Israel OKs import of lulavim from Gaza

[oberliner]

Every year, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the State of Israel prepares to import lulavim (palm fronds) - one of the Four Species mentioned in the Torah – from Egypt. This year, however, Egypt has banned the export of palm fronds.

One the solutions considered by the government was to import the palm fronds from Gaza, but the Hamas government refused to approve the export at the last minute.

The potential deal was slammed by left-wing groups and foreign officials, who claim this proves the blockade on Gaza is political rather than security-related. Meanwhile, it appears the lulavim will eventually be arriving from Jordan.

The affair began after Egyptian agriculture minister decided to ban the export of palm fronds until the end of 2011. In the past 30 years, Israel has imported from Egypt about 700,000 lulavim a year, but the deal was canceled following the Arab Spring.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4133721,00.html

[bemildred]

1. Egypt's petty palm embargo

As trade embargoes go, this one probably won't make it into the history books. It won't have much impact on the economy or create shortages of critical goods. But a decision by the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture to ban all sales of palm fronds to Israel this year was, at the least, not very neighborly.

Wednesday at sundown marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, an autumn celebration of God's providence and bounty. Part of the celebration involves gathering four plants, including a date palm branch or lulav, which is used during a prayer and other parts of a religious service.

For many years, Egyptians and Israelis alike have benefited from the yearly trade in the coveted tree branches. Egypt had an abundance of palm fronds and Israel was happy to pay for them. The arrangement worked so well that Egypt became the world's largest supplier of Sukkot palm branches. Before the surprise announcement of the export ban, which included not only Israel but Jewish communities around the world, it was estimated that Jews would purchase 1.4 million branches from Egypt this season. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that in the past, Egypt supplied about 40% of Israel's Sukkot palms.

The announcement, which came just weeks before the holiday, was timed to leave Jews in the lurch on a holiday in which, historically, Jews used to bring offerings to the temple in Jerusalem on behalf of all the other nations of the world.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-adlerstein-sukkot-palms-20111011,0,1574035.story