Israel is the world leader is drone sales, according to insiders. The Jewish state reportedly sells $400 million in drones annually, and has sold a total of $4.6 billion worth in the last eight years. The data was published in a report by leading business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, which also found unmanned drones account for 10 percent of the Israeli military's export. In 2008, Israel’s drone exports totaled $150 million, a sum that increased to $650 million for the 2009 year. In 2010, Israel …More

Israeli and Chinese officials signed a $400 million trade agreement during meetings on Wednesday, expanding trade between the two nations to $2.05 billion. The agreement was signed by Israeli and Chinese finance ministers during a meeting attended Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. “This is a very important agreement for expanding bilateral cooperation. China is a vast market and if we even slightly increase our market share here it will significantly help the …More

Israel’s largest producers of root vegetables put out more than 200,000 tons of product in 2012, a recent activity report stated. Yaham cultivates massive amounts of root vegetables for the Jewish state, like onions and potatoes. While Israelis enjoy a large portion of that effort, the produce is also exported around the world, adding necessary commerce to Israel’s economy. "We produce and market root vegetables from 14 communities at western Negev,” said Dror Tanuri, CEO of Yaham. “Our …More

Israel is set to renew its apple export program to Syria later this week, following a hiatus due to the current civil war in the region. Eighteen thousand tons of apples will be delivered to Syria from Druze farmers in the Golan Heights, an export program that began in 2005 but was halted last year. The export is coordinated with help from the United Nations and the Red Cross, and this year’s delivery is reported to be one of the biggest yet. The first shipment will head out tomorrow. The news was …More

A bag of Israeli peppers caused a stir in a Lebanese market Tuesday, an incident deemed so controversial the military was called in to investigate. An anonymous man discovered a pack of yellow peppers at a market in Sidon while shopping this week, and was outraged to find a sticker reading "Made in Israel" on the product. He contacted local police, who reached out to Lebanese military intelligence to discover how the produce had made it into the country. Upon further investigation, even more bags of peppers …More

A government report from 2008 shows Israel was monitoring the food intake of the average Gazan, in an effort to prevent malnutrition. The report, Food Consumption in the Gaza Strip—The Red Lines, was conducted by the defense ministry. The research found each resident in Gaza needed an intake of 2,279 calories a day to maintain health. The findings were made public after Palestinian human rights group Gisha petitioned for the release of the findings. Gisha, in its own report, accused the Israeli government …More

The US and Israel signed a trade agreement Monday, designed to make the export of telecommunications products to Israel more efficient. Under the new agreement, the Jewish state will accept testing results from US labs for the sale of imported products like wireless and satellite equipment. Previously, Israel was first mandated to test the items itself once shipment from America was completed. The 33-page pact reportedly grants the US the same ability to accept Israeli test results for future …More

The South African Trade Ministry published a second notice concerning the labeling of Israeli products, despite working with the Jewish community on a compromise. Contrary to the more restricted proposal issued in May, the notice published October 12 in the Government Gazette refers to all products originating from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and eastern Jerusalem as "requiring an importer, producer, retailer or supplier of the Republic of South Africa to label goods that originate from the Israeli Occupied …More

Israeli pharmaceuticals are going to be simpler to purchase in Europe, thanks to new measures by the EU. The European Parliament has endorsed efforts to allow medicines to be exported and imported between Israel and the continent without need of additional certification. The move will be voted on at a plenary later this month, and is expected to go through. European Friends of Israel called the effort “a major step in improving the life of European consumers.” “EU-certified pharmaceuticals …More

The demand for fresh water fish in Israel has led to the development of an innovative, yet perhaps unexpected, desert industry. Capitalizing on captured rain water reserves, farmers in the Negev are using the fresh water rain pools to breed a variety of carp, trout, and other fish species favored by Eastern European recipes imported to Israel with its settlers. “Many water reserves are built to collect water in the winter and are used to water the agricultural fields in the summer,” Fish Breeders …More

South Africa has adopted a regulation to prevent the labeling of goods from the West Bank as being produced in Israel. Government spokesperson Jimmy Manyi announced Wednesday that goods produced in the West Bank should now be labeled as originating from the "Israeli Occupied Territories." Manyi said that the proposal was adopted to prevent consumers from being misled into thinking that such goods come from Israel. South African Jewish leaders, including the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, the Zionist …More

A European Union document lists parts of central Israel as settlements. Areas of Modi’in are named in the literature, meant as a guide on what settlements are not included in the EU’s free-trade agreement with Israel. Three separate zip codes from the municipality are listed as non-approved settlement locations, even though Modi’in is an undisputed Israeli territory—not a settlement. The city merged with Maccabim-Reut in 2003, and is known as Modi’in-Maccabim-Reut today. It is …More