Posted by bonniekgoodman on December 14, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/12/14/israel-musings-december-14-2013-netanyahu-and-kerry-meet-about-peace-talks-in-jerusalem-snow-wonderland/
Source: NY Daily News, 12-13-13
The intense storm left the city covered in snow. About 20 inches of snow had fallen since Thursday, with more expected through the next day….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on December 13, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/israel-brief-december-13-2013-rare-snowstorm-slams-jerusalem/
Source: Arutz 7, 12-13-13
Posted by bonniekgoodman on December 13, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/israel-brief-december-13-2013-photo-essay-snow-in-jerusalem/
Source: Arutz 7, 12-13-13
Posted by bonniekgoodman on December 13, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/israel-brief-december-13-2013-historic-israeli-snowstorm-power-outage-in-jerusalem/
Source: JTA, 9-12-13
A minor earthquake rocked Jerusalem and the Dead Sea….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on September 12, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/israel-brief-september-12-2013-minor-earthquake-rocks-jerusalem/
Source: JTA, 5-7-13
Billions of newly hatched locusts are spreading throughout Israel’s South….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on May 7, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/israel-brief-may-7-2013-billions-of-locusts-hatched-in-southern-israel/
Source: JTA, 4-28-13
Bonfires lit throughout Israel to mark Lag b’Omer burned out of control, stranding thousands of celebrants in the northern Israeli town of Meron….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on April 28, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/israel-brief-april-28-2013-lag-bomer-bonfires-burn-out-of-control-in-northern-israel/
Source: JTA, 2-10-13
Arsonists set fire to the trophy room of the Betar Jerusalem soccer team after the indictment of four fans for anti-Muslim hate speech….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on February 10, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/israel-brief-february-10-2013-after-hate-speech-charges-betar-jerusalem-soccer-club-set-on-fire/
Snow covers the Dome of the Rock on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Old City January 10, 2013. (AMMAR AWAD – REUTERS)
Four to six inches of snow fell in Jerusalem Wednesday night into Thursday morning, snarling traffic and closing schools and government offices.
The snow in Jerusalem resulted from a large storm system that produced days of inclement weather in the Middle East.
Low pressure tracks through the Middle East Wednesday (WeatherBell.com) Initially, the storm brought mainly wind and heavy rains that caused flooding and damage in some areas.
But as cold air wrapped into low pressure tracking through the region, temperatures plummeted and snow reports spiked. Up to three feet of snow fell on Mount Hermon in northern Israel the Inquisitr reported. Snow was also observed in areas of the West Bank, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt…
Reuters called the snowstorm the “worst” in 20 years in Jerusalem, but government officials and clergy put a much more positive spin on the glistening blanket of white.
“Jerusalem has many colors,” President Shimon Peres said. “But when she is white, it so rare, so beautiful, so unifying.”
YNetNews spoke to “prominent kabbalist” Rabbi David Batzri who said the snow was an indicator of forgiveness from God .
“The kabbalists torment themselves and pray for snow, which is a sign that the Jewish people’s sins are being forgiven and erased,” Batzri said….READ MORE
Here are some additional photos of the Israeli snowstorm…
A general view of the snow covered West Bank city of Nablus, taken from a hillside overlooking the city during snowy weather, on 10 January 2013. (ALAA BADARNEH – EPA)
A man walks through tombs covered by snow on the Mount of Olives, in Jerusalem, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. (Bernat Armangue – AP)
Flamingos are seen in their snow-covered enclosure in Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo January 10, 2013. (RONEN ZVULUN – REUTERS)
The hat of an ultra-orthodox Jewish man is filled with snow flakes in Jerusalem’s Old City, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. (Bernat Armangue – AP)
Snow falls a an ultra-orthodox Jewish man prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. (Bernat Armangue – AP)
Christian nuns walking nearby some palm trees covered in snow near outside the Old City walls of Jerusalem near the the Damascus Gate, 10 January 2013. (JIM HOLLANDER – EPA)
Eitan El Hadez, an Israeli from the coastal town of Netanya north of Tel Aviv, poses as an active skier on the plaza before the Western Wall (behind), Judaism’s holiest site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, 10 January 2013. (JIM HOLLANDER – EPA)
Posted by bonniekgoodman on January 10, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/israel-brief-january-10-2013-snow-blankets-parts-of-middle-east-jerusalem-photos/
Source: JTA, 1-10-13
Jerusalem remained paralyzed as the largest snowfall in 20 years shut down roads, trains and buses and schools….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on January 10, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/israel-brief-january-10-2013-jerusalem-paralyzed-by-snowstorm/
Source: JTA, 1-9-13
Snow and hail began falling in the Jerusalem area and continued to fall in the north of Israel….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on January 9, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/israel-brief-january-9-2013-snow-falls-in-jerusalem-northern-israel/
Source: PMO, 1-9-13
יום רביעי כ”ז טבת תשע”ג
Photo by GPO
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this afternoon at the Israel Police national traffic control center in Beit Dagan, held an assessment of the situation regarding the stormy weather. Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Israel Police Commissioner Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino, Israel Police Traffic Division Commander Bruno Stein, as well as representatives from the emergency and rescue services, the Union of Local Authorities and the various infrastructure bodies also attended.
