Survey: 90% of IDF lone soldiers see their future in Israel
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Ninety percent of Israel Defense Forces lone soldiers (those without immediate family living in Israel) who have completed their military service see their futures in the Jewish state, while 62 percent report that family members have followed them and moved to Israel, according to a new survey.
The survey was conducted by the Jewish Agency for Israel in conjunction with the Merage Foundation by the Ergo Consulting Group to mark the 10th anniversary of the Wings Program, established to help lone soldiers build a home in Israel. The respondents were former lone soldiers who live in Israel and were accompanied by the Wings Program. The survey set out to examine the challenges faced by lone soldiers as they approach the end of their military service, with the aim of developing additional tools to ease their integration into civilian life.
Some 84 percent of those surveyed said their families supported their decision to immigrate to Israel. The survey results also show that the vast majority of lone soldiers feel well-integrated into Israeli society after their discharge from the IDF: 58 percent consider themselves first and foremost “Israelis,” while only 29 percent consider themselves “immigrants.”
Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky said, “These young men and women—who have chosen to leave their families, make aliyah, and become integrated into Israeli life in the most active way possible—are the pioneers of the Jewish people, and they are our future.”
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1,300-year-old olive press uncovered at Israeli archaeological park
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A 1,300-year-old public olive press was recently unearthed at the Ancient Shiloh archaeological park in the Binyamin region of Judea and Samaria. The olive press is proof that aside from being the capital of ancient Israel for 369 years and housing the Ark of the Covenant, Shiloh was also the region’s main manufacturer of olive oil.
Researchers arrived at the conclusion due to the uniquely large size of the olive press, which was discovered during the most recent excavation at Tel Shiloh, headed by archaeologist Dr. Ofer Gat. Another olive press was found nearby in 2011. The sizes of the presses and their proximity to one another indicate the public nature of the oil-manufacturing industry, its importance, and its scope.
A large stock of charred olive pits was found near the press, along with shards from terra-cotta candles and light cones characteristic of that period.
During the upcoming Hanukkah holiday, Ancient Shiloh will host activities for families, including olive picking, manufacturing oil with an ancient press, filling bottles with olive oil, and more.
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3-day iCamp is ‘only conference dedicated solely to Israel education’
(JNS.org) The iCenter for Israel Education this week is hosting “iCamp,” a three-day event that organizers are calling “the only conference dedicated solely to Israel education.”
In Las Vegas, the conference is gathering 250 educational leaders, practitioners, stakeholders, and funders from North America and Israel for sessions on topics including the emerging culture of Israel education; “Sipur Yisraeli”—a live show based on “This American Life”; and designing moments of impact for learners. The event also features the launch of “Aleph Bet of Israel Education – 2nd Edition,” a set of 12 core principles, approaches to content, and pedagogies that together constitute the “building blocks” of Israel education.
Previously held in 2011, iCamp “focuses on the educators as they interact directly with experts and learn how to help learners build meaningful relationships with Israel,” said Anne Lanski, executive director of the iCenter.
“Effective Israel education reflects excellent education,” she said. “It starts with talented educators—individuals who are knowledgeable and deft story tellers, who know how to tap into their students’ passions, and are able to bring Israel to life in nearly any educational environment—be it in a classroom, at a camp, on a bus, or elsewhere.”
“The premise of iCamp can really be summed up in one word: ‘relationships,’” said Dr. Barry Chazan, a professor of education and founding director of the Masters in Arts for Jewish Professional Studies at the Spertus Institute. “Whether it’s the relationship between educators and learners, educators and Israel, learners and Israel, educators to one another, and the educators with themselves, good education requiresdeep, authentic, personal relationships. iCamp moves us further in this direction, building these relationships and helping educators understand how these relationships are so critical to effective Israel education.”
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New details reveal PLO terrorists brutalized, castrated Israelis at Munich Games
(JNS.org) Relatives of the 11 Israeli team members who were murdered by Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorists during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany, have revealed new details of the grizzly attack—including how the Israelis were brutalized, and one in case, even castrated by the terrorists.
“What they did is that they cut off his genitals through his underwear and abused him,” widow Ilana Romano said of her husband, Yossef, a champion weight lifter who was shot in the beginning of the attack and left to die, the New York Times reported.
“Can you imagine the nine others sitting around tied up?” she added. “They watched this.”
In 1972, six Israeli coaches and five athletes were taken hostage and then murdered by the PLO terror group Black September after a pre-dawn attack on their apartment in the Olympic Village.
The family members of the victims only learned the details of how they were treated nearly 20 years after the massacre, when German authorities released reports of the attack that the authorities previously denied existed, the New York Times reported.
“The terrorists always claimed that they didn’t come to murder anyone—they only wanted to free their friends from prison in Israel,” said Ankie Spitzer, widow of Andre Spitzer, one of the murdered Israeli coaches. “They said it was only because of the botched-up rescue operation at the airport that they killed the rest of the hostages, but it’s not true. They came to hurt people. They came to kill.”
After decades of failed attempts, the families of the slain Israeli athletes recently finally gained recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). There will be a moment of remembrance for the athletes at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and the IOC will also fund a permanent memorial to the athletes in Munich.
