Israel Active

Israel has begun a project to rid the area of Eilat of over 10,000 defensive landmines placed near the city in clearly marked minefields during the sixties and seventies. The recovered land will be returned to the city for use in housing and agriculture.

Israel’s Transportation Ministry has approved a new project to pave 400km of cycling trails across the country. The project's main goal is to minimize accidents involving cyclists on interurban highways. The ministry also hopes more people will use this eco-friendly mode of transportation.

The Israel Institute opened its doors in the US capital last week with a novel mission: to advance the scholarly study of modern Israel in the United States and around the world.

David Brent is a NASA engineer who will shortly become an American Israeli. It is a lot easier than becoming an Israeli American. He explains that in Israel, the laws of physics are reversed. It is easier to go “up” (Aliyah) than to go down. David is coming home.

Seven descendants of Kaifeng Jews, an ancient community from China’s Henan Province, have come to Israel and reclaimed their Judaism thanks to the charity Shavei Israel. At its height, 5,000 Jews lived in Kaifeng. Today, about 1,000 Chinese can trace their roots to them.

Nadav Shragai, writing in Israel Hayom, urges that we must provide US President Obama with an historical, religious, legal and emotional tour of the Jewish State. He needs to be shown that the Jewish bond to our land pre-dates WW2 by more than three millennia.

I reported a few weeks ago about the IDF officer whose arm was blown off by Gaza terrorists but who returned to present his battalion with its combat medals. Well here is the video. He praised his soldiers and then quoted Psalm 121 “He who neither slumbers nor sleeps will guard over Israel”.

“The people are wonderful, the food is outstanding, the views are splendid, the soldiers walk around with big guns and huge smiles and they are much nicer than our civil servants." This was the impression that six Serbian bloggers took back to Belgrade. (Thanks to Uri)

Non-Jewish Zionist writer Julie Burchill chose the Israeli National Anthem as one of her eight records when she appeared on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs. She also chose “Hebrew Man” by Israel’s Ehud Banai and the theme song from the movie “Exodus”.

Congregants at the Or Avner Jewish day school in Chelyabinsk, Siberia heard a huge explosion during morning prayers followed by a bright flash that lit up the sky. Outside, a meteorite fell from space, shattering the stained glass windows of the Chelyabisnk synagogue.