Dozens of employees of the Har-Tov cement factory in Beit Shemesh closed the entrance to the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv on Thursday morning, protesting the rampant import of cement at dumping prices, under which Turkish cement is sold in Israel at a significantly cheaper price than its price in Turkey. The importation could lead to the closure of the plant and the dismissal of more than 120 workers whose livelihood depends on it.
Chairman Avi Elimelech of the Cement Workers' Committee said, "[Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan wants to bury us like he buried the Armenians - we will not let him." At the end of the month, a special committee appointed by the finance and economics ministers is to recommend whether to continue dumping prices or impose a levy that will cancel them to protect local industry, especially in the periphery, through fair and legal competition.