Good News

16% Increase in New Immigrants

{image_1}More than 19,000 olim [Jewish immigrants] chose to make their home in Israel in 2010. There are significant increases in the numbers of olim from Latin America, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand, Switzerland, and even India.

Intel Invests $2.7 Billion in Israel Facility

{image_1}In an unstable business environment, when US companies are scaling back and weathering bad times, Intel has made a surprising business move. The chipmaker announced in January that it will invest US $2.7 billion in its Israeli plant in southern Israel, which will produce next-generation 22-nanometer chips.

Israel Shatters Tourism Record

{image_1}

Israel announced they broke the record for incoming tourists in a year, with 2010 passing the 3 million-tourist-mark in November. The Tourism Ministry is predicting a total of 3.4 million tourists for 2010, which would eclipse the previous all-time high set in 2008 with 400,000 tourists.

Israeli among Top Game-changers

{image_1}
Israeli educational executive Shai Reshef was awarded the 12th spot in a poll answered by 3 million readers of popular American news blog site Huffington Post as one of the Ultimate 12 Game Changers. These were defined as people considered by readers to be global innovation leaders who have significantly changed the way we live or view the world.

IDF Training Base Goes Green

{image_1}

Last year, the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] inaugurated a new officers' training base near Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev. At the same time, a new US $275 million program was announced by the IDF to protect the environment and also fund environmental education at all IDF bases and training areas.

New Jerusalem Skateboard Park

{image_1}

“Jerusalem will be joining leading cities around the world with a modern and professional skate park that will attract many visitors,” Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat announced recently. The state-of-the-art skateboard park, to span 0.7 acres [0.3 hectares] at an investment of about US $1.3 million, is to open in the capital by the end of 2011 in Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park.

US Defends Jewish Connection to Western Wall

{image_1}

A recent charge by a Palestinian official that there is no Jewish connection to the Western Wall, one of Judaism’s holiest sites, has been repudiated by the Obama administration.

[Palestinian Authority] Deputy Information Minister Al-Mutawakel Taha caused a furor in Israel and around the Jewish world when he endorsed a study that claims that the site, a remnant of the Jewish Temple, is, in fact, historically a Muslim property with no nexus to Judaism.

Bringing Sight to the Blind in Africa

{image_1}

Israel sends special teams to a variety of places in the world to help out with medical and emergency issues, and two eye doctors from Rambam Health Care Campus had the opportunity to treat correctible vision problems and blindness in the African nation of the Republic of Cameroon, according to the Rambam Web site.

Jerusalem in Top 10 Choices for Tourists

{image_1}

Travelers from around the world voted for their favorite sightseeing destinations in a poll sponsored by Trip Advisor, a Web site that provides valuable travel information, and Jerusalem came in seventh place! Their Travelers’ Choice 2010 “Top 10 Culture and Sightseeing Destinations in the World” list their choices in this order: Florence, Washington D.C., Rome, Paris, Siem Reap (Cambodia), New York City, Jerusalem, Venice, Istanbul, and London.

Hebrew University Goes Global

{image_1}

For the first time, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem will award academic credits to students who study its courses via the Internet—enabling students from any country in the world to study a Hebrew University program. The first session of students to recently complete an online Hebrew University course in Biblical Hebrew includes 30 students from Lebanon, Singapore, Peru, Argentina, Holland, Ireland, Denmark, France and Italy.