IF SAUDIA ARABIA WANTS PEACE, WHY IS IT BOYCOTTING ISRAEL? Dr. Mitchell Bard examines Saudi Arabia's failure to keep its 2005 obligation to cease its boycott of Israel.

For the latest on the peace process, see :Keeping Track of the Road Map

MYTH #259 [Updated #212]

"Saudi Arabia has ended its boycott of Israel."

FACT

In late 2005, Saudi Arabia was required to cease its boycott of Israel as a condition of joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). After initially saying that it would do so, the government subsequently announced it would maintain its first-degree boycott of Israeli products. The government said it agreed to lift the second and third degree boycott in accordance with an earlier Gulf Cooperation Council decision decision rather than the demands of the WTO (Trade Information Center, International Trade Administration; Arab News, December 31, 2005).

Saudi Arabia continues, however, to prohibit entry to products made in Israel or to foreign-made goods containing Israeli components and plans to host a major international conference aimed at promoting the boycott. Liaison officers from regional offices responsible for coordinating the boycott are to meet in Jidda from March 13 to 15, 2006. The Organization for the Islamic Conference’s (OIC) Islamic Office for the Boycott of Israel is based in Jidda and the head of the office is a former Saudi diplomat (Washington Times, March 9, 2006; Jerusalem Post, March 7, 2006).

In hearings in February 2006 before the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. trade representative Rob Portman insisted that the Saudis “have a responsibility to treat Israel as any other member of the WTO” and added that the U.S. had received assurance “they will abide by their WTO commitments” (Jerusalem Post, March 7, 2006).

While the Saudis were presenting themselves in the media as peacemakers in early 2007 by resurrecting their 2002 peace plan, the government continued to bar entry to products manufactured in Israel or to foreign-made goods containing Israeli components (Jerusalem Post, April 16, 2007). This is in addition to the ongoing political boycott whereby Saudi officials refuse to meet with Israelis. The Saudi behavior is inconsistent with their rhetoric and raises questions about the sincerity of their peace proposals and whether a government that has reneged on its promise to the WTO to end the boycott can be trusted to fulfill commitments to peace with Israel.

This article can be found at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf24.html#a51

Source: Myths & Facts Online -- A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell G. Bard.

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