Good News

Date Palm Sprouts After 2,000 Years

Israeli researchers have germinated a sapling date palm from seeds 2,000 years old, in a bid to find new medicines that will benefit future generations.

Iraqi Visitor- Arabs Have Good Life Under Israel

Those Arabs living in Israel and areas under the Jewish state’s overall control enjoy far greater freedoms than any of their brethren throughout the Middle East, said Mithal Al-Alusi, leader of the Democratic Party of Iraq, after visiting Israel.

“I am sure that the Palestinian [Arabs] in Israel have more rights than in any other Arab country, and even the Iraqi citizens during the time of Saddam [Hussein],” he said.

1.8 Million Tourists Expected in 2005

According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and Ministry of Tourism, first-quarter 2005 tourist arrivals jumped 25% over the same period last year, with 373,000 visitors. The jump raised expectations of a total annual figure of 1.8 million tourists—higher than anticipated. Significant increases in tourist traffic were registered from Britain, Germany, the United States, France, Italy, and other countries.

Hello, Salaam! Hello, Shalom! Hello, Peace!

There is a new conversation breaking out between Israelis and Palestinians, thanks to a new, toll-free telephone service, Hello, Peace! (Hello, Salaam! in Arabic and Hello, Shalom! in Hebrew). Large numbers of Arabs and Jews are picking up the phone and talking to people “on the other side” about reconciliation, tolerance, and peace. Over 48,000 calls were placed in less than three months.

Exports from Israel Up, Up, Up!

Israeli exports to the European Union (EU) rose 21.9% in the three-month period comprising November 2004 to January 2005, in comparison with the same period a year earlier, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reported in February. The EU remains Israel’s most significant trade partner, with 37% of the country’s imports and exports involving the European continent.

El Al to Provide In-Flight Internet

In February, El Al said that it was investing US $3 million to provide in-flight, high-speed Internet service to passengers using laptop computers. The airline signed an agreement with Boeing subsidiary CBB (Connexion By Boeing) to install the Internet service in all El Al Boeing 747-400 and 777 planes.

Yad Vashem Database Reunites Sisters

Sixty years after the Holocaust, survivors, who thought their loved ones were lost forever, are still rediscovering each other. In November 2004, Yad Vashem made its central database accessible to the world via the Internet. This has provided the tools for many survivors or their family members to find out the fate of loved ones.

Tourism Ministry Plans Christian Center

In March, Tourism Minister Abraham Hirchson said that the government was planning on building a major Christian visitor center in the northern Galilee to boost the number of Christian tourists coming to the Holy Land. The plans for the nondenominational Christian Center are indicative of Israel’s ever-growing interest in the Christian world at large and the staunchly pro-Israel evangelical Christian community in particular.

Danger of Temple Mount Collapse has Passed

The immediate danger of the collapse of the eastern wall of Jerusalem's Temple Mount has passed, after badly needed repair work was carried out by Jordanian engineers inside the ancient compound, Israel's top archaeological body said in late November.

Earlier last year, the head of Israel's Antiquities Authority, Shuka Dorfman, had warned that the unstable 2,000-year-old eastern wall of the Temple Mount, further damaged from a recent earthquake, was in danger of immediate collapse, which could cause a “domino effect” and bring down other sections of the bitterly contested ancient compound.

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.