Bananas and Israel

Bananas and Israel? Is this an appropriate subject for a serious discussion of the Israeli economy?

Dr. Alvin Rabushka

Aren't bananas usually associated with banana republics, those not quite real, one-product Latin American countries dominated by Dole and other leading fruit exporters?

In July, I spent a week in Prague, the beautiful capital of the Czech Republic. In between business appointments, I took note of the rapid changes taking place: the renovation of old buildings, the construction of new buildings, the repair of roads and sidewalks, the installation of fibre-optic cable, the opening of new stores and markets, in all, a hurly-burly of growth and activity.

What most caught my eye was an open-air street market with numerous stalls selling absolutely fresh, gorgeous fruits and vegetables imported from all over the world. There were blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, melons, mangos, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli - you name it, it was there. But what Czech customers almost fought over was the beautiful, long yellow bananas, imported from Ecuador and the Caribbean. Believe me, these bananas were spectacular.

Bananas, Israel has bananas, too. So what's the big deal?

The big deal is that Israel maintains a virtual prohibition on the import of all fresh fruits and vegetables, making only rare exemption to that policy, which protects Israel's bankrupt farming sector from competition. Bananas in Israel are small, ugly, tasteless, invariably bruised and blackened from being abused in handling, and just plain unappetizing.

In the Czech Republic, bananas are large, tasty, and attractive. And, it should be noted, per capita income in the Czech Republic is somewhere between a third to a half of that in Israel.

Buy What you Want? You see, the ability to freely import and buy beautiful bananas is an important indicator of personal economic freedom. The Czech Republic gives its shoppers a large measure of economic freedom. They can buy almost anything they want that is grown or made anywhere in the world. But the bureaucrats who run the government of Israel do not believe that Israelis should be free to eat Latin American bananas. Really, isn't Israel the true banana republic?