The cancellation of such quotas was made as part of a general trend toward liberalization in the field of vegetable crops, with the expected import of crops from the autonomous areas being a catalyst for determining the date of the cancellation and the rate of compensation.
I will note that the policy to compensate for the cancellation of quotas was reflected even earlier, when the crop quotas for tomato growers were canceled two years earlier, as well as in the compensation given to onion, carrot and other crop growers as part of the agreement with you.
In the same vein, the former Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Yaakov Tzur, said in his affidavit to the court:
I saw the agreement as an agreement that obligates the state to compensate the potato growers in the amount of NIS 1,700 for each dunam of quota that the growers had. This is an agreed compensation that was determined after negotiations, and which the growers are entitled to for the cancellation of their quotas.
The cancellation of potato quotas was done as part of a general trend toward liberalization in the field of vegetable cultivation. The opening of the market to autonomy crops was a final catalyst for this trend. I should note that as Minister of Agriculture I tried to get the potato quotas canceled even before the autonomy agreements, but the farmers did not agree to this. The autonomy agreements made it impossible to maintain the quotas, thus speeding up the agreement.
I must clarify that there were tough discussions between the parties surrounding the compensation agreement, and the ministers themselves were involved in its final "closure." It was clear to me that this was not a "unilateral" obligation that the state could not fulfill, but rather a bilateral agreement for all intents and purposes, in which the state undertook to pay the growers compensation for taking their quotas.
This was also seen by the former Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Yonatan Basia, who represented the country in all the contacts that preceded the conclusion of the contract. And in his unequivocal words in his (angry) affidavit: