Israel: Antitrust Chief welcomes Amazon

On Wednesday, October 24, Israel antitrust commissioner Michal Halperin said she would favor e-commerce giant Amazon setting up shop in Israel as a local e-commerce retailer, which she predicted would lower consumer prices in the country, but she said steps would have to be taken if Amazon curbed competition in the country.

Amazon already dispatches packages directly to customers in Israel, but has no physical distribution presence of its own in the country. Earlier this month, Haaretz reported that representatives of Amazon Europe were in Israel to meet with local delivery companies about making the delivery of Amazon packages from abroad more efficient and to ship exclusively from Europe rather than from Europe and the United States.

“If Amazon comes to Israel, it will bring about a consumer revolution. I very much want Amazon in Israel. It would bring about lower prices and we would welcome its presence here,” Haperin said in remarks at a conference at the Knesset on Wednesday about internet corporate giants and the individual citizen.

Full Content: Haaretz