4/18/10

When will the iPad be Kosher for Israel?

When will the high tech rabbis in Israel declare the iPad kosher for Israeli consumption?

It's been several days and still no solution to Israel's ban on the new device.  Apparently the issue has something to do with the  wifi bands used by the military there.

The LA Times Babylon and Beyond blog explains:
Legislator Robert Ilatov, of the Knesset's high-tech lobby, sent the communications minister a letter asking the ministry to soften its position on the matter. And if the problem is that the device's frequencies might interfere with those used by the Israeli army, according to the financial publication Calcalist (in Hebrew), Ilatov said the army could give up those frequencies. Other legislators have brought it up too.

Presumably, all this will be sorted out in coming weeks, and before long, the iPad too will be koshered for Israel.
Calcalist indeed does make the point that the IDF ought to adapt and permit the iPad to be imported:
אנשי מקצוע קבעו כי הבעיה היא שתדרי השידור של המכשיר עלולים להתנגש בתדרים הנמצאים בשימוש צה"ל, אולם אילטוב טוען כי הצבא יכול לוותר בנקל על התדרים הללו ולאפשר לישראל להיות בקו אחד יחד עם המדינות המתקדמות בעולם.
Weeks? That seems a bit slow. But then again, Microsoft has a lot of clout in Israel.

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