Dispatch from Jerusalem

More Rare Coins

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Not far away, and about the same time, two other rare coins were found from the siftings of the Temple Mount rubble across the Kidron Valley on Mount Scopus. For the past four years, over 40,000 volunteers have found a total of 3,500 coins. In December, a 14-year-old volunteer found a silver half-shekel coin used for the biblical Temple tax (Exod. 30:11–15). Minted in AD 66–67 during the Jewish revolt against the Romans, these coins, wherever found, are considered the rarest of finds.

Unique Marble Figurine Discovered

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If finding gold wasn’t enough, in late January, the City of David excavation team also unearthed Israel’s one-of-a-kind 1,800-year-old Roman marble figurine. Though many others like it have been found throughout various parts of the Roman Empire, this one is a first for Israel. Similar statues in Israel have been made of bronze.

777,400 Children among the Poor

THE NATIONAL INSURANCE INSTITUTE'S poverty report published in January showed worrying trends. While the overall number of people living under the poverty line remained relatively stable, the outlook predicted in the report shows their situation will only get worse.

The Golden City Strikes Gold

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In November 2008, a 2,000-year-old gold earring—missing its match, but inlaid with pearls and emeralds—was discovered in the City of David excavations just outside the Dung Gate in Jerusalem. It was found in the ruins of a building dating to the Byzantine period (fourth–fifth centuries AD) but was most likely produced earlier during the Roman period (between the first and fourth centuries AD).

Iran – Israel’s Enemy No.1

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The Israel defense establishment has announced that the State of Israel is under an “existential threat.” In a report to the defense minister, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) singled out Iran as “the No. 1 threat the IDF is now preparing for.” Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi warned that the near-nuclear capabilities, the existing ballistic aptitude, and terror contacts combine to create the Tehran threat. Iran also recently announced it would be upgrading its military ties with Russia.

UN Bias Against Israel!

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It is amazing how quickly some choose to blame Israel and how sooner or later the accusations have to be withdrawn. In January, an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council joined with ambassadors from the world’s dictatorships, and even some democracies, to attack Israel for targeting a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school.

Turkish Jews Fearful

{image_1} A Jewish woman living in Istanbul writes of difficulties faced by Jews following rising anti-Semitism in Turkey in wake of Gaza op.

“Me and my friends in the Jewish community in Istanbul are scared to give out our names these days, fearing it might hurt us. We don’t want to be identified as Jews.

Surprising Admission

{image_1} “What will happen in the future, we shall not repeat the wrongs we did in leaving Gaza. It should have been done otherwise. I was for leaving Gaza. I feel myself as one of the persons mistaken…My problem is less whom to entrust with the role of prime minister but rather the candidate’s policies. The world is undergoing new situations and the new government must adjust its policies accordingly. I do not disqualify any Israeli who was duly elected.”

After the Gaza War

{image_1} “For the Palestinian people, death became an industry, at which women excel and so do all people on this land; the elderly excel, the Jihad fighters excel, and the children excel. Accordingly [Palestinians] created a human shield of women, children, the elderly, and Jihad fighters against the Zionist bombing machine, as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy, ‘We desire death as you desire life.’”

—Fathi Hamad, Hamas representative, as broadcast on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV prior to the conflict

Piston-less car gets 100 MPG!

{image_1} Electric cars offer promise, but switching over still has limits. An entirely new solution may come by way of an Israeli company—Agam Energy Systems—which has developed a piston-less turbine engine, featuring a new kind of compressor. American automakers are already taking notice, the company reports.