Palestinians are no longer bagging groceries most days at the Rami Levi supermarket at the Gush Etzion junction, after a romance between a Palestinian bagger and a Jewish cashier spurred local rabbis to demand that Levi take action

In an effort to prevent fraternizing between the Palestinian packers and the female Jewish cashiers, baggers are no longer working at the checkout counters most of the week. An exception was made for the Wednesday and Thursday night shifts, when the checkout counters are so busy that there is little opportunity for conversation. The decision followed a storm that arose in the Gush Etzion settlements after it was reported that a local Jewish girl working as a cashier had become romantically involved with one of the Palestinian baggers. Workers at the supermarket and a leading local rabbi say that the Palestinian worker was fired, but Levi denies that, saying, “He’s gone off to Jordan. When he returns, we’ll see.” The Jewish cashier quit on her own. Over the past few weeks, after reports of the cashier-packer affair spread, Rabbi Gideon Perl, the rabbi of Alon Shvut, met with chain owner Levi and demanded that he take action to prevent a recurrence. “There was an affair between a cashier and a bagger that nearly resulted in her leaving home,” Perl said. “There was a plan to take her to his village. I was asked to talk to Rami Levi and his staff about the problem, and told them that one of the things we had feared when the store opened a year ago was exactly this. I’m pleased by the steps Rami Levi has taken. The Arabs don’t particularly like this [interreligious relationships] either, and it seems that Rami Levi understands the problem. The worker was fired and will not return. You need a whip to teach people a lesson after something like this happens.”