Israel Active

A new exhibit “The Mount” at the Tower of David Museum offers the public a unique glimpse at 180 years of photographs of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. They document the history of the most holy Jewish site from 1839 to recent times.

242 new immigrants (Olim) from the US and Canada have just arrived in Israel. They came on the 60th charter flight organized by NGO Nefesh b’Nefesh and the Jewish Agency. They included the 60,000th Oleh to be funded by NbN since the NGO began work in 2002.

Russian-Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovich has made a large donation to KKL-JNF to help afforestation, forest rehabilitation and fight desertification in the Negev. The gift will also fund a new forest dedicated to Lithuanian Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust.

The World Zionist Organization honored Ilana Metzger, Joy Wolfe (StandWithUs UK President and VeryGoodNewsIsrael supporter) and Ruth Jacobs for their Zionist activism by awarding them Golden Golda Awards - named after former Israeli premier Golda Meir.

A special flight, organized by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, brought 121 new immigrants to Israel from the Ukraine. They were welcomed at a special ceremony attended by Israel’s Prime Minister, the Absorption Minister and the president of the IFCJ Yael Eckstein.

I briefly mentioned previously the Israel Forever Foundation. It has just launched the “My Herzl International Youth Essay Competition,” to mark the anniversary of Theodor Herzl’s passing. Teens worldwide, aged 13 to 17, are invited to write about their vision for continuing Herzl’s dream.

Israeli NGO Ezer Mizion found a match on their bone marrow database for a young cancer patient. They then discovered the potential donor was trekking somewhere in the Far East. They finally located her at Kasol Chabad in the Himalayas, and she happily agreed to be a donor. That was just the start!  

Archaeologists working at Tel Hazor, north of the Sea of Galilee, have excavated seven huge basalt stairs. They indicate the size of the city conquered by the Israelites 3500 years ago (see Joshua 11:10)

Archaeologists have unearthed 3000-year-old fortifications while excavating underneath what they previously thought was the ancient city of Gath. The latest discoveries include pottery shards with the name of Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, whom David defeated in their famous battle.

A very strange passenger entered Terminal 3 at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport to the delight of surprised passengers and staff. He stretched his legs in the departures area, before eventually being taken into custody.