Last update - 00:00 03/10/2006
Israel asks Egypt to facilitate export of palm leaves ahead of Sukkot
By Itim
Minister of Agriculture Shalom Simchon on Tuesday asked his Egyptian counterpart to facilitate the export of hundreds of thousands of palm leaves from northern Sinai to Israel ahead of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
During Sukkot, Jewish tradition requires believers to build palm leave-thatched huts. In order to supply the demand, hundreds of thousands of palm leaves are imported to Israel from neighboring countries every year.
This year some 300,000 thousand palm leaves will be cut down in Israel alone and another 300,000 will be imported from Jordan, Gaza, Jericho and the northern Sinai.
The traditional huts, known as Sukkot, are built to remind Jews of the temporary dwellings in which the ancient Israelites are said to have lived in before arriving in the Land of Israel.