Imports of school supplies from China and Turkey are threatening to overwhelm the local economy in Israel, prompting some Knesset Members to open a discussion on how to encourage Israelis to buy “blue and white.”
Knesset Finance Committee members say that Israeli merchants are eschewing locally produced but often more expensive notebooks, pens, pencils, sharpeners, book covers and student schedulers - a multi-million shekel business by itself.
Nearly all state and private schools require their students to purchase such schedulers, often produced specifically for the school and sold at a hefty price.
Lawmakers are discussing ways to encourage companies that currently import school supplies to do business with Israeli manufacturers, many of whom said they will not be able to continue in business if they don't get more orders.
This year, Israeli importers expect to receive approximately NIS 7.66 million in school supply merchandise from China. The figure includes 5.3 million pens, 940,000 pencils, 446,000 sharpeners, 400,000 erasers, and 1.7 million notebooks and schedulers – an increase of 18 percent over last year.
In addition, merchants will be importing significant amounts of school supplies from Turkey. Overall, imports of school supplies, which come from a total of 25 different countries, are up two and a half times this year over last.