iPads Are Banned From Israel

Not only has Israel banned Apple’s popular new iPad device, they’re also disallowing import via tourists. Claiming unresolved wireless issues with the device, the country has placed a temporary ban on them.

Apparently, the iPad has “powerful” WiFi signals that can interfere with other devices. To prevent this possibility, Customs officials are confiscating the devices, at the Communications Ministry request, and already have around ten. Visitors to the country will have to leave iPads with Customs and pay a storage fee. This ban will remain in place for iPads that do not meet local wireless transmission standards.

I’m guessing Israeli Communications Ministry officials have not heard that some iPad owners are reporting that their devices have wireless connection problems, nor that the chip used has been used in other approved devices, and that it’s approved by the European Union’s regulations for wireless devices, which Israel also follows. (Note that this ban is in place even though the official distributor, iDigital, is run by the son of current Israeli President Shimon Peres.)

For some people, this ban is just one more of the many reasons not to have an iPad. Well at least they’re not shooting through iPads like some Israeli border security guards allegedly did to an American traveler’s MacBook Pro last year, when she was visiting Jerusalem.

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