How the Israeli Occupation Stole Arab Dates, Planted Them in Settlements, and Markets Them Globally

The Israeli occupation has been actively marketing its date products—especially the “Medjool” dates—in Arab countries and globally while concealing or misrepresenting their origin. This deceptive strategy aims to expand their reach and avoid boycotts, whether due to rejection of Israeli products or the prohibition of settlement goods under international law.

The occupation claims to be the world’s leading producer of Medjool dates, which see a surge in demand during Ramadan and are among the most popular globally. According to statistics published in 2016 by the so-called Israeli Plant Production and Marketing Board’s Date Office, Israel produces approximately 75% of the global Medjool date supply, generating record profits for the occupation due to the high yield from each palm tree.

The Medjool variety is known for its sweet taste, dark wrinkled appearance, and chocolate-like color, with low fiber content, making it highly sought after in international markets.

How Did Medjool Dates Reach Israel?

The Zionist movement falsely propagated the myth that Palestine was nearly devoid of date palms, aligning with Balfour Declaration claims that it was a “land without a people.” However, in 1924, Zionist settlers began planting date palms in occupied territories such as Tiberias, Nahalal, Degania, and Ein Harod, using Egyptian varieties brought by Yosef Weitz, the head of the Jewish Agency Settlement Department.

From that point onward, the occupation systematically stole and smuggled various types of Arab dates into occupied Palestine. Many of these varieties were considered national products vital to local economies, prompting Arab nations to protect them from export.

Among the most notable incidents of date palm smuggling:

• • Initially, four rare date palm offshoots were smuggled from southern Iraq.

• • Later, 700 more offshoots of the same variety were smuggled across the Iraqi-Iranian border with the help of a local Jewish collaborator and transported in four trucks—one of which was destroyed in transit.

• • These offshoots were later planted along the Jordan Valley and near the Dead Sea.

• • In 1934, 50 wild date palm offshoots producing “yellow dates” were smuggled into the occupied territories.

• • 7,000 Hayani date offshoots were transported by camel from Egypt’s Sinai region.

• • In 1949, a year after the Nakba (Catastrophe), an additional 800 palm shoots arrived through the Jewish Colonization Association in Palestine—including Medjool offshoots from Morocco and California, USA.

• • Under the orders of David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, an Italian ship was purchased to facilitate the smuggling of 75,000 date palm offshoots from Iran.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry’s “Israel Speaks Arabic” Facebook page later publicly admitted that Israel had imported nine major date varieties into the occupied territories:

• • Omari and Hayani from Egypt.

• • Zahidi, Halawi, Khadrawi, Diri, and Barhi from Iraq.

• • Medjool from Morocco.

• • Deglet Nour from Tunisia.

Medjool Date Market Dominance

A report by The Marker, the economic supplement of Haaretz, revealed that out of an estimated 40,000 tons of global Medjool date consumption, Israeli settlers produce approximately 30,000 tons. This means the occupation controls between 65% and 75% of the global Medjool market.

The total global date market stands at around 8 million tons annually, of which 40,000 tons are produced in Israeli-controlled territories—80% of them being Medjool.

The report also confirmed that Israel cultivates other date varieties in smaller quantities, such as:

• • Deglet Nour (“Nur Dekel”) from Tunisia.

• • Halawi from Iraq.

• • Omari from Egypt.

• • Khadrawi, known for its chocolate-brown hue.

• • Zahidi, which is bright yellow.

“Whitewashing” Dates: Concealing the Origin of Settlement Products

“Whitewashing” or laundering refers to attempts to legitimize illegal activities or mask the true nature of certain practices through deceptive marketing and propaganda. The Israeli occupation employs various forms of whitewashing, including sportswashing, artwashing, pinkwashing, and in this case, agricultural whitewashing.

Israeli and even some Palestinian and Arab intermediaries play a role in laundering illegal settlement dates, rebranding them with Arabic or Palestinian-sounding names, and using barcode manipulations to allow sales in Arab and international markets.

This deceptive practice enables smuggled settlement dates to flood the West Bank, where they are repackaged under Palestinian brand names to mislead Arab and Muslim consumers into purchasing them.

The supply chain behind this laundering process involves:

• • Israeli companies producing the dates.

• • Palestinian and Arab traders participating in the repackaging and resale.

• • Weak regulatory enforcement by the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Ministry of Agriculture, and customs authorities, despite a legal ban on dealing with settlement products.

How Does Whitewashing Work?

According to Mueid Bsharat, Director of Advocacy at the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, whitewashing begins with “Israeli collaboration with corrupt individuals inside and outside Palestine”.

Bsharat explains that the occupation sells dates in unmarked plastic packaging without logos or identifiable details. The laundering process involves repackaging these products under Arab names with misleading barcodes, allowing their entry into Arab and Islamic markets.

For example, “Tunisian Medjool dates” are sometimes marketed despite Tunisia not even producing Medjool dates. This fraudulent scheme helps Israeli exporters evade boycotts, as they regularly alter packaging, company names, and labels to escape detection.

The Israeli occupation also blocks Palestinian export attempts, using trade control over crossings to sabotage local Palestinian agricultural exports.

Who Profits from Whitewashing Dates?

Bsharat notes that some unethical business operators rely on date laundering for profit, as growing dates legally in Palestine is financially challenging.

Factors contributing to this challenge include:

• • High costs of production inputs, fertilizers, and pesticides.

• • The palm weevil pest requires expensive treatments.

• • Storage and processing facilities require significant investment.

• • A high labor demand during harvest season.

Illegal Settlement Profits

An estimated 99% of these smuggled dates originate from 38 Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land since 1967. These settlements contain approximately 4 million date palms, which require vast water resources and a large labor force.

Boycott Efforts Against Settlement Dates

To combat Israeli date laundering, Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) has partnered with the Boycat app, which helps users identify and avoid settlement products, including Israeli dates.

Other global boycott efforts include:

• • Morocco (since 2015): Grassroots movements exposing secret deals importing Israeli dates.

• • Britain: Friends of Al-Aqsa promotes “Check the Label” campaigns to urge consumers to verify the origin of date products.

• • United States: American Muslims for Palestine leads annual campaigns targeting Israeli settlement companies.

• • Canada: BDS Canada organizes initiatives educating consumers about settlement crimes and encouraging Medjool date boycotts, especially during Ramadan.

Conclusion

The Israeli occupation’s theft and smuggling of Arab date varieties is yet another colonial plunder aimed at economic domination. Boycotting settlement products is a critical tool in resisting occupation and protecting Palestinian sovereignty.