Customs officials at Ben Gurion airport confiscated last week 35 Shoforos and 40 esrogim which were concealed in two suitcases belonging to a fifty-year-old chareidi Jew, a resident of Bayit Vegan who deals with the above commodities. This Jew was returning from Morocco and tried passing through the duty-free Green Aisle. Just a week ago, customs inspectors confiscated 100 esrogim from a Jew returning from England.
As part of routine inspection, the traveler had to pass through an x-ray type device which aroused the inspectors' suspicions, calling for an actual hand-examination of the baggage revealing esrogim and Shoforos divided up between his two suitcases, which were duly confiscated.
The Customs Authority allows for every passenger entering Israel to bring one esrog for his personal use, which he must report and display upon entry, according to guidelines protecting produce against possible infestation from abroad, in addition to which he requires a special permit from the Agricultural Ministry to bring in an esrog from abroad.
