Weekly Items from the Israeli Press, July 14, 2011

 

Shalom,

 

Please see below selected items from the Israeli press. You can access this news digest as well as check out our other online features such as our most recent feature articles on World ORT's school programs and JDC's Hibbuki Program in Usifiyah by visiting the Israel & Overseas page on our website.

 

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Regards,

Tikva

 

 

Welfare and Social Issues

 

Child poverty rates increase among immigrants

(JPost) Despite some improvements, data shows a "troubling picture"; says Yitzchak Kadman, chairman of the National Council for the Child.

 

Women’s retirement bill jumps first hurdle

(Jpost) In a rare move, coalition chair Elkin (Likud) removed coalition discipline from a vote with serious budgetary ramifications.

 

Aliyah and Immigration

 

Nefesh B'Nefesh brings new immigrants to Israel

(Haaretz) The Olim are among the 2,500 Jews planning to make Aliyah from North America and the U.K. this summer.

 

The Environment

 

Summer of sewage in Tel Aviv

(Haaretz) Sewage shuts TA's Gordon Beach again.

 

Cleantech exhibition held in Tel Aviv

(Ynet) The 15th Cleantech exhibition of environment and clean technologies opened Tuesday at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Grounds.

 

Ministry okays paving road, cutting J’lem-TA travel time

(JPost) Interior Ministry c'tee: Pair of tunnels to be quarried under Har Nof, Yefe Nof neighborhoods; Green groups slam potential damage to J'lem Forest.

 

 Israeli Economy

 

April-May see 3.5% drop in exports

(Ynet) Export of goods totals $7.4 billion in two months; decline recorded in all industries

 

Bollywood moguls on 1st Israel visit

(Ynet) Leaders of India's $20.4 billion film and television industry arrive in Holy Land to explore joint ventures, scout location sites

 

Religious Pluralism in Israel

 

Museum of Tolerance gets final go-ahead

(JPost) After more than a decade of sitting empty in downtown Jerusalem, the controversial Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance received final approval for its new campus on Tuesday.

 

Education

 

Israeli kindergarteners to be required to sing national anthem weekly

(Haaretz) From September Jewish nursery and kindergarten teachers to raise Israeli flag and sing 'Hatikva' according to new Education Ministry directives; teachers also required to instruct children on state symbols.

 

Jewish World

 

New Jewish group wants to restore polygamy

(JPost) Practice promoted as solution for the abundance of single women, Arab demographic threat and the predicament of seeking extramarital relations.

 

Israel Advocacy/Relations

 

Knesset votes in favor of 'boycott bill'

(Ynet) Controversial bill which calls for imposing sanctions against anyone declaring embargo on Israel garners 47 ayes, 38 nays. Kadima: Bibi crossed red line of stupidity, national irresponsibility

 

 Is the world against us?

(Ynet) Op-ed: We tend to feel isolated, but recent events show Israel does have friends in the world

 

Israeli students launch hasbara mission to S. Africa

(JPost) Some 27 students are slated to set out on 10-day public diplomacy mission in attempt to fight against the delegitimization of Israel.

 

Science, Technology and Development

 

New high-tech initiative in Israel seeks to combine business with Zionism

(Haaretz) The Gvahim New Wave project aims to help new immigrants make it in Israeli high-tech; Project will establish a start-up incubator for new immigrant high-tech ventures.

 

Israeli researchers identify protein that may slow down pancreatic cancer

(Haaretz) Study indicates the naturally occurring hormone klotho may be effective in future treatment of pancreatic cancer; researchers' next goal to reduce side effects.

 

'Solar energy vital for Israel's security'

(Ynet) Arava Power Company CEO says following Sinai pipeline attacks that sun is Jewish state's safest, most available energy source

 

Undersea search for symbolic ‘Altalena’ begins this week

(JPost) Menachem Begin Heritage Center says remains expected to be found within two weeks; Katz: "A Jew will never lift a hand against his brother."

 

Israel Philanthropy

 

Young cancer patients fly to Holland

(JPost)This year, about 130 children will be in the Netherlands for 10 days in an all-expenses-paid trip funded by the Zichron Menachem volunteer organization.  

 

Summer Fun

 

‘Latma’ produces new flotilla song

(JPost) The song, a parody of the Beach Boys famous 1964 hit “Fun, Fun, Fun,” is sung by “The Audacity of Dopes” band, titled, “Guns, guns, guns.”

 

Op-Eds and Opinion Pieces from the Israel Press

 

Yediot Ahronot believes that, "In a democratic society, it is allowed to boycott," and says that while the law's original idea – to deny benefits to Israelis who advocate boycotts to the world – may have been proper, "something became mixed-up along the way."  The author believes that the law "attests not to patriotism but the opposite – to an attempt to enforce a mood of patriotism. And law cannot enforce a mood."  However, the paper says that, "While the law is unjust, the opposition to it is completely exaggerated," and faults both the extreme Left and Kadima for their florid rhetoric.

 

Ma'ariv avers that, "The division of Sudan, which had been the largest single Arab state, into two states – a Muslim and Arab north and a Christian and pagan south – is likely to symbolize the beginning of the end of the era of the political division of the region by the colonial great powers of the past.  After all, Sudan isn't the only artificial, multi-ethnic country that was created by the European powers in order to maintain their interests…Most countries in the region owe their existence to the division of the Middle East, which was planned mainly by Britain and France early in the previous century upon the defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire."  The author suggests that, "The hostile reactions across the Arab states to the secession of southern Sudan attests to the great fear over the shattering of the fantasy of Arab unity," and concludes that, "Sudan was, perhaps, the first country in the region to break apart.  South Sudan's independence will not only strengthen internal tensions in the other countries of the region but also serve as an example of the realization of the recognition of the rights of many peoples in the region to be others and to free themselves from Arab and Islamic dictatorships, which were forced on them long ago."