The recession has reached the Simchat Torah flag market, an Israeli industrialist group said Tuesday. The flat economy has translated into flat sales of commercially produced flags. A total of 700,000 flags - twenty percent fewer than last year - are expected to be sold by the end of this week.
Importers said it was likely the families planning to supply their children with homemade flags, or use flags that children made in school in honor of the holiday, instead of buying flags.