Israel Active

Israel’s Air Force controlled the skies of Iran without incurring any casualties or damage by having its aircraft intercepted. The most prominent feature of the campaign was the Israeli variant of the F-35 - the Adir.

Rambam Medical Center in Haifa has a 3-floor underground parking lot that converts, in a matter of hours, into a fortified hospital for 2,000 patients. (See previously.)  It even has a play area for children whose schools would be closed during war-time.

Four endangered lions from zoos in the Czech Republic were flown by special El Al cargo plane to Haifa zoo. El Al captain Roi Afodi, is a father of two sons named Lavi and Ari, both words meaning lion. VP of operations at the Maman cargo terminal, thanked El Al for … bringing the pride of lions to Haifa,

A Magen David Adom team delivered a baby at a home in Tel Aviv during a Red Alert and then rushed the newborn and his parents to a nearby shelter. The paramedic said, “Seeing a half-hour-old baby in a public shelter, surrounded by a family full of blessings and joy, is something you don’t forget.”

Lior and Michael didn’t let a war and cancelled venue stop their wedding. They relocated to a public bomb shelter, 4 floors beneath Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Center. Among the concrete columns friends and family celebrated, including the groom’s parents who had traveled from Argentina. Great scenes.

A late 8th century BCE gemstone seal was discovered during excavations in northern Israel. It is believed to have been used by a high-ranking administrative official during the time of the Kingdom of Judah. It is inscribed, “Belonging to Makhach (son of) Amihai,”

A family in Modi’in Illit recently celebrated the birth of their 21st child. All 21 children were born as singletons, with no multiples among them. The eldest child is only 22 years old. This means that over just more than two decades, the family has welcomed nearly one child every year.

Israel’s Religious Services Ministry has published a centralized list of women’s mikvaot (religious bathhouses) equipped with accessible protected spaces. Women’s mikvaot were permitted to remain open only if the facility included a nearby protected space. Men’s mikvaot, by contrast, were closed.  

A special flight carrying about 50 Jewish immigrants from France and Britain arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport during the ongoing war. The Jewish Agency and the Aliyah Ministry said thousands of new immigrants have arrived since the conflict escalated and 20,000 since last Passover.

The Great Isaiah Scroll (see previously), the oldest near-complete biblical book ever found, is on show in its entirety for 1st time since 1968. The 7-meter, 2,100-year-old artifact, can be seen at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum. Only 25 people at a time are allowed into the climate-controlled room.