Why has Israel banned the iPad?

Israelis invented the iPad?

why does the government think its alright to get involved in someone's purchasing choices at all? how does the govenment have a right to this???

Every other comment has the standards that are easy enough to find from Apple that say that the ipad is compatible with European standards. And we're just responding to an article, not journalists whose job it is to research and gather information and publish it as an informed opinion. Second, and my major beef with this all, is that the ipad is not just an internet provider. If the problem is with the internet, then what about people who are trying to use these tablets to write, or amuse their cats? How is policing and controlling in any way a demonstration of a Democratic government? How does the choice to confiscate/monitor/control show the Israeli people that they are in any way safer? The only real strong argument I've seen is that the IDF is scared someone's going to hack their radio signal. Well, anyway, that's what I think.

The official importer, iDigital, is owned by the son of the President, Shimon Peres. It's SOP in Israel for exclusive distributors to get 'friends in government' to legislate against private imports so as to protect the vast profiteering by the 'official' importers. You will find the same thing with telephones, automobiles, airlines, etc. Israeli consumers pay VASTLY more than most anyone else in the world for most items, while the Israeli Oligarchs fleece the plebians. The technical excuses in all other cases make no sense, so why should the iPad story be different? Making money has been the traditional prime motive for entering politics since the days of the Socialist-Communist founders of the state. Why should Peres be different?

"Some people are being bribed". I think it's the exact opposite. Some people wanted a bribe and didn't get it.

The a-band (802.11a) is not open to consumer use in Israel. The iPad is enabled for a/b/g/n. The latter 3 use the 2.4 GHz band, just like (newer) cordless phones. a-band wi-fi uses channels in the 5.0 GHz band, which is not open to consumer use in Israel. The Whale

It's the same mentality that drives Israeli government thinking regarding "personal imports" of all kinds. Whether it's cars, appliances or computers, there is a mindset in which Israeli government officials feel a need to "protect" consumers from themselves. I've come across this over the years on a number of occasions. Usually when governments do this it's not about consumer protection but about protection of monopolies and exclusive distribution arrangements.

The "dead hand" of government reaching out to strangle innovation to death. Screw you, government hack. I'll stay home and enjoy my liberty to be productive and mobile in free countries only.

So if a 'new' ipad is released that has EU standards (which I still think in a poor excuse), how will customs officials tell the difference between the 'old' and 'new' ipad? The ministry once again is not thinking things through clearly. I think the root of this ban is a push from high-tech companies who didn't enjoy profit sharing when the iphone was first released and flooded Israel with jailbroken phones. Still licking their wounds but now enjoying the fruits of the iphone being sold in Israel, they want in on the ipad profits too. LAME!

Someone or some people are being bribed as per usual

Israeli and European standards allow two more WiFi channels than US standards, that means Israeli/EU standard is larger than US. So the comment of Israeli Representative Nati Schubert "If you operate equipment in a frequency band which is different from the others that operate on that frequency band, then there will be interference", is total nonsense. By the way, iDigital is not Apple's representative in Israel. They are an independent authorized reseller. Think about what is their incentive...

You probably started that sentence before you actually thought about it but you appear more interested in getting attention than with intelligent conversation. That's my definition of "trolling"... How old are you, Tony? You really need to grow up, man.

some zionists believe so.

to not allow the iPad in but instead to help entreprenuers in Israel to design their own new age products similar to the iPad, which would be better for the Israeli economy. Also, one must note that in America the "apple" community which prefers "iProducts" over Windows products is the community which is least likely to support Israel, but rather the very liberal community which despises Israel. Rather, support products made in Israel to support the social groups which support Israel and to help the Israeli economy.

Perhaps the problem involves the 3G capability of the iPad. Perhaps there are some frequencies that are being used for some other purpose and there is fear of interference or compromise. I have reason to believe that is the case.

