The UPS package service says Jews in Judea/Samaria who don’t receive service shouldn’t take it personally. The company services Ramallah and Jenin, but not Gush Etzion, Kiryat Arba or Beit El.

United Parcel Service, with branch offices in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Be’er Sheva, Haifa and Ben Gurion International Airport, does not have an official policy denying service to Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria (Yesha). In fact, it services Yesha towns such as Maaleh Adumim, Ariel, Karnei Shomron and Elkanah.

However, it does not reach out-of-the-way places in the Aravah (southern Negev) or the northern Golan Heights – and many in Judea and Samaria. Notably, UPS – its website says it is the world’s largest package delivery company – does not deliver to Gush Etzion, Beit El, Kiryat Arba, Tapuach, Ofrah and other Jewish towns in Yesha.

This, despite its service to many small villages in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, such as Ein Yabroud and Birzeit, as well as Ramallah and Jenin. UPS does not reach most of these areas directly, but rather hires sub-contractors.

Asked to explain this policy, Customer Complaints Director Ilan Nagar said that the considerations are not at all political, but rather exclusively economic. “I don’t want to tire you with the exact figures,” he said, “but believe me, it is not economically viable to serve these areas.”

“Given the thousands of vehicles that travel back and forth to Beit El and Gush Etzion every day,” Nagar was told, “it is hard to avoid the impression that the lack of at least sub-contractor service is politically motivated.”

Nagar responded, “Just as we don’t reach every single place in the Aravah, we also don’t reach some of the places that you have mentioned. It’s only a question of economics.”

He said that he had discussed this topic with his superiors “just this morning,” and said he would raise the issue again, but implied that a change need not be expected in the near future.

“I can’t argue with some people’s sense that this might be a politically-motivated decision,” Nagar said, “but this is not the case.”

UPS Israel can be contacted at [email protected]

Source: INN