SodaStream Lashes Out Over Work Permits
February 29 2016 - 7:00PM
Dow Jones News
SodaStream International Ltd. criticized Israeli authorities
Monday for refusing to renew work permits for its 74 Palestinian
factory workers. The government said its priority was jobs for
Israelis.
The Palestinian workers had been commuting to the Lehavim
factory in southern Israel from the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The
countertop carbonation maker closed its West Bank factory last year
after pro-Palestinian groups urged a boycott of SodaStream
products.
Chief Executive Daniel Birnbaum said in an interview that it was
"disturbing" and "unacceptable" that the Israeli government denied
the permits for the Palestinians, even after he appealed to several
government ministers.
"It's troubling me as an Israelite and Jew," said Mr. Birnbaum,
who called the factory "an island of peace" that employed Israelis
and Palestinians.
Israel's policy is "to give priority to the employment of
Israeli workers," and authorities will continue to assist the
factory in "an equitable way," an official in Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Monday.
The layoffs come at a tense moment between Israelis and
Palestinians. Palestinians have launched a wave of stabbing,
shooting and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in recent
months.
Since September, Palestinians have mounted more than 300 attacks
and attempted assaults against Israelis, killing more than 30
civilians and soldiers, according to the Israeli foreign ministry.
More than 150 Palestinians have also been killed by Israeli
security forces, largely as a result of attacking Israelis.
Israeli officials have said the attacks are being conducted by
lone-wolf Palestinian assailants and blame the violence on
incitement by Palestinian officials online and in mosques.
Palestinian officials have said the assaults are a result of a
lack of political horizon for peace talks and Palestinian
disaffection with living under Israeli occupation for nearly half a
century.
Despite the violence, Israel has issued 58,282 work permits for
Palestinians as of Feb. 1, up from 52,647 a year earlier, according
to government data.
SodaStream, based in Airport City, Israel, said in 2014 that it
would shift production at its controversial Mishor Adumim factory
in former Arab territory settled by Israelis to the Lehavim
factory. The Mishor factory employed about 500 Palestinians before
being closed last October.
The move followed boycott calls from groups including Campaign
for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions that urged consumers to dump
SodaStream machines unless the company pulled out of the disputed
territory.
Mr. Birnbaum said SodaStream initially requested permits for 350
Palestinian workers but that the Israeli government only granted 74
permits, which were renewed three times for a few months at a
time.
He said production will continue at the Lehavim plant, which has
about 1,100 workers, and that SodaStream will continue to press the
Israeli government to grant work permits for Palestinians.
If SodaStream doesn't get permits, the company will look into
buying supplies from Palestinian territories to help provide jobs
and income, he added.
Write to Mike Esterl at mike.esterl@wsj.com and Rory Jones at
rory.jones@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 29, 2016 18:45 ET (23:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Sodastream International Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (delisted) (NASDAQ:SODA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Sodastream International Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (delisted) (NASDAQ:SODA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024