The Israel Agriculturalists' Federation warned the Ministry of Agriculture Tuesday that tomatoes recently imported from Jordan are infected by dangerous viruses. The tomatoes are not for human consumption and could pose a risk to consumers, according to the farmers.
The Federation accused the state of Israel of acting irresponsibly by importing the tomatoes from Jordan without inspecting them first, and charged that it had, in effect, "allowed a destructive virus into Israel that can destroy large fields of tomatoes and create a shortage of tomatoes that will last many months."