Chief Rabbinate Shmita Guidelines

• No ceremonial tree planting is done during the Shmita year, other than special exceptions at sites where planting has been preapproved by the Chief Rabbinate.
  
• No tree plantings for the public, including at its Plant-a-Tree site for tourists and with schoolchildren for Tu Bishvat, will be carried out during the Shmita year.
  
• KKL-JNF will not distribute saplings to public organizations and municipalities, including saplings for agriculture and bee grazing.
  
• Preparation during the Shmita year for planting in the following year are undertaken at sites that have been specifically permitted by the Rabbinate.

Work undertaken for the preservation and upkeep of existent forests will continue, including pest and disease control as well as fire prevention measures.

Saplings will be prepared (seeding, moving, potting) on special soil-free substrates that are disconnected from the ground, under shading providing at least 51% cover.

In lieu of Tu Bishvat plantings, schoolchildren will be able to take part in preparing the saplings, as specified above.

Olive picking in the autumn of 5782 is permitted without any prohibition according to Jewish law (since they ripened in the previous year)

The olive harvest in autumn of the following year 5783 will be carried out in accordance with detailed instructions from the Rabbinate.

The relocation of trees will be permitted only for the preservation of trees that require removal for projects that cannot be postponed, such as construction, development, road paving and security projects.

The uprooting and transplant of trees will be carried out according to Shmita guidelines and with advanced approval from the Rabbinate.

Minimal work for maintenance and sanitation will be carried out in olive, carob and other fruit tree groves in KKL-JNF sites, such as removal of broken, diseased and\or infested branches. In the carob orchards, the harvest of 5782 is considered to be the produce of the previous year (the sixth year in the seven-year cycle), and pruning broken branches is permitted following the harvest.

KKL-JNF has prepared its nurseries for the Shmita years in accordance with instructions from the Chief Rabbinate. Preparations include the laying of the detatched growing substrate, installation of shading that provides at least 51% cover, ensuring that all containers are fully sealed from the ground, checking the condition of sprouting tray transportation wagons, setting the computerized irrigation systems to prevent manual irrigation, and other tasks.

In the southern region there are delimited areas for soil preservation where preparations for tree planting and transplanting will be carried out in places accorded a sales dispensation by the Chief Rabbinate.

Life-saving security trees along the roads and around the border communities of the Gaza envelope will continue to be planted.