I guess the minister wants to make a name for himself. Take on the mighty Apple, negotiate some minor changes and lift the ban. Wow, what a hero this minister is.

Dandy, I think the goverment is not but you are the wicked person. Aby

To all those of you who claim there is no European certification on the iPad, the European certification appears VERY clearly on the back of the device. Too many people out there are talking out of their backside at the moment.

I'm not what you'd call a cybergeek, but the iPad does have other functionality. And certainly, there must be a way to adapt the iPad's WiFi capabilities to the European standard. Just as sure as you can adapt a PC with Ethernet connectivity to a WiFi network, or an American-made PC to Israel's electrical outlets with a voltage adapter, there has got to be a workaround. Confiscating other people's property is going way too far.

Steve Jobs has become a bit of a power freak in recent years. Apple kept the iPad so 'secret' that it basically did no real-world beta testing. It is not nice to turn your early adopters into Beta testers.

"Get a life. Israelis are addicted to the latest technology, and hate paying taxes but in the ideal world the governments and peoples could both be slightly better behaved." - Ilan Too true. It is not, however, like everyone didn't know this product was coming. It was hyped endlessly for many months. "Thousands of iPAds have been brought in already and only people honest enough to report that they have them with the purpose of paying the tax legally required have had theirs confiscated." - Ilan Too bad if only honest people suffer.

I see lots of concern with the 'bugs' in the iPad. I have been living on the bleeding edge of technology for 30 years and think of early adopters as crash-and-burn test pilots. Lots of folks all over the world are watching the tech blogs and sites to see what the folks who just have to be the first one on their block to have the latest toy are suffering. Some of them have posted here. Ever see footage of penguins rushing to the edge of the iceshelf and then stopping until one finally dives in? The rest wait to see if a Seal or Orca eats the first one.

Even in the US, the iPad is a problem. Princeton University has banned the unit from its network. So until there is a fix from Apple engineers, no iPads in Princeton.

And insist that a new wifi is installed in Israel? I am sure all the wifi anyway whether European or American, or Israeli, are made in the East where it is cheaper.

Socialism at it's finest. Hayek would be proud: Who can seriously doubt that the power which a multi-millionaire, who may be my neighbor and perhaps my employer, has over me is very much less than that which the smallest [bureaucrat] possess who wields the coercive power of the state and on whose discretion it depends whether and how I am to be allowed to live or to work?

Thousands of iPAds have been brought in already and only people honest enough to report that they have them with the purpose of paying the tax legally required have had theirs confiscated. Still to extrapolate from a bureaucratic response to a 'theocratic tyranny' is a sign of mental instability. Get a life. Israelis are addicted to the latest technology, and hate paying taxes but in the ideal world the governments and peoples could both be slightly better behaved. Even in America.

as opposed to a system where all is allowed unless it infringes on someone else, in israel all is forbidden unless you can prove its harmless. abloish the customs service!

Nonsense, the iPad conforms with all EU standards. There is a "CE" conformity logo on the device, and in the iPad documentation, which is also in Apple website, one can read on page 4: European Community Compliance Statement The equipment complies with the RF Exposure Requirement 1999/519/ EC, Council Recommendation of 12 July 1999 on the limitation of exposure of the general public to electromagnetic fields (0?300 GHz). This wireless device complies with the R&TTE Directive. EU Declaration of Conformity: English Hereby, Apple Inc., declares that this cellular, Wi-Fi, & Bluetooth device is in compliance with the essential requirements and other relevant provisions of Directive 1999/5/EC.

is it's policy of having a cutting edge technological economy driven by embracing any new technology that becomes available. What is scary though is the fact that as the state hasn't yet decided on a tax on the ipad. It is not merely banned but those who live in American and go to Israel to headbutt a wall or whatever have their property stolen by custom officials who want one for their little boy. Yet none of you are burning buses and complaining about this. And you want us to believe Israel isn't a theocracy run along religious and ethnic lines?

