Some countries are using Israeli companies to “launder” their exports to South Africa to avoid the appearance of doing business with the apartheid regime.
According to a report Wednesday in Ha’aretz, customs officials seized shipments destined for South Africa from foreign sources that had disguised the products to appear as if they originated in Israel.
The officials acted on orders of Deputy Finance Minister Yossi Beilin, the newspaper said, adding that several instances have been uncovered of countries circumventing their own embargoes on trade with South Africa.
Customs officials recently confiscated a $200,000 shipment of Romanian ball bearings. It refused to release them, despite appeals from the Israeli company Shagum, which were supported by the Romanian Embassy in Tel Aviv.
According to political sources, Romania wanted the Israeli firm to help it bypass its trade boycott against South Africa.
But the Israeli Cabinet has barred Israeli firms from doing so.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
