Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, under the 1985 Israel deal, “virtually any product produced in Israel that can be competitive in the U.S. market can enter the U.S. duty-free…In contrast, U.S. products continue to face high tariffs in many sectors limiting their access to the Israeli market.”

Despite Trump administration moves to boost U.S. agricultural exports to Israel, exporters should expect little in the way of meaningful change driven by the administration. With Benjamin Netanyahu seeking to regain his position as prime minister in September following a failed earlier bid during parliamentary elections, the Trump administration is unlikely to engage in even symbolic pressure over trade issues. Israel has successfully resisted such U.S. pressure before. From 2005-2008 Israel appeared on a U.S. Trade Representative watchlist for pharmaceutical industryCommittee understood the threat in the early 1960s. Their regulatory efforts culminated in the November 21, 1962 Department of Justice order that the American Zionist Committee umbrella, of which AIPAC was an integral member, begin to register as the foreign agent of Israel.

The effort faltered and then failed in the years following JFK’s assassination. Ever since, the U.S. has been forced to assume an ever greater role as Israel’s sole relevant benefactor for diplomatic, military, moral and economic support. Unfortunately for most Americans, ongoing fallout from the FTA may not be the most damaging initiative launched by Israel and its lobby. Considering the little known past as prologue, what other “bad deals” beyond trade are looming? IRmep forecasts the following probabilities, most of which could vastly exceed the