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Israeli start-up seeks to turn water into juice
(JNS.org) An Israeli start-up company called The Right Cup has developed a fruit-scented cup that tricks the brain into thinking it is drinking juice instead of plain water.
The company said it has been able to take fruit flavors, which beverage companies use in their drinks, and safely insert them directly into the cup instead of the drink.
“Our unique design positions your nose right over the opening, so your nose fully picks up the fruit aroma while your tongue flirts with a hint of sweet taste,” a company promotion said.
The Right Cup recently launched a crowdfunding campaign onIndiegogo that sought to raise $50,000. But as of Dec. 2, the campaign has raised nearly $109,000.
Isaac Lavi, co-founder and CEO of The Right Cup, said he was inspired to create the product after being diagnosed with diabetes at age 30.
“My doctors advised me to stay away from sugary beverages and to drink only plain water. This was very hard because I hated the taste, or actually the lack of taste,” Lavi told Mashable.
The company sees the cup as a simple alternative to get people to drink less sugary beverages like soda and juice, which experts point to as a significant cause of rising diabetes and obesity levels. The Right Cup also hopes it can help increase water intake and reduce plastic bottle waste.
The scented cup will initially come in four flavors—mixed berry, orange, apple, and lemon lime—and will retail for $35 sometime next year.
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Israel has active presence in Syria, Netanyahu confirms
(JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday confirmed that Israel has had an active military presence in Syria.
“We operate in Syria from time to time in order to prevent a front there [from being] created against us and to prevent transfers of weapons, especially from Syria to Lebanon,” the latter country being home to the Hezbollah terrorist group, Netanyahu said at the 8th annual Galilee Conference in Acre.
Recent reports have attributed airstrikes in Syria to the Israeli Air Force, but the Israeli defense establishment has declined to comment on those strikes. According to the reports, Israeli fighter jets have attacked Hezbollah targets in Syria several times over the past year, including two separate operations over the last two weeks. Hezbollah, a proxy of Iran, has been fighting to preserve the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the ongoing civil war in Syria. Israel has occasionally been struck by spillover fire from the Syrian conflict.
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Israel signs lucrative 15-year deal with U.S. aerospace manufacturer
(JNS.org) Israel’s Defense Ministry on Monday signed a contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars with the American aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney.
Pratt & Whitney will be responsible for the maintenance of the entire fleet of Israeli Air Force F-151 and F-161 fighter jet engines. The 15-year deal “will ensure that the IAF will have at its possession, at any time, a quantity of working engines, set in advance, for operating fighter aircraft,” the Israeli Defense Ministry said.
The U.S. company has also committed to give first priority on maintenance work subcontracts to the Israeli defense industry.
“Pratt & Whitney is humbled and honored by the confidence Israeli leadership has placed in us and we look forward to working with local industries to provide continued, long-term support to the Israeli warfighter,” said Bennett Croswell, president of Pratt & Whitney Military Engines.
Though the contract was identified as being worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the exact amount was not disclosed.
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Turkey’s Erdogan says relations with Israel can be repaired
(JNS.org) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told an Israeli radio station that he believes it is possible to repair frayed relations between Turkey and Israel.
Erdogan’s made the remark during the U.N. climate change conference in Paris, Kol Yisrael radio reported. Turkish-Israeli relations broke down following the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident, in which the Israel Defense Forces boarded the Turkish Mavi Marmara vessel, which was attempting to break the blockade of Gaza. After Turkish militants attacked Israeli commandoes who boarded the ship, nine Turkish citizens were killed in clashes. In 2013, at the request of U.S. President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Erdogan for the flotilla incident over the phone.
Erdogan has been known for his anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric over the years. He recently called the current terror wave against Israelis a “noble fight” by the Palestinians.
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U.K. professor invokes Palestinian cause in refusal to help Israeli student
(JNS.org) A Jewish former professor at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom refused to help a 13-year-old Israeli student from a kibbutz with a school assignment.
Shachar Rabinovitz wrote an email to Dr. Marsha Levine, asking four questions regarding an academic project on horses because the professor is an expert on the history of the domestication of horses. Rabinovitz told Levine that she is from Israel.
Levine refused to answer Rabinovitz’s questions and took the opportunity to declare her anti-Israel stance.
“I am a member of Jews for Justice for Palestinians. I support Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions. You might be a child, but if you are old enough to write to me, you are old enough to learn about Israeli history and how it has impacted on the lives of Palestinian people,” Levine wrote.
Levine added a link to the Jews for Justice for Palestinians website and told Rabinovitz that she should educate herself on the Palestinian people. Levine later told The Telegraph that if a student from a different country contacted her, she would have responded differently.
“I made the decision that I have the choice not to waste my time on people who tread on the rights of other people. I didn’t do anything to her. I said that when there is justice for Palestine I will answer her—that’s a fair answer. I’m a signatory to Jews for Justice for Palestinians and I sent her a link. I did it as a matter of conscience. The way Israel treats Palestinians is totally disgusting,” Levine told London’s Jewish Chronicle.
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