Hundreds of Israelis are making an annual pilgrimage to the tomb
of a 19th-century Jewish holy man in Egypt's Nile Delta.
Egypt has in years past limited the number of pilgrims. Israeli
newspapers reported, however, that President Hosni Mubarak accepted
a request from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he
visited Egypt last week to allow unlimited numbers.
Cairo airport officials say some 290 Israelis arrived Sunday on
their way to the tomb of Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira near the
Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. The commemoration of the
anniversary of his death will take place on Tuesday and
Wednesday.
The elderly rabbi was making his way from his native Morocco to
the Holy Land in 1879 when he fell ill and died in the Egyptian
city of Damanhour.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects dates of commemoration)