Yemeni Blockade Triggers Economic Crisis and Price Hikes in Israel

A new wave of price increases has hit the Israeli markets at the beginning of May, amidst an economic crisis caused by the ongoing war and the maritime blockade imposed by the Yemeni armed forces on the occupied ports.

The Hebrew newspaper “Yedioth Ahronoth” published a report last week stating that three of the largest food companies in Israel, Tnuva, Tara, and Strauss, have announced price increases for dairy products. This move joins dozens of companies that will make thousands of products more expensive.

The newspaper added that this increase comes within “large increases in the prices of most manufacturers and importers who have raised the prices of thousands of products in marketing chains during the year. Some have raised prices in 2023, others in 2024, and most have done so twice. Naturally, there is no consumer in Israel who does not buy foodstuffs and consumer products; thus, this harm reaches every house in Israel,” according to the report.

The report clarified that Strauss announced it would raise dairy product prices by 4.48%, while Tnuva imposed an increase of up to 10% on its dairy products and other products, including peas. Tara announced a price increase for dairy products by 4.5%, in addition to raising the prices of Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, Sprite, Carlsberg, and other beer brands.

The report stated that “a large number of food products will become more expensive in May, alongside dairy, including products from the imported company Diplomat, the imported and manufactured company Henkel Sod, and Nestle Ice Cream.”

The increases will also affect non-food products such as “batteries, Tide and Ariel washing powders, Tampax and Always feminine hygiene products, Fairy dishwashing liquid, Oral-B electric toothbrushes” and other products, according to the report.

The report pointed out that “products will become more expensive for retailers in mid-May, and this will reach consumers after the current stock runs out.”

It added that “the list of brands that have become more expensive is long and includes dozens of brands, each brand contains dozens of sub-types and perhaps more, in addition to the private label and fresh and frozen products such as poultry, meat, fish, and vegetables, and the products that have not become more expensive, are discounted or expanded or marketed as unique and distinctive; in order to get a few extra shekels from the consumer, the price increase has reached every category in the supermarket; to the extent that if you cover the shelves of products that have become more expensive, you may not have much left to buy.”

In the same context, the Hebrew economic newspaper “Globes” published a report stating that “Gad Dairy also announced a price increase for its products by an average of 3.5% starting from May 16.”

According to the report, the company justified the increase due to several factors, including “raw materials, packaging factors, production inputs, and import prices,” which clearly indicates the shipping problems that resulted from the Yemeni maritime blockade operations on the enemy entity’s ports, which led to an increase in maritime transport costs and a delay in delivering shipments, whether in relation to imported goods or raw materials.

Since the start of the Yemeni maritime blockade operations on the Zionists, the Israeli enemy markets have witnessed several waves of price increases, reaching in some cases 50%, and the importing companies said: This is due to the increase in maritime transport costs; as a result of the closure of the Red Sea route, and the need for ships to circumvent Africa; which also causes significant delays in delivering shipments, in addition to a shortage in stocks.

The armed forces announced on Friday the start of the fourth phase of escalation against the Zionist enemy, which will include targeting ships heading to the occupied Palestinian ports located on the Mediterranean Sea, anywhere within the reach of Yemeni fire; which threatens further significant repercussions on the enemy’s economy, as the Yemeni escalation operations will lead to new jumps in the prices of imported goods, and a shortage in their stocks, in addition to a downturn in port activity that will cost the enemy major losses.

The armed forces have threatened a bigger step, which is to impose sanctions on all companies involved in supplying the Zionist entity and prevent all their ships from crossing the Yemeni operations area if the enemy proceeds to invade Rafah.

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