The IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) – the Israeli military liaison with business and political leaders in the Palestinian Authority and Gaza – said in a statement Monday that the date industry is “growing at an exceptional rate.
And dates comprise an “important part of the Palestinian economy,” according to the COGAT.
This season the date crop is reported to be at its peak, with production at 9,000 tons of the fruit, yielding an annual income of some NIS 200 million.
The date industry, an important part of the economy, is growing at an exceptional rate. This date season is at its peak with a production of 9,000 tons of dates and an annual income of about 200 million shekels. pic.twitter.com/uZKboPZ1dD
— COGAT (@cogat_israel)
At present, Palestinian Authority farmers in Judea and Samaria own and work groves totaling some 18,000 dunams, an exponential increase from the 2,500 dunams they had in 2005.
The Beit Ta’Bia factory is headed by Mahmed. It is owned by the Al-Bayda Company and shared with the Qitaf Company for Investments, and produces dates, fruits and vegetables in Jiftlik. The packaging facilities employs 140 workers.