IDF to import Gaza produce on 'shmita' Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 20, 2007 www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1187502418898&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The IDF intends to import produce from the Gaza Strip on a trial basis ahead
of the upcoming shmita (sabbatical) year, when Jewish farmers are forbidden
by Halacha to harvest the land.

Since Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip in June and the closure of the
Karni crossing, the IDF has refrained from importing Palestinian goods into
Israel. In past shmita years, Israel relied heavily on produce grown in
Palestinian territory.

According to Halacha, all produce grown in Israel on Jewish-owned land
during the shmita year, which starts on Rosh Hashana, is forbidden for
consumption.

"We plan to conduct a few test runs to see if we can find the right
mechanism that will work during shmita," a high-ranking defense official
said Sunday. "We do not deal with Hamas and talk strictly with local
Palestinian farmers and merchants."

Col. Nir Press, head of the Gaza Liaison Administration, is responsible for
arranging the importing of the produce. Due to Israel's policy of not
talking to Hamas officials, Press is coordinating the transfer of the goods
with Fatah officials in Ramallah who are in charge of the Gaza crossings on
behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

Press is in touch with Palestinian merchants and farmers inside Gaza who can
help him coordinate the transfer of produce into Israel during the shmita
year.
The IDF is also involved in setting up a similar mechanism in the West Bank,
particularly in the Jordan Valley. OC Jordan Valley Brigade Col. Yigal
Slovik has held meetings with religious officials to coordinate the transfer
of produce from Palestinian-owned lands near Jericho to Jewish merchants.

Religious authorities have asked Slovik to deploy soldiers in the fields on
the days of the harvest to protect kashrut supervisors who will be there to
ensure that the produce belonged to non-Jews. They want to ensure that
Jewish farmers can't ship their own produce into an Arab village and claim
it was grown on Arab-owned land.