to compensate “Israel” and its army for the food supplies they lack, and claim their inability to provide relief to the oppressed in Gaza.

Al-Waie: The provision of food by Arab governments to “Israel” is unjustifiable support, complicity and participation in the aggression, and a betrayal of the oppressed in Gaza. It reveals the extent to which food security inside “Israel” has been damaged by the war, and the possibility of it stopping without the support of those irresponsible Arab governments.