Free
Maintenance
No Luxury Tax
on all vehicl
'
'94 BMW 525i
Euphoria? Yawn!
Economist says the end of the Arab boycott wouldn't
have a profound effect on the Israeli economy.
ELIYAHU KANOVSKY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
sraeli leaders were euphoric
when the Gulf Cooperation
Council, comprising Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, the United
Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and
Bahrain, announced the end of
the secondary and tertiary eco-
nomic boycotts of Israel.
The euphoria was inspired not
only by the political ramifications
of the move, which ends the
blacklisting of companies doing
business with Israel, but by the
expectation that it would soon
give a significant boost to the Is-
raeli economy.
U.S. Secretary of State War-
ren Christopher also hailed
I
Leather, heated seats, traction
control & more. 2 to choose from.
'94 BMW 525iT Wagon
billion. Imports by the other Arab
countries, far more populous but
much poorer, were about $50 bil-
lion.
Thus, the total imports of these
countries, whose population is
well over 200 million, were less
than $120 billion, of which oil-rich
Saudi Arabia alone accounted for
about one-fourth.
By way of comparison, tiny
Holland, with a population of 15
million, imported $134 billion in
1992, more than the whole Arab
world combined.
Arab imports accounted for a
mere 4 percent of world imports.
(All data are from the Interna-
tional Monetary Fund's Interna-
tional Financial Statistics.)
Leather, double sunroof, traction control,
heated seats, 3 to choose from
Suggest list of $87,000+.
2 to choose from
'94 BMW 840Ci
Luxury coupe, forged alloy wheels
Cf)
w
(/)
LLI
F—
w
'36 month closed end k3ase.Apogoved credit only. 10,000 miles per year. $.15 over mileage. $3000 non-refundable down payment, sec. dep. of $500 for 525i, $550
for 525iT, $750 for 750iL and 840Ci. License, title, taxes and plates due at delivery. Option to purchase at end of lease term at $21,472 for 525i, $23,203 for 525iT,
$47,658 for 750iL and $38,179 for the 840Ci. Total payments equal to ad price plus 6% times 36. Following are the stock numbers: 525i-80500, 41600, 525iT-460500,
460600, 80600, 7501L-80800, 80900 and 840C1-460300. Scheduled maintenance on all but 750iL 750iL is full maintenance.
1
71
LLI
F-
48
4065 Maple
Just E. of Telegraph
Bloomfield Hills
ERHARD BMW
Michigan's Largest and Most
Experienced BMW Dealer
Family Owned and
Operated Since 1964
OPEN
SATURDAY
10 am-4 pm
642-6565
OPEN MON. &
THURS. EVENINGS
UNTIL 8:00 P.M.
the move,
calling it "a
very signifi-
cant step toward
realizing the goal of
ending the Arab boycott."
Clearly, the U.S. administra-
tion expects that the other 15
Arab states will soon follow the
GCC's example and that the Arab
League, which initiated the boy-
cott almost 50 years ago, will of-
ficially rescind not only the
secondary and tertiary boycotts
but also the primary boycott,
which bans trade between Arab
countries and Israel.
So much for the happy an-
nouncements. What is the reali-
ty? Any measure which reduces
and eventually ends Arab eco-
nomic warfare is of course wel-
come. But will the formal ending
of the Arab boycott give a signif-
icant boost to Israel's total ex-
ports? And will many potential
investors who have been boy-
cotting Israel now knock on Is-
rael's door? I have my doubts.
The impression one gets from
the media, and from statements
by some Israeli officials, is that
the Arab countries, and especially
the oil-rich states, are a vast po-
tential market for Israeli goods.
Let's put things into perspec-
tive. Total GCC imports in 1992
were about $67 billion, of which
Saudi Arabia accounted for $30
Meanwhile,
despite Egypt's corn-
mitment in 1979 to ig-
nore the Arab boycott, Israeli
exports to that country have been
minuscule. There are many tar-
iff non-tariff barriers which
can hamper trade, even after the
boycott is removed.
It is an open secret that for
many years Israeli businessmen,
collaborating with Arab busi-
nessmen and others, have been
doing a thriving under-the-table
trade, shipping Israeli goods
through third parties to the GCC
states, Jordan and Lebanon.
A 1984 article in Forbes esti-
mated the magnitude of this
trade at about $500 million. Ob-
viously, there are no official fig-
ures, but one can safely assume
that this trade has grown in the
past decade.
The goods shipped have in-
cluded agricultural technology
(including drip irrigation sys-
tems), some food products and
other items.
If and when the GCC and oth-
er Arab countries rescind the pri-
mary boycott, one can expect
some increased trade. But it is
unlikely that total Israeli exports
will grow much more rapidly
than in the past.
The under-the-table trade will
Eliyahu Kanovsky is an economist
be reported in official statistics,
at Bar-Ilan University.