Notes from Maale Efraim Industrial Zone

In May 2010, Corporate Watch visited Ma’ale Efraim, the only industrial zone in the Jordan Valley, situated on the road to Nablus. The industrial area is attached to the settlement of Ma’ale Efraim, an illegal settlement housing 1641 colonisers.

Ma’ale Efraim was established as a military settlement in 1978 on land seized by military order. The settlement was civilianized in 1979 and further land was seized as ‘state land’. To the West of the settlement is an IDF military base.

The Ma’ale Efraim industrial zone is largely dormant, a holding exercise to monopolise the land. Many of the factory buildings are empty. During our visit, however, a few Palestinian workers were working in the warehouses.

The above sign shows some of the businesses and type of business working in Maale Efraim:

1- Administration, Fior, Karabian Woodshop, Ami Koren – Food Marketing, Raphi Cohen, Fuller Strapping Products, Avia Printing, Radio Mars, Peer Israel.

2- Brom, GBIG, Aqua Print.

3- Jordan Valley Productions, Steel Mills, B. erushalmi, SuperGum, Center Gas, Metuman 2000, Tel Bar.

4- Faber Bros, Cactus Plantation.

Also: Meir Moving, General and Crane Haulage, Apartment Removals, Moran Professional Cleaning Equipment.

The logos displayed in the middle section read: “Maale Efrayim and Jordan Valley Industrial Area Administration, State of Israel, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Jewish Agency Settlement Department, Maale Efrayim Local Council, Jordan Valley Regional Council.”

Impertec Industries

One of the companies in Ma’ale Efraim is Impertec ‘Supergum’. Impertec is part of the ‘Supergum Group’. Impertec and Supergum are sister companies with the same owners. Impertec manufactures gas masks, riot gear and rubber extrusions. Supergum manufacture rubber, plastic and sealing products. Both product ranges have military applications.

The company also has another manufacturing site in the Barkan industrial zone, a large settlement industrial zone in the West Bank, close to the settlement of Ariel (see here).

Impertec was an exhibitor at the Israel Security Exhibition in 2009, an event aimed at raising the profile of the Israeli ‘security’ sector in foreign markets. This sector has the advantage of developing within the context of Israeli apartheid and military occupation, a context ripe for technological innovation. Supergum also promotes itself at several international exhibitions.

On Impertec’s foreign language website, its location is given as 11 Shoncino Street, Tel Aviv. However, in the Israeli Security Exhibitions 2009 handbook, it lists itself as Derech Barkan, in Barkan Industrial Zone in the occupied West Bank. On its ‘contact us’ page, Supergum shows an aerial view of some warehouses and lists the Tel Aviv address. In fact, the warehouses shown look suspiciously like the company’s site in Barkan industrial zone, not central Tel Aviv.

An Israeli government company profile on Supergum Industries states that the company was established in 1956; had a $50 million turnover in 2008; and operates in 4 facilities in Israel, 3 manufacturing plants and 1 managerial (marketing, sales, management and administration) facility in Tel-Aviv. It is not specified whether these four plants ‘in Israel’ include the Ma’ale Efraim and Barkan sites, situated on illegally occupied territory in the West Bank. According to the government profile, Supergum’s international customers include "top automotive manufacturers in North America and Europe." Supergum is listed as having offices in "North America and Europe and operates front logistical facilities in the USA and Germany."

Impertec's international customers include ILC Dover, an American supplier of spacesuits to NASA. Supergum's customers include Egged, International (Navistar), Crown Automotive, MAN (who has dealerships in the UK), Johnson Controls (Automotive System Group), the Swedish army and GIAT Industries (France). The Supergum Group is privately owned by Eylon Ronel and Yehuda Gescheit.