A Tesco store. Photo: Mankind 2k via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – British supermarket giant Tesco announced that starting in September it would suspend the sale of products originating in Judea and Samaria.

A spokesman for the supermarket said the decision was not “politically motivated” and was unrelated to Operation Protective Edge. According to the spokesman, the decision was made as part of the “regular product review process.”

The sole product from the settlements being sold at Tesco stores right now are dates that are actually grown inside the pre-1967 borders of Israel, but are packaged in Judea and Samaria, according to Israel Hayom. Their removal was for “commercial reasons,” the spokesman said, maintaining that the chain has “no plans to change our position on sourcing from Israel.”