Rep. Howard Berman (D–San Fernando Valley) wrote to Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf last week, urging him to export palm fronds because the ban was announced too late for Jews to find alternative supplies.
“I understand that Egypt has previously limited the export of lulavs to prevent over harvesting, and I appreciate the fact that Egypt has a sovereign right to manage its agricultural resources, but such prior export limitations were announced well in advance of Sukkot — giving Jewish communities ample notice to secure alternative supplies of lulavs before the holiday,” Berman said in his Sept. 21 letter to Sharaf.
Berman is the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee.
Egypt last week banned the export of palm fronds to Israel and Jewish communities abroad, leading to fears of a lulav shortage for Sukkot, which begins Oct. 12.
Israel had previously imported about 700,000 palm fronds a year in the run-up to Sukkot, about 40 percent of the annual demand, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported. Another 700,000 of the 2 million lulavs used in diaspora Jewish communities also come from Egypt.
“There is a widespread perception that the reported ban on lulav exports was imposed for purely political reasons,” Berman wrote. “I sincerely hope this is not the case.”
Ha’aretz reported that Israel’s Agriculture Ministry was planning to issue special licenses to allow the import of lulavs from Spain, Jordan and the Gaza Strip. The ministry will require that palm fronds coming into Israel be inspected to prevent the spread of plant disease, Ha’aretz noted.
Traditionally, a palm branch, three myrtle twigs and two willow branches are bundled together into what is called a lulav. It is a mitzvah to shake or wave the lulav on each of the first seven days of Sukkot, according to MyJewishLearning.com. — jta