At the start of the discussion, Prime Minister Netanyahu said: “We have waited many years for this rain. I hope that they will be blessed rains and not claim victims; therefore, I call upon the public to continue listening to the instructions of the rescue forces and to act with caution. I thank citizens for their patience. They understand that after the traffic jams are over, we will have full reservoirs and we need this water.
I convened this meeting, first, in order to be updated, and I am pleased to see that things are well under control, with the complete cooperation of all bodies. I would like to thank all those involved – Israel Police office, firefighters, IDF soldiers, IDF Home Front Command, the Public Security Ministry, Magen David Adom, the Israel Electric Company, the Tax Authority, the Union of Local Authorities, and local council heads. The systems are working well. I have instructed Prime Minister’s Office Director-General Harel Locker to consider compensation for those who have been hurt as a result of the weather.
I appreciate the brave work – in the intense cold and strong winds – of all those involved. The emergency and rescue forces are struggling around the clock in the storm in order to save lives; on behalf of all Israelis, I thank you.
One month after Operation Pillar of Defense, the rescue forces are again proving that the Israeli home front can rely on them. In the stormy weather, their sole concern is to help Israeli citizens, and they have been very successful.”
Posted by bonniekgoodman on January 9, 2013
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/full-text-israel-political-brief-january-9-2013-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-holds-assessment-meeting-on-the-weather-situation-snowstorm-in-jerusalem-northern-israel/
Source: JTA, 8-8-12
A major fire in the Jerusalem area believed to be arson is under control.
More than 40 firefighting squads and two firefighting planes came together to put out the fire on Wednesday near the Hadassah Ein-Kerem Medical Center. Some hospital visitors were evacuated, according to The Jerusalem Post….READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on August 8, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/israel-brief-august-8-2012-major-fire-under-control-in-jerusalem-area/
Source: JTA, 7-15-12
A fire that forced residents of the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion to evacuate their homes reportedly is under control…READ MORE »
Posted by bonniekgoodman on July 15, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/israel-brief-july-15-2012-massive-fire-in-jerusalem-suburb-forces-residents-to-flee/
Source: JTA, 7-9-12
Two Palestinian teens were arrested for setting a fire near Jerusalem that destroyed 15 acres of forest…. READ MORE
Posted by bonniekgoodman on July 9, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/israel-brief-july-9-2012-palestinian-teens-arrested-for-jerusalem-arson/
Source: AP, 6-20-12
A new report by Israel’s government watchdog blames Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials for mismanaging the worst fire in the country’s history, a devastating blaze that took 44 lives in 2010.
Source: JTA, 6-20-12
A special report by Israel’s state comptroller on the 2010 Carmel Forest fire blamed several government officials for the four-day blaze.
The report presented Wednesday by outgoing State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss said Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz bear “special responsibility” for the response, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch bear “complete responsibility.”
It did not suggest any consequences for the public officials. “That is a clear political question best left to the Knesset and the public,” Lindenstrauss wrote.
The December 2010 fire killed 44 people, destroyed 18 houses and damaged 173. Some 17,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes, more than 12,000 acres were burned and an estimated 5 million trees were lost. Some 38 planes and helicopters from 12 countries helped extinguish the blaze.
Documents cited by the report show that Yishai was aware that the Fire and Rescue Services suffered from a severe shortage of equipment, personnel, and command and control methods, but did not act on that knowledge. Yishai has denied the accusations and blamed others for the failures.
The report blamed Steinitz for making the requested budget allocations conditional on sweeping reforms.
Netanyahu was assigned complete responsibility based on his position, and for not attempting to mediate between Yishai and Steinitz.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office pointed out that some of the deficiencies enumerated in the report were corrected immediately after the Carmel disaster.
