The Israel Manufacturers Association is angry after learning that Eldan car rental company has ordered no less than 500,000 tee shirts to distribute for Yom HaAtzma’ut, Israel Independence Day, seeking to spread a patriotic message.

Officials representing the garment manufacturers feel the message would be more potent if the shirts were manufactured in Israel instead of Turkey.

An Eldan representative told Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet on Wednesday afternoon that the company has a responsibility to shareholders and it is compelled to act in a responsible fashion regarding such undertakings. He agreed that it would have been possible to order fewer shirts at the higher price, and manufacture them locally, and stated that he is willing to enter into a dialogue with officials in Israel immediately towards trying to reach a mutually beneficial agreement for next year.

Local textile officials are outrages, explaining that it is bad enough that the shirts are being made out of the country, but to hand the order to Turkey, which has done nothing but attack Israel diplomatically since Operation Cast Lead is simply a case of poor judgment.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)