Walmart Job Listings For 'Jerusalem' Rattle Israeli Grocery Stocks

Walmart Inc WMT's job listings for pharmacists, cashiers and stockers that it said are for a new Illinois store dominated headlines thousands of miles away in Israel.

The news sent the stocks of Israeli supermarkets such as Shufersal and Rami Levi lower, according to the Times of Israel. 

Report: Walmart Postings Marked With Israeli Location

Israeli citizens were quick to discover Walmart's job postings for the holy city of Jerusalem. The LinkedIn posts were marked with the city's geographic location and targeted users in the city, according to the Israeli business publication Calcalist. 

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and a group of senior officials met with Israeli officials and local startups in early 2019, the publication said. 

But Walmart has no immediate plans to expand to Israel, and its job postings were meant to target people in Jerusalem, Illinois, the company told Calcalist in a statement.

Walmart's Statement Disproved

The problem with Walmart's statement: Calcalist was unable to locate a city or town named Jerusalem in Illinois. Walmart does operate stores in two U.S. cities named Jerusalem, one in Ohio and another in Arkansas.

The company attempted to clear the air yet again and told Calcalist that it is targeting people living in the Illinois towns of Zion and Salem.

Stock Trades Down Monday

Walmart is no stranger to Israel. The company bought a Tel Aviv-based product review insight company, Aspectiva, this year.

Walmart shares were down 0.72% at $118.23 at the time of publication. 

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