Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Millions
of eggs arriving in Israel to replenish critical Passover staple
The government announced last week that it will subsidize
the import of eggs, which have been missing from most supermarkets for
the last two weeks.
Israelis will hopefully heave a sigh of relief before
Passover as millions of eggs arrived in Ashdod Port Sunday from Spain and other
ships and planes are on their way with tens of millions more.
The government announced last week that it will subsidize
the import of this basic food staple, which has been missing from most
supermarkets for the last two weeks in the run-up to the week-long holiday that
begins Wednesday night.
The Agriculture Ministry said that it has requested that shipping
companies change their routes for faster delivery and load double the number of
eggs they would usually carry in their refrigerated containers.
The Finance Ministry also agreed to allocate a special
budget to bring in eggs in an unprecedented, and more expensive, way — via
cargo planes — due to the extreme need. According to the Israel Financial
Insider site, 20 million eggs are expected to arrive by air from several
European countries in the coming days. Besides Spain, other possible sources
are the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Portugal, said the report.
Egg consumption in Israel shoots up 20 percent for Passover,
as families embark on a whirlwind of baking, frying and cooking the special
foods which are traditionally eaten just this one time of year. It is probably
the second-most necessary item in the Passover pantry after unleavened bread,
or matzoh.
Stories have abounded in social media of what has been
taking place due to consumer desperation as the holiday approaches, such as
stores that have eggs raising their prices, or conditioning their purchase on
the customer spending NIS 50 or more on other items.
Tips are also being posted on how to get eggs on the black
market, from sources that are not under the supervision of the proper
authorities. This could lead to an additional health concern and add to the
burden of a health-care system already struggling with thousands of cases of
the coronavirus pandemic.
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