A ‘plague’ of locusts have descended on Egypt and southern Israel this week, arriving with biblical timing just three weeks before Passover.
A giant swarm of locusts was the eighth plague that God unleashed on the Egyptian Pharoah to convince him to let Moses’ people go, according to Exodus.
The locusts of the Bible covered “all the ground until it was black” and devoured “everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees.” This year’s attack hasn’t been nearly as catastrophic, although damage to crops in the region is a worry.
The grasshopper-like bugs crossed over on east winds from Egypt into Israel on Monday. Nearly 2,000 acres of desert were covered overnight, officials said. Israeli authorities sprayed pesticides over farming fields in the early morning, trapping the locusts on the ground before the dew could dry on their wings.
Miriam Freund, director of plant protection in the Agriculture Ministry, called it a "medium-sized swarm." Still, “just because they aren't many doesn't mean we are ignoring them,” a spokeswoman for the Agriculture Ministry told The Associated Press.
The Israeli ministry set up an emergency hotline and asked Israelis to be vigilant in reporting locust sightings.
Despite the precautions, some Israeli farmers are worried that the locusts might have a devastating effect on their crops this year.
"(The locusts) may not have ruined Pharaoh, but they could ruin us," Tzachi Rimon, a farmer, told Israel's Channel 10 TV.
Egypt’s state news agency MENA said more than 17,000 locusts were exterminated in an area of more than 84,000 acres. However, no significant losses were reported in that country.
By Wednesday, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that additional swarms will be directed away from Israel and Jodran due to a shift in wind direction.
The last major locust outbreak in the region happened in 2004.
Some Israeli bloggers have taken a light-hearted, yet nutritious, approach to this year’s invasion. The critters are apparently kosher. A blog on the Jerusalem Post suggests a couple of ways to fry and eat the creepy crawlers. Some local chefs have incorporated them onto their menus.
“Often they’re killed in boiling water, in the stove, or the freezer," Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky told The Jerusalem Post. "Traditionally they were caught, or more accurately rounded up when they were stationary on the ground in the cool desert night. Those who are used to eating them think they taste really good.”
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