Good News

From Israel To The Nations

{image_1}Israel will donate NIS 20 million (US $5 million) to victims of genocide in Darfur, Sudan. “Israel cannot stand by while such a severe humanitarian crisis is taking place—the most severe in the world today—without trying to reach out and help,” Daniel Miron, head of the foreign ministry’s human rights division said. Israel will transfer NIS 16 million (US $4 million) to four international aid organizations and purchase US $1 million worth of medicine and water desalination equipment. The donation will put Israel on the top 10 list of donors to this region. The foreign ministry also intends to establish a camp in Kenya, where two Israeli doctors will care for hundreds of patients.

A New Museum at Masada

{image_1}The story of Masada, Herod the Great’s desert fortress (built between 37 and 41 BC), comes to life in a new museum. The display, spanning one century, combines archaeological findings with a theatrical setting, exploring Masada’s cultural, architectural, and artistic place in the Roman–Hellenistic period. Nine scenes are divided into three main topics: the relationship with Rome, Herod’s and the rebels’ Masada, and the Roman army.

Israeli Engineers Develop Mobile Bomb Shelters

{image_1}With residents of Sderot and its vicinity suffering a daily Kassam bombardment, Israeli ingenuity has developed mobile bomb shelters that can be deployed and redeployed. Josh Adler, the cofounder of Operation Lifeshield, and his partner, recent US immigrant Shep Alster, were volunteering in the north of Israel during last summer’s Second Lebanon War when they saw the need for mobile shelters.

New Jewish Museum in Munich

{image_1}For Jewish people, Munich is a city that lives in the shadow of its past: first, as the birthplace of the Nazi party and the nearby Dachau camp, then later as the city where 11 Israeli athletes were murdered during the 1972 Olympic Games. It seemed, until in recent years, as if Munich was hesitant to acknowledge its checkered history with the Jewish people as no formal monument or museum had been erected to their memory some 50 years after the Holocaust.

97-Year-Old Makes Aliyah

{image_1}Herta Lowenthal, a British Jew, has become one of the oldest people to ever make aliyah (immigration to Israel) at 97 years old. She joined her 12 great-grandchildren in Israel in March 2007, emigrating from Britain, where she lived most of her life. Lowenthal told the British Totally Jewish (TJ) Web site that moving to Israel was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

Markets Unlocked: Christian Businesses Bless Israel

“So on behalf of Christians around the world I would like to take this opportunity to say to the people of Israel, that you are so loved. That your God has so touched our hearts with His love for you that we are here to serve you if you will allow us to do so. Markets Unlocked is given as a free gift to you from the Christian community around the world as an act of repentance and reconciliation for what has been done to you through the centuries in the name of Christianity, and as a practical expression of our love and support for you.

We stand together with you at this difficult time, and we would like you to know that you are not alone.”  Julian Watts, at the launch of Markets Unlocked in Israel

25%  Increase in British Immigrants

While 2006 may not have been a particularly impressive year for aliyah [immigration to Israel] due to the war in Lebanon—to which many attribute the 9% drop in immigration figures (19,200 compared to 21,042 in 2005)—the and Nefesh B’Nefesh are still very pleased with this year’s statistics, citing a massive increase in immigration from North America and Britain.

Israel 5th Fastest Growing Economy

Israel has risen 12 places in an international listing to become the world’s 36th largest economy. So reports Globes, based on a survey by The Economist. Israel was also cited as the fifth fastest growing economy. The survey graded nations’ economies in the years 2001–2005 as compared with 20 years earlier.

From Rocks to Fuel

An Israeli company has patented a way to turn oil shale rock into high quality oil and natural gas—a project that may bring jobs to the Negev and low-cost energy to the Jewish state. The Hom Tov (Hebrew for “good heat”) process, the brainchild of A.F.S.K. Hom Tov CEO Yisrael Feldman, involves mixing the bitumen residue left over after refineries produce crude oil together with oil shale rock.

Connecting the Black Sea to the Red Sea

An Azerbaijani news Web site reported that Turkey and Israel have agreed in principle to build a water and gas pipeline system connecting the Black Sea to the port of Eilat on the Red Sea. The ambitious project involves the building of oil, gas, and water pipelines, as well as electricity and fiber optic cables, as part of a seabed pipeline system in the eastern Mediterranean. Passing through Turkey and bypassing Syria and Lebanon—countries which are hostile to Israel—the pipeline will reach the Israeli port of Ashdod, where an existing pipeline terminates at Eilat.