Posted by bonniekgoodman on June 20, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/israel-political-brief-june-20-2012-report-blames-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-government-officials-for-deadly-carmel-forest-fire/
Source: PMO, 6-20-12
Prime Minister Netanyahu is studying the State Comptroller’s findings.
Some of the deficiencies indicated by the Comptroller were corrected immediately after the Carmel disaster:
An aerial firefighting squadron was established. In the past year, it has extinguished over 100 fires, including the major fire in the Jerusalem area.
The Fire and Rescue Service was transferred from the Interior Ministry to the Public Security Ministry and was allocated hundreds of millions of shekels for the opening of eight fire stations, the recruitment of an additional 300 firefighters and the purchase of an additional 89 firefighting vehicles.
In his report, the State Comptroller also notes that, “The Prime Minister’s personal involvement in the urgent securing of firefighting means from abroad by utilizing his network of connections with the leaders of the countries that expressed a willingness to assist in extinguishing the fire, was a positive and important contribution.” This is in reference to the fact shortly after the outbreak of the fire, the Prime Minister worked to bring in 38 planes and helicopters from 12 different countries. Without the firefighting planes from abroad, it would have been impossible to deal with the fire successfully.
Prime Minister Netanyahu thanks the State Comptroller for is work and will continue to work to correct the deficiencies.
Posted by bonniekgoodman on June 20, 2012
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/full-text-israel-political-brief-june-20-2012-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahus-office-response-to-the-state-comptrollers-report-on-the-carmel-fire/
Source: Virtual Jerusalem, 10-27-11
The fact that Turkey agreed to accept aid from Israel to assist in rescue efforts of the thousands who were injured or killed has no political meaning, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday. Speaking at a news conference in Amman with Jordanian leader King Abdullah II and his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh, Davutoglu said that “political conditions between the two countries remain as they were”, and that Turkey’s views on the Middle East remained “principled.”
On Monday, after a lengthy period in which they did not communicate, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan to offer Israel’s assistance in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit eastern Turkey. Erdogan initially turned down the offer, but on Tuesday, Ankara changed its mind. 
An Israeli plane with prefabricated mobile homes and other aid for quake victims arrived in Turkey Thursday. At least three more planes will arrive in the next few days, Israeli officials said.
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak both stressed that Israel was appreciative of Turkey’s assistance in battling the Carmel forest last year, and that Jerusalem saw aiding in regional crises as part of its responsibility to the international community. Defense Ministry spokesperson Josh Hantman said that Israel did not see the aid as “a diplomatic matter, but a humanitarian one aimed at keeping men, women and children safe and warm.”
Speaking about the Israel-PA negotiating process, Judeh said that both Jordan and Turkey agreed on the need for the establishment of an Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem – the “two state solution” – as the basis of Middle East peace. “We do not want peace negotiations to start from scratch. There are agreements already signed and we want any future negotiations to be based on them,” he said.
Davutoglu added that the need to resolve the conflict was “crucial,” and that international pressure was key to pushing Israel to make a deal.
via israelnn.com
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Posted by bonniekgoodman on October 27, 2011
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/turkey-foreign-minister-ahmet-davutoglu-says-accepting-israeli-aid-changes-nothing-in-countrys-relationships/
Source: JTA, 1-2-11
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to erect a memorial to those killed in the Carmel forest fire. Netanyahu made the pledge at Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting, where the government approved $4.2 million to fix and improve the infrastructure destroyed in the fire. According to the plan, the rehabilitation will include structures that were burnt; damage to sewage, water, electricity and communications infrastructures; paving access roads; repairing gardening infrastructure; building playgrounds; cutting trees and general clean-up; and dealing with highways and traffic arrangements.
“This week we will mark 30 days since the major disaster in the Carmel area,” Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting. “We will hold a state memorial ceremony at Beit Oren, very close to the site of the disaster. There, within one year, we will erect a memorial to those who perished, a monument to their heroism and their sacrifice.”
Netanyahu on Sunday also submitted a memorandum for a decision next week on the establishment of a national fire authority, an aerial firefighting force and an authority for dealing with earthquakes, and budgets for all three.
Posted by bonniekgoodman on January 2, 2011
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/netanyahu-announces-carmel-fire-memorial-infrastructure-repair/
With Israel in desperate need of aid to fight the fire ravaging its north last week, countries from four continents sent help, including those with whom Israel has been at odds lately, such as Turkey.
Now that the fire is out, the question is what will Israel’s close friends, the American Jewish community, do to aid in the recovery process?
Damage estimates are ranging as high as $75 million, and the American Jewish community has opened fundraising mailboxes, started as emergency campaigns while the blaze was still burning.
