Sportswear titan Nike set to stop working with Israeli shops in 2022

Sportswear titan Nike enraged Israeli shops on Sunday by telling them it will cease cooperating with them from 31 May next year.

As a household name across the globe, the pull-out could seriously affect the business operations of hundreds of Israeli sports shops, The Jerusalem Post reported.

On Sunday, Nike wrote to proprietors, saying: "Following a comprehensive review performed by the company and considering the changing marketplace, it has been decided that the continuation of the business relationship between you and the company does no longer match the company's policy and goals."

The move is in line with the organisation's worldwide aim of collaborating with fewer shops.

It seeks to instead have consumers by directly via Nike's online and digital shops.

The firm believes this will improve sales and better shape the process for its high-end offerings.

Nike stopped a sales arrangement it had with retail giant Amazon two years ago.

Israeli shops may begin importing Nike goods using sources other than the company itself, though costs would increase.

Many sellers have suggested Nike's decision will make it harder for them to be commercially successful.

Nike's Sunday revelation has no relation to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

Ben & Jerry's co-founders applaud decision to withdraw from settlements as 'proud Jews'https://t.co/FYdPKBxit3

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) July 29, 2021

In July US ice cream firm Ben & Jerry's revealed it was to cease sales in Israel's illegal settlement outposts, which exist in many parts of the West Bank.

Israeli settlements, built on illegally occupied Palestinian land, are known as hubs for extremist violence against Palestinians living nearby.