Despite calls to uproot the White House tree planted by President Shimon Peres and visiting US President Barak Obama because it was not inspected when it was brought into the country, Minister of Agriculture Yair Shamir assured Israelis on Thursday, 10 Nissan 5773 that this would not occur.
Officials pointed out that the magnolia tree was taken from the White House lawn, brought onboard Air Force 1 and planted in the Presidential Garden without having passed inspection by agriculture officials as the law demands.
This led to rumors that the tree would be uprooted after the presidential visit, but the minister on Thursday released a statement to the media that no such process would take place. He added that the tree will be inspected, but this does not require uprooting it.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
In addition to being inspected for bugs of the creepy crawly kind, that tree should be closely inspected for bugs of the electronic kind. No joke.
Well, a foreign bug of the living kind can wipe out many trees