Israel Active

The Moon came to its closest point of the year to Israel last week.

See these clips of some unusual Israeli buskers at the Mamila shopping mall in Jerusalem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-KRMVdEYjc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D6dFViw2m8

It’s so lovely to have an almost positive article about Israel from the BBC. We may get a few more, now that most of their news reporters can’t risk working in any of the nearby war zones.

(Thanks to Size Doesn’t Matter) National Geographic Traveler has selected Tel Aviv in its top ten choices for the best beaches in the world.

There are some classic one-liners in Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Dave Barry’s description of his first visit to the Jewish State.

For the first time in recorded history, 20 pairs of the common chiffchaff have been found in Israel. The birds are nesting in a remote valley in the Hermon. Turkey is the furthest South previously detected. 534 species of birds can be found in Israel. 500 million birds migrate through Israel.

UK Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks gave an inspiring speech at the “Closer to Israel” event in London. He listed dozens of Israel’s innovations and humanitarian activities as well as the successful lives and the benefits that Arabs enjoy in the Jewish State.

(Thanks to Michael Neifeld) I don’t usually post political articles, but this one by Professor Norman Bailey in Globes seemed particularly positive (for Israel) in the way it summarizes what has happened to the Middle East in the two and a half years since I started these newsletters.

Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, Israel's most loyal ally in Latin America, was received warmly in Jerusalem. He signed a free trade zone agreement between Israel and Colombia, an air services agreement and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in matters of innovation.

Two of Memphis Tennessee’s most famous personalities - Elvis Presley and Martin Luther King - were pro-Israeli. But it is still amazing that a US state with only 9,000 Jews held its 6th annual Israel Festival that attracted 13,000 visitors.