“‘Following the completion of intensive technical scrutiny, Israel Minister of Communications Moshe Kakhlon approved the import of (the) iPad to Israel,’ the Communications Ministry said in a statement,” Cohen reports. “The tests proved the device identifies the Wi-fi access point in its surroundings and adjusts itself automatically, enabling the iPad to be operated without interfering with other wireless devices, the ministry said. ‘Accordingly, the import of a single device per person will be permitted commencing Sunday, April 25th,’ the ministry said.”
Cohen reports, “The ministry also ordered the release of 20 iPads that had been confiscated.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lava_Head_UK” for the heads up.]
Dayenu.
But will they still shoot holes in them?
Re: ‘Accordingly, the import of a single device per person will be permitted commencing Sunday, April 25th,’ the ministry said.’
Only one can be brought in? Strange stuff. There is still more to this story.
MW: ‘expect’ as in expect for more info to be disclosed.
X,
How about a nice cup of STFU?
Another tempest in a tea cup
“Only one can be brought in? Strange stuff. There is still more to this story.” Actually, there isn’t. There’s only one authorized dealer (iDigital) which maintains high prices for all things Apple. The one-per-person limit is simply a means of thwarting the emergence of a gray market.
As to the initial ban, it was triggered – according to an article in Maariv this weekend – by a person who tried to bring in TWO iPads, which triggered a provision in the law requiring a permit confirming said device would not cause interference. The decision to ban and seize was made by one bureaucrat.
“The tests proved the device identifies the Wi-fi access point in its surroundings and adjusts itself automatically.” Like we keep telling people, “Apple – It just works”.
@Dave,
You bet there’s more to this story. My theory: iDigital is funded by a venture capital firm run by Shimon Peres’s son (Shimon Peres, for those who don’t know, happens to be Israel’s President and former Prime Minister). So, clearly iDigital has VERY good connections in the government. Good enough, it seems, to first get a ban on iPads and then, when the public outcry was too great, to limit the import to 1 per person.
Ask yourself this: if there were ANY problem with the WiFi of the iPad, why would they let any in? And if there’s no problem, then why can’t people bring in as many as they want? Because iDigital has very strong strings to the Communications Ministry. They want to reserve the big sales for themselves and the best way to do that is to limit supplies.
Yes, this is a typical “conspiracy theory”- but it also happens to make perfect sense. There’s the classic motive, opportunity and means to make this explanation the only logical one. I defy iDigital to deny it.
BTW, FWIW, iDigital marks up ALL Apple products in Israel by 30% over U.S. retail and they (legally have to) add another 16% VAT, which makes all Apple products VERY expensive. Gee, I wonder why people are importing so many Apple products to Israel? Hmmm. What COULD it be? (heavy sarcasm there in case you didn’t catch it.)
It’s about time, that just didn’t sound kosher.
@ Luke…
i believe X is referring to the incident a few months back where someone visiting Israel had their MacBook confiscated by Israeli Security Forces and subsequently shot as a security measure. turned out that the MacBook in question was indeed… a MacBook.
article found here:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1135243.html
so… Luke, would you like some crow with your cup of STFU?
Maybe now would be the time for Apple to shut off shipments of all Apple products to Israel for a similar period of time. “Because we CAN.”
X, that was a laptop they shot three(?) times with a heavy machine gun(?). But they had good reason for that! The bitch that tried to “smuggle” it into the country was a genetic secular Jew. A traitor to her race. She obviously deserved punishment.
Luke, you have a problem with someone pointing out the immature violence of one group on another? Or is it just the Israelis who should be considered “perfect” and unassailable?
I guess I should state the (what should be the obvious) disclaimer that I do not personally believe Ms. Sussman is a “bitch”. I was simply trying to set the stage for the rest of the “logic” used by the IDF personnel who thought it right and proper that they should mess with this mere woman who dared to insult their culture, religion, life-style.
My apologies to any who thought I was stating my own opinion of her or her actions.
@Fin Fang Foom,
dang, you beat me to it.
It is interesting how certain topics can bring out the hidden or perhaps yet unspoken biases of MDN readers (we’re a cross-section after all, right?). It’s one of the reasons why I wish there was a way to de-politicize the MDN forums.
Unfortunately though, I can’t help looking at DLMeyer’s future posts in a different light now that he has exposed to this forum some of his truly ugly religious bigotry (his retraction of his “bitch” comment not withstanding).
The DataDude,
It’s good to know that someone else here doesn’t have their mind so “open” that their brain falls out.
MDN Magic Word: Opened. That’s just spooky.
This is soooooo LOL….
It all sound like some kind of stupid PR stunt. Israel, the only country in the world that oficially banned the iPad even though I can guess it does not comply fully with ally of different contries requirements.
For instance. It was only 2-3 years ago that these small FM radio transmitters became legal in Sweden. These small transmitters didn’t exist when the law was created.
@MacMan, well, Israel is one of the countries with the highest corruption rate in the world, according to transparency int’l. So the job for apple is clear: there needs to be an Apple store in Tel Aviv!
@DLMeyer: I am an atheist and anti-zionist/nationalist, but I think your words are not really helpful for criticism on Israel. Nor this is the right place, actually we should talk here things apple.
@Asterix
“Israel is one of the countries with the highest corruption rate in the world, according to transparency int’l.
Hmmm…. let’s look at the actual “Corruption Perceptions Index” data for 2009, shall we?
In their most recent analysis Transparency International ranks 180 countries, with high numbers signifying lower governmental corruption:
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table
Israel ranks 32nd, meaning that over 80% of the countries analyzed have more corruption than Israel.
Here’s a PARTIAL of countries with MORE corruption than Israel:
Spain, Portugal, Taiwan, Omam, Korea (South), Costa Rica, Bahrain, Jordan, South Africa, Malaysia, Samoa, Turkey, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Greece, China, India, Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan
Asterix – care to amend your assertions?
Woah, woah, woah guys. I don’t think Luke’s comment had anything to do with religious bigotry. He could have been defaming:
1. the airport security team
2. the israeli security force (that is, security in general in Israel)
3. stupid people
4. gun happy activists
5. trigger fingers
6. creating a witty spin on a news event from some month’s ago*. (Note: wit can be seen in a good light or a bad one such as demonstrated on this site)
Last time I checked, Israel is a secular state. Defaming the Israeli airport security, does necessarily or automatically mean that the author of the comment was/is defaming the Israeli government or any of the religious belief’s of the Israeli people.
@Woah
My initial comments (re: religous bigotry) were directed towards DLMeyer, NOT Luke.
My second comment debunked Asterix’s false assertion of high corruption rates in the Israel government attributed to Transparency International.
This thread is officially de-railed 🙁
Would it kill you all to stick to the topic at hand, that being possible Isreali motives and reasoning behind their decisions, and what could be done to prevent future confusion?
Does anyone know if anything similar happened with any iPhone or iPod launches?