Israel’s Citrus Exports Growing

The Israeli Plants Production and Marketing Board, which includes citrus, is optimistic about citrus exports this winter season. It predicts a 36% growth in exports, by volume, to 188,000 tons, and a 40% increase in value, to US $162 million.

Children in Israel

Children aged 17 and under make up a third of Israel's population, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics reports. The numbers show that of the 2,253,800 Israelis under age 17, over a quarter (27%) are Arabs, while just under two-thirds are Jewish. This does not tell the full story, however. Nearly half the Arab population is under 17, while in the Jewish population, it's only 30.4%. Minor relief can be found in the fact that the proportion of children in other Western countries is said to be 18% to 26%.

Coin of Jesus Found in Ancient Tiberias Excavation

An unusual and important find was recently discovered at the archaeological excavation of ancient Tiberias, which is being carried out at a site on the shore of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).

Poverty Is Not the Cause of Terrorism

{image_1} A new study by a Harvard University professor has found that terrorism is not caused by poverty-thus further undermining the main premise behind international aid to the Palestinian Arabs of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.

They Didn’t Find Ancient Rice Krispies…

…or Cheerios, but an Israeli-American archaeological team, which excavated an area uncovered when the level of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) dropped five years ago, has documented the oldest evidence for the processing of wild cereals on grinding stones.

PA Leaders Hire Investigators to Trace Arafat’s Fortune

{image_1} The post-Arafat era has left the Palestinians looking not only for a new leader, but also for the financial fortune of the late Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman and other officials. Palestinian leaders have hired private investigators from the United States in an attempt to trace the huge sums of money that belong to the PA and that are spread across the world, the Guardian has reported.

Why I’m Moving to Israel

When I tell people I spent the last year of my life studying abroad in Israel, they usually look at me funny and respond politely. When I tell them I'm planning to move there permanently, the flabbergasted look on their faces demands an explanation.

Hamas Gives Women Equal Jihad Obligations

“A woman must go out and fight the enemy even without her husband's authorization.”

News sources and opinion writers have been surprised by the increased number of women suicide bombers, successful and unsuccessful.

Israel’s Military Strength Revealed

The Middle East Strategic Balance 2003-2004, recently released by the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, gave the public a glimpse into the usually murky order of battle of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). According to the report, the IDF has 186,500 full-time soldiers. This includes 141,000 in the ground forces, 36,000 in the air force, and 9,500 in the navy. If it calls up all of its reservists, the IDF can field 631,000 troops.

Barghouti- The Intifada Must Go On

The Palestinian people should carry on with the intifada, and the death of Yasser Arafat should not signal the end of the “resistance” against Israel, Marwan Barghouti, the jailed Fatah leader, said in November, after Arafat's death.

UN Council Adopts Anti-Terror Resolution

{image_1} The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously in October for a Russian-initiated resolution that seeks to expand the prosecution and extradition of terrorist groups and individuals, including Chechen separatists. But after challenges from Islamic nations Algeria and Pakistan, Moscow's UN ambassador, Andrei Denisov, considerably softened the original text in an effort to get the 15-0 vote.

Another Possible Parkinson’s Gene Identified

{image_1} Israeli researchers have added another gene to the list of those possibly linked to Parkinson's disease, saying their finding could one day affect the treatment options available to patients.

The gene is one that, in a mutated form, causes Gaucher's disease, a genetic condition in which lipids-blood fats-can't be metabolized properly. There is a high incidence of the disease among Ashkenazic Jews, from Eastern Europe.