Israel Active

Members of the IDF’s Tavor Battalion are prepared to save lives in the event of a large-scale disaster. The soldiers train to rescue civilians trapped under mounds of rubble. As one of the battalion commanders said, “Rescuing a person is like bringing a child into the world.”

A new Israeli TV station has gone on air. i24news, based in Jaffa, is the first TV channel dedicated to reporting international news from an Israeli point of view. It broadcasts World news (70%) and Israeli news (30%) in English, Arabic and French via satellite, cable and also LIVE on the Internet. Please visit

Pedang, a 14-year-old rare, male Sumatran tiger at Ramat Gan’s Safari Park, has stopped scratching his ear for the first time in years. Safari staff used FoamOtic - a new development by Otic Pharma in Rehovot – to insert anti-bacteria and anti-fungal medication into Pedang’s ear.

Participants on the Talglit Birthright trip to Israel are asked to register on the Jewish bone marrow database. As a result, 23-year-old Matthew Footerman from Houston, Texas donated bone marrow to save the life of 65-year-old Michael Weissner from New Jersey.

(Thanks to Israel21c) The People of the Book are so eager to read, that the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality has opened its first ever beach library, for tourists and locals alike. The books in the beach library are offered in five languages: English, Arabic, Russian, French and Hebrew.

Israeli archaeologists have discovered three 3000-year-old buildings in Judea that include one which King David himself may have used. The palace, near Beit Shemesh, is known by local Bedouin Arabs as Khirbet Daoud, or David's ruin. The area will now be turned into a national park.

Israel’s President Peres sent a message of congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their son, and a personalized baby outfit embroidered with “From Israel with love.” He wished them a hearty Mazal Tov. “From Jerusalem, we pray for his health, his future, and his peace.”

More proof of Jewish settlement in Israel’s capital 2000 years ago.

Israelis recycled over 200 million 1.5 liter plastic bottles in 2012 – a seven percent increase on the previous year. The 29 bottles-per-person average was easily exceeded by yours truly, who personally picked up at least one discarded bottle every day and deposited it into Netanya’s recycling bins.