Ain't they even the market leader? And problems with reconnecting when a devices comes out of sleep mode are common. I have an USB WiFi adaptor who has the same problem when the laptop awakes from hibernation mode (STD). This prevents the PC from connecting, but doesn't interfere with other devices connected to the same network. However, I have suspicions that Apple products are problematic when used in WiFi networks together with computers running on Windows. In my experience, this seems to slow the network down. But reports in the internet suggest this is based on a compatibility issue between Apple and Microsoft, not on something related to the WiFi standard. The problem isn't serious enough to warrant confiscation of devices, and no Apple products have been banned in Europe yet. So, sry, but this explanation isn't really convincing.

Apple themselves have admitted to some serious flaws in the iPad Wifi. Apple "?Under certain conditions, iPad may not automatically rejoin a known Wi-Fi network after restart or waking from sleep. This can occur with some third-party Wi-Fi routers that are dual-band capable when: Using the same network name for each network, [or] Using different security settings for each network,?. The Broadcomm BCM4329 chipset runs 802.11n in low power and that's the core of the problem. Its a new "standard" and many WiFi routers have problems (interestingly the iPhone uses the same chipset but its only the iPad that seems to be having problems)... But beyond the functional problems... the iPad only has FCC validation and that alone should (and is) a K.O. Its a radio device and without validation it should not be allowed. In the U.S. you are not allowed to use radio devices without FCC authorization.. Israel has adopted European standards.. and the iPad does not have EU authorization.. and so..

that Jews invented everything since sliced bread, it is obvious that Israel needs a few weeks to connect the iPad to the Jewish genius. When this is accomplished, the iPad will be welcome as another Jewish technological achievement.

The only reason Custom blocked the ipad is because - as usual - they want to earn as much as they can from the import of new devices. I come from an european country and I can tell you that the average price of hitech products is higher in Israel than in Europe; and I am not looking at USA where prices are much lower!!! It is the same old story (as for cars...vat 90% of car's value!) the custom and the government use the fact that Israel is a country with no exit/entrance except for the airport and the 2 ports to create a close environment and make the citizens pay much higher costs for any product. I bought my laptop in italy for 1.300? in israel costed 1.600.... why?

The explanation given by the Ministry is absurd. No European countries have banned iPads coming through customs. If it were truly incompatible with European wifi standards, other countries would be banning it too...

i really doubt that explanation - when taking a laptop from israel to the US there is absolutely NO problem with the wi-fi..why should it be the other way around? i hope there will be a technician around to explain the details.

Isn't it just an issue with the chosen frequencies interfering with IDF communications networks, just like the 5gb wireless phones?

Vv

Bribe him. "The goal is that all citizens enjoy the use of wireless networks in this country; importation of a device which is not suited to local standards is likely to cause them harm." - Bar Ben-Ari If it is incompatible the worst it can do is not work. "Wasn't it possible to issue a warning earlier and prevent confiscation by the customs authorities?" - ibid Of course. "There was no way at all. Apple's representative in Israel, iDigital, had no information; we tried ourselves to get the specifications from Apple engineers about the frequencies and transmission strength." - ibid Jobs Groupies often adopt before thinking. Apple has to cope with the USA situation where government opposition to intelligent regulation has left the USA far behind the rest of the civilized world in broadband and WiFi technology. Israel has a corrupt government, the USA has a far more fundamentally corrupt government.

Very strange -- I had no idea that there was a difference between "North American Wi-Fi" and "European Wi-Fi". I wonder what's different about the "European Wi-Fi" standard; the spokeman never said. Does this mean that North American _laptop computers_ are banned in Israel? After all, they use the same Wi-Fi standards as the iPad. If I were to guess, the problem with the iPad is that it lets users do telephone communications using Wi-Fi, rather than the Israeli mobile phone networks. And that -- for security reasons, or commercial reasons -- is what the government finds unacceptable.