Israel agrees to sell apples to Syria

Israel and Syria agreed earlier last week, for the first time, to let Golan Druse sell their apples to Syria. Following approval of the deal by the Defense Ministry last Wednesday, the first shipment of the 15,000 tons of apples for Syrian markets is expected to pass through the security gates at the Golan border early this week. This will be arranged via the UN.
 
A spokesman for the Israeli ministry of defense said that the defense minister Shaoul Mofaz permitted selling Syria 15,000 tons of apples produced in the Golan heights. The Israeli spokesman said "It is the first trade deal permitted officially," between the two countries. In a statement, a source at the Syrian foreign ministry stressed Syria's desire to buy apples produced by Golan Druse.
 
The source stressed "that Syria's desire to buy the apples results from its sense of responsibility of helping the Druse in exporting their products which have been receded as a result of production surplus the Golan farmers suffer."

Uriel Masad, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC), said his organization was involved in securing the deal and although apples are at stake, rather than prisoners, both the International Red Cross and the United Nations were involved in the trade agreement.
 
Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem noted that financial transactions of such nature do not have to create any problem. The officials added that the earnings from the apple sales can be transferred to the Druse in Israel via European banks or any third country bank.