Israel's exports are experiencing a downturn, the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute (IEI) said Tuesday.

A new IEI report said that Israel's exports came to $10.9 billion in the first quarter of 2012 – a 6.5% drop from Q4-2011 and a 5% tumble compared to last year's first quarter.

One disconcerting trend noted by the IEI was a 16% drop in Israel's exportsto the European Unio