Following meetings and coordination between the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and its Australian counterpart, Israel received a few days ago official approval from the Australian authorities to export fresh dates from Israel to Australia. The date season ends in August and the ministry hopes that farmers will have time to export to their new destination this year.

Almost all consumption in Australia is supplied by imports that reach around 8,000 tonnes per year. Australia's source of supply is primarily through Iran, the United States, and Jordan. The Australian market potential for Israel is estimated at around 800 tons per year, around 10% of the market. Per capita consumption of dates in Australia is about 340 grams per person on average per year, compared to about 260 grams in Europe.

Israeli date growers export dates to many countries in the European Union, as well as the United States, China, Nigeria, and Brazil, among others. The total export of dates in 2019 was about 26,800 tonnes, which is an increase of 168% compared to 2009, when the export of dates was only around 10,000 tonnes.

In Israel, dates are grown in the Arava region, the Beit She'an Valley and the Jordan Valley, from the Red Sea in the south to the Sea of ​​Galilee in the north and the Yavneel Valley and along the Syrian-African rift, thanks to the prevailing heat in this area. Most of the date trees in Israel are majhol trees (655,000 trees) and consequently more than 80% of Israeli exports are majhol dates and the remaining 20% ​​are mainly minor palms.

Israel is the world leader in the production of Majhool dates: the date crop in Israel is about 43,000 tons, 19,000 of them for local consumption and the rest for export. In contrast, the United States only produces about 15,000 tons.