Israel Reverses iPad Ban

By: Charles Cooper
Topics: Tech Talk

Apple's iPad: Kosher to bring into Israel

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Reversing a two-week-old ban, Israel's Communications Ministry Saturday evening said people could start bringing Apple's tablet computer into the country without fear of confiscation.

"After intensive technical scrutiny," the ministry said in an official statement, it has decided "that the device which could be operated in various standards will be operated in Israel according to local standards"

So ends a kerfuffle which began after the government complained that the iPad failed to meet European standards (used in Israel) governing the wireless use of communications frequencies. At the time, officials claimed that the stronger frequency used by the machine would create interference with other electronic devices.

At the time, the ministry also claimed that the wireless strength of the device violated Israeli law.American experts familiar with the different wireless frequencies used by American, Israeli and European electronic devices had challenged that claim.

Whatever the reason, the reversal should please the small number of early adopters who brought iPads into the country with them, only to watch them get confiscated at the customs desk at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport.

Charles Cooper is an executive editor at CNET News. He has covered technology and business for more than 25 years, working at CBSNews.com, the Associated Press, Computer & Software News, Computer Shopper, PC Week, and ZDNet. E-mail Charlie.