The national branches of the three largest U.S. Jewish religious denominations launched fire assistance funds and asked their rabbis to address the topic in their sermons last Shabbat. Dozens of the country’s largest organizations, including the Jewish federation system, the American Jewish Committee and B’nai B’rith International, also started funds.
The heaviest lifting in the nonprofit world likely will be done by the Jewish National Fund, which since Israel’s founding has been responsible for the forestation of the country.
With some 12,000 acres scorched and an estimated 5 million trees burned, the JNF has launched a $10 million campaign to be split between reforestation and other causes, such as rebuilding tourism in the area. In less than a week, JNF had raised nearly $2 million in cash and pledges. A number of organizations, such as Hadassah, have pledged to help JNF pay for more trees.
Reforesting the area will be a slow process, according to the JNF’s director of forestry for the northern region, Omri Bonneh. For the first year, JNF says it won’t plant any trees, allowing the land to replenish itself.
It’s not clear how much the American Jewish organizations’ total campaign will be; in some cases it’s not yet clear where the money will go.
The American Jewish Committee pledged $100,000 for reforestation, saying it will plant 10,000 trees to commemorate the 42 people — mostly police cadets from the Israeli Prisons Service — killed in the wildfire.
B’nai B’rith International, which by Tuesday had collected $12,000, will use the money to address unmet needs, according to its vice president of programming, Rhonda Love.
Last week, Magen David Adom, Israel’s version of the Red Cross, deployed hundreds of medics, paramedics, emergency vehicles and volunteers to the scene of the fire. It’s American fundraising arm, the American Friends of the Magen David Adom, had raised about $150,000 online since the fire broke out, according to its director of marketing, Robert Kern.
A number of organizations are focusing on helping Yemin Orde, a youth village for immigrants to Israel that was 40 percent destroyed in the fire.
Hadassah is providing space for 500 families dislocated by the fire by opening several youth villages with which it is associated. The Jewish Agency for Israel has made space in its facilities for Yemin Orde to continue operating.
The two overseas arms of the North American federation system have been on the ground since the fire began. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee helped out in the evacuation of residents and supplied emergency needs such as food and blankets. Now the JDC is planning to provide programs for the disabled, psycho-social support and emergency preparedness, according to spokesman Michael Geller.
The Jewish Agency brought hundreds of children from the stricken area to Tel Aviv for respite, and planned to bring 4,000 by the end of Chanukah.
JDC and the Jewish Agency also are working on coordinating youth volunteers. In the long term, the fire could provide the Jewish Agency with an opportunity to test the value of a new strategic plan that places more emphasis on creating volunteer opportunities in Israel.
The agency has proposed a plan to focus volunteer mentors on the Druze town of Tirat HaCarmel, a development town near Haifa that was evacuated during the fire. Agency officials also have talked to the Jewish Federations of North America about creating through the agency’s MASA program a project to bring Diaspora Jews to help in rehabilitating the animal wildlife in Israel’s north, according to Jewish Agency director general Alan Hoffmann.
Agency officials also said they would like to set up a fund for grants to victims of the fire, much like the fund it has for victims of terror that gives out up to $35,000 to individuals and families affected by terrorism.
How much exactly the JDC and Jewish Agency will be able to do in the long run will be determined largely by how much the federations are able to raise for them. That’s not yet clear, though insiders said the federations would probably allocate approximately $2 million.
Their campaign received an early boost when the JUF-Jewish Federation of Greater Chicago immediately pledged $500,000 of its own money for the JDC and Jewish Agency’s fire relief efforts.
The question now is whether money will continue to come in now that the fire has been extinguished.
“It is clear that when the fires stop burning, also the flames of philanthropy tend to die down,” Hoffman said. “But there are clear needs that have been created here. The question is how can world Jewry play a part in restoring this place to where it was before, and that will require resources.”
Use any of the links below to donate to a variety of emergency campaigns established in the wake of Israel’s devastating forest fire.
American Friends of the Magen David Adom, Israeli Red Cross
America Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
American Friends of Yemin Orde
B’nai B’rith Israel Emergency Fund
International Fellowship of Christians and Jews
Jewish Federations of North America
Jewish National Fund, Forest Fire Emergency Fund
JStreet and the New Israel Fund
Organizations of the Conservative/Masorti movement in North America
Union for Reform Judaism and ARZA
ZAKA, a recovery and identification organization
Posted by bonniekgoodman on December 7, 2010
https://togetherwithisrael.wordpress.com/2010/12/07/american-jews-plan-relief-efforts-israeli-blaze/
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