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International firms drop bids in Israel fearing political repercussions

April 9, 2014 at 10:18 am

International companies have dropped out of the Israeli government’s tender to build private seaports in Haifa and Ashdod due to concerns over political repercussions, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Tuesday.


The Dutch operator of ports Boskalis Westminister had submitted a proposal last December to take part in the project under the name of Holland Terminal, according to the newspaper, before pulling out of consideration. More recently, Italy’s Condote de Agua withdrew its bid after passing the prequalification process.

According to Haartz third bidder, Belgian Jan De Nul, only progressed with their bid proposal after being granted permission to continue under the guise of a company registered in Luxembourg called Ludreco, because of worries about the repercussions upon their business interests in the Middle East.

Three more international companies, Spanish FCC and Cyes, and Germany’s Möbius Bau, have all dropped out of the running for the port construction bid in the last few months too.

Haaretz noted that the withdrawals make evident “the deterioration of Israel’s international standing” and come at a time when “boycott pressure on Israel has grown.”

Last month, Dutch pension group PGGM ended its investments in five Israeli banks because of their involvement in settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. In December, water company Vitens scrapped its alliance with Israeli water group Mokorot due to Israel’s violations of international law.

Israeli news website Walla! reported on Monday that Deutsche Bank, the largest German bank, has decided to include Israel’s Bank Hapoalim on a list of companies who are ethically questionable for investment, following the recent decision by Denmark’s Danske Bank to divest from the Israeli bank.

According to Haaretz, Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid acknowledged the boycott on Monday, telling a conference of American Jewish organisations that a failure of the peace talks with the Palestinians would be “nothing less than devastating” to the welfare of Israeli citizens; however, Prime Minister Benjamin Netayanhu took the opportunity to accuse the supporters of the boycott campaign of anti-Semitism.