Akko’s 2,300-year-old Harbor

{image_1}Continuing the archaeological excavations of the old city of Akko (Acre) and its ancient harbor, Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) archaeologists have begun to expose marine installations dating from the Hellenistic Period (323–31 BC). In this period, Akko Harbor was believed to be the most important and largest harbor of its kind in Israel.

Reconstructing a Royal Garden

{image_1}Ramat Rachel is an ongoing archaeological dig on the southern outskirts of Jerusalem. A 2,500-year-old garden at the site holds many secrets about the past waiting to be uncovered. An elaborate network of irrigation channels made it clear that this was a garden, but what was planted in it has been a big mystery.

Another Large Gold Cache Found

{image_1}In the August Dispatch, we splashed the latest gold finds in Israel, and then just after our deadline, yet another one hit the news. In a dig near Herzliya (15 kilometers or 9 miles north of Tel Aviv), 108 gold pieces were found hidden in a pot, in similar fashion as one of the earlier gold discoveries.

Reinforcing Ground Forces

{image_1}Earlier this year, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) purchased 2,000 Hummers from the US Army that were left behind with they withdrew from Iraq. They have low mileage and were purchased at less than one-third the standard price, according to a WorldTribune.com article. “The new vehicles, which will expand our fleet, will significantly improve our maneuvering ability during an emergency,” explained Maj. Amit Trep, head of the Department of Weapons Mobility. “This will be a giant leap forward.” They will arrive in Israel in stages at around 100 per month, according to the IDF’s Web site.

The Home Front Prepares

{image_1}”The Home Front Command is prepared for a wide variety of threats,” Maj. Gen. Eyal Eizenberg, chief of the Home Front Command. “Israeli civilians must understand that in the next war, they are part of the system, and that the outcome of the next campaign depends on the resilience of the home front.”

Next Lebanon War Will Be Different

{image_1}Israel Defense Forces [IDF] officials painted a bleak picture of a future conflict between Israel and Lebanon, saying that it will probably entail a massive response by the IDF, including the deployment of ground forces. On the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Second Lebanon War, IDF officials expressed grave concern over the future of the relative calm noted on the Lebanese border [to date].

Nuts about Nut and Fruit Cake

{image_1}Dried fruits and nuts are standard fare on the Middle Eastern table and have been for millennia. Figs, dates, and apricots were delicious, nutritious staples in the ancient Israeli diet, and drying them insured they could be eaten year-round. Today, many a holiday menu is augmented with colorful dishes of these tasty delights, and generations of Israeli cooks have come up with literally hundreds of creative ways to use them in main dishes, salads and desserts.

Lighting Up Jerusalem

{image_1}Crowds descended on Jerusalem’s Old City for the third annual eight-day Festival of Light in June. This year, the festival was even larger than previous years and included ten international artists who displayed their best artistic work in the field. Light was used to create statues, live performances, and truly elaborate artwork. Standing just outside the Jaffa Gate was a massive cupola. The 82-foot-high (25-meter) domed structure by Italy’s Luminarie De Cagna was magical, as 63,000 electric candles came alive with tiny points of colored light.

Netanyahu Forms Huge Coalition

{image_1}Israelis woke up on the morning of May 8th to find that during the night a deal had been struck between Prime Minister Netanyahu's Likud party and Shaul Mofaz's Kadima block in the Knesset [Israeli Parliament]. It means that the new coalition has a guaranteed 94 seats in the Knesset's 120-seat forum. The nation was shocked and conversation was dominated by political analysis.

Majority of Israeli Arabs Prefer Israel

{image_1}The vast majority of Israeli Arabs are reconciled to the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and even exhibit a degree of patriotism, according to a poll released in June. The survey by Haifa University found that nearly seven in ten (68.3%) preferred to live in Israel than anywhere else, even a future Palestinian state. It found that 57.7% are reconciled to Israel as a Jewish democratic state whose day of rest is the Sabbath on Saturday and Hebrew is the main language.

African Wild Ass Born in Israel

{image_1}Once again the Ramat Gan Safari Park has participated in the preservation of one of the world's most endangered species. The African wild ass is found in the wild only in Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the immediate region. It is thought that there are only about 570 individual animals in the wild all together. There is no present danger of extinction, but the wild species is listed as critically endangered. Early in June, a female wild ass, with its distinctive leg markings, was born at the Ramat Gan Safari Park near Tel Aviv.

On Jerusalem Day

On Jerusalem Day

{image_1}To a Knesset [Parliament] plenum on May 20: “We need to stop for one day every year and realize that we are witnessing and experiencing the fulfillment of a prophecy, the yearning for Zion, the return to Zion and the revival of Zion.” Referring to Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism and the visionary of the State: “He foresaw the problem and the solution, but he didn’t give up on Zion. He raised his right hand and said—‘If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither.’ Today we are raising our hand with the same oath. We are taking an oath for a built-up Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel.”