Turkey tightens trade embargo against Israel

Turkey is tightening its trade embargo on Israel, which it introduced in May 2024. Since last week Turkey has stopped issuing “preference documents” to Israel (Eur-Med certificates), two sources familiar with the matter have told “Globes.”. The certificates are issued as part of a multilateral trade agreement, which includes the EU, and allows for the receipt of customs exemption on goods, upon presentation of the certificate.

Eur-Med is a certificate for export and import between pan-European-Mediterranean countries, which includes, in addition to the EU, Israel and Turkey, as well as Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Syria, and the Palestinian Authority. This is a certificate approved by the customs authorities in the country of export and indicates that the goods listed in it are considered “originating products,” and that “percentages of origin” allow for diagonal cumulation by goods between different countries to benefit from customs duties exemption in the destination country.

As part of this agreement, Eur-Med includes the option of “diagonal cuimulation” between Turkey, the EU and Israel. If goods are taken from Turkey to Israel, then it is technically possible to issue a Turkish certificate of origin. But because it is impossible to do so due to the embargo, vehicles that are manufactured in Turkey, brought to Europe, then shipped to Israel, can benefit from customs duties exemption, if a Eur-Med certificate is issued.

A tool that allows for customs exemption

This certificate is intended for cumulation so that goods arriving in Turkey and moving to Europe can reach Israel and benefit from the exemption. As part of the cumulation option, and to streamline the flow of goods, instead of checking each shipment individually, Eur-Med is the technical tool that allows for the benefit of customs exemption, and Israeli customs has the right to ask its counterparts in European countries to verify the certificate – for example, a vehicle manufactured in Turkey. If Turkish customs does not cooperate with the verification process, then the process becomes impossible.

Israel signed the Eur-Med regional agreement in October 2013. The concept of “cumulation” includes the possibility of producing a product in several countries that have agreements with the EU – and among them, according to the relative production advantages of each country in the production process, while maintaining the origin status of the product and the customs benefits associated with this status in exports to the destination country.

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The agreement has, or at least had, a substantial advantage in trade between Israel and Turkey by eliminating the need for changes to the rules separately between each of the trade agreements that all participants have, and thus it was possible to use the EU as a junction on the way. However, now the process of transferring Turkish goods to Israel, bearing customs duties, is becoming even more expensive.

Methods for circumventing the embargo

Since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to impose a trade embargo in 2024, Israelis have used various methods to circumvent it. Even after the initial trade ban guidelines, Turkish customs were permitted to allow goods to be exported to Israel, if the recipient of the goods is registered in the Palestinian Authority, which does not have a port, and uses Israeli ports.

The transfer of the goods to Israeli ownership in exchange for a commission of about 7% to Palestinian merchants who issued the fictitious order created a ridiculous situation. In July 2024, for example, data from the Turkish Exporters’ Association showed that there was a 1,180% jump in imports by Palestine from Turkey, which of course ends up mostly in Israeli hands, due to the embargo. Imports recorded this month from Turkey to Palestine amounted to $119.6 million – compared with only $9.3 million in July 2023. There were unreasonable jumps compared with July 2023 of 453,000% in cement, 51,000% in steel and 35,000% in mining.

The Turks reduced this loophole by tightening controls on exports to the Palestinian Authority, but the issue still remains. Shipments were made, among other things, to Jordan, because goods arrive in the Hashemite Kingdom through Haifa Port as a matter of routine. They enter through Israel, but in regulatory terms are not considered to have passed through the country. This allows for a loophole in which a Jordanian importer initially places an order from Turkey, which arrives in Haifa. At the port, ownership is transferred and the goods remain in Israel. At the same time, goods can be loaded through a third country, such as Egypt, Greece or Slovenia, where the bills of lading are exchanged, and the goods are loaded onto another ship and transported to Israel. Eur-Med is a very important tool in terms of the goods being loaded, which are subject to customs clearance in Israel.

Another anti-Israeli step revealed by “Globes” was the decision by the Turkish Ports Authority in August last year to refuse ZIM ships from docking in Turkey, as part of a broader move to ban ships from docking in Turkish ports. In contrast to ships with a clear connection to Israel, such as ZIM, whose connection to Israel is more pronounced, international shipping giants such as MSC and Maersk can still sail between Turkey and Israel to this day.

On a broader level, the Turks prohibit docking in their country of ships whose flag state is Israeli or those that are owned by Israelis. On the other hand, ships with Turkish flags are prohibited from docking in Israel. The regulations include a ban on handling cargo destined for Israel, but this is not really dramatic, because there is no real reason why cargo that was loaded, for example, in Greece, on a ship sailing to Haifa would disembark in Turkey for reloading. Ankara has also instructed the many ports throughout Turkey that they must require shipowners to sign a declaration that the vessels they own have no connection to Israel, and that they are not carrying military or other cargo to Israel.

A critical supplier to Israel

Until the embargo was imposed, Turkey was a critical supplier of various products to Israel. A study by the Manufacturers Association found that Turkey was Israel’s fifth-largest source of imports. Israel has developed a particularly high dependence on cement products, where Turkey was the source of 71% of cement imports in 2023, the last full year in which there were no restrictions, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

In short, similar to the trade embargo itself that was first revealed by “Globes” and only a few hours later confirmed by an official statement by Turkey’s Ministry of Commerce issue an official, the new step regarding Eur-Med certificates has been introduced on the ground, without any formal official announcement to Israeli customers and European suppliers. Unlike previous steps, the Eur-Med restriction could also complicate Turkey with the EU, given that the treaty is multilateral.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 18, 2026.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026.