Economy Minister Nir Barkat on Friday launched a complaint with the OECD against Turkey after Ankara announced a trade boycott on Israel on Thursday.
Trade Minister Omer Bolat said on Friday that Turkey will not resume trade with Israel, worth around $7 billion a year, until a permanent ceasefire is secured in the war in Gaza with unhindered humanitarian aid flowing to Palestinians there.
Barkat met in Jerusalem with OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann and told him that them move of Trukish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would mostly harm European companies who would be unable to transport goods from Turkish factories to Israel. He urged Cormann to take punitive measures against Turkey and set limits to Erdogan who he called a tyrant.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz criticized the boycott and said it violates international trade agreements and was "how a dictator behaves".
Israeli officials scrambled to understand the repercussions of the Turkish announcement of a full boycott that would now include, in addition to the already banned construction material, minerals, machinery, energy products, rubber, plastic, health products, and produce. Dozens of Israeli factories would also suspend exports to Turkey valued at 1.5 billion dollars.
As Turkey has been one of Israel's major trade partners, an official in the government said there would now be an urgent need to find companies and factories that would export the missing products to Israel, some likely in countries that are more friendly to the government such as Germany, Britain, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Greece.