Dispatch from Jerusalem

Give Up the Golan—A “Reasonable” Compromise?

An expert advising the Baker–Hamilton special bipartisan committee on Iraq believes that it is better for Iraq’s security and stability to engage Iran and Syria rather than to further isolate them. Former CIA employee Raymond Close believes that the best way to engage the Arab Muslim states surrounding Iraq is by pressuring Israel.

The Nations Come to Learn How the Desert Bloomed

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev hosted a major international conference last November on combating desertification, with experts coming to study Israel’s successes in “making the desert bloom.” The conference was sponsored by the Blaustein Institute of Desert Research (BIDR), Ben-Gurion University, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The conference was part of international activities marking 2006 as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, as declared by the United Nations in recognition of the acute problem of desertification or land degradation worldwide.

Preventing Coronary Artery Obstruction

Israeli researchers at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed a new approach to prevent the obstruction of coronary arteries following balloon angioplasty and stent insertion. Professor Noah Lotan explains that “balloon angioplasty damages the blood vessels. The new tissue created around the wound can cause a new obstruction.” This happens within the first six months of the angioplasty in 30–40% of patients and is caused by tissue growing from blood vessel walls.

Searching for the Treasures of the Copper Scrolls

Bridges for Peace reported on a trip to a mysterious location in an Israeli military firing zone to investigate a series of tunnels found there in the November-December issue of the Dispatch from Jerusalem. We could not reveal the location then because it was not officially published yet. Information about that site was published in the September-October 2006 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, so we are now happy to share the full story.

A Reader’s Point of View

We received the following letter from a Jewish reader in Jerusalem in response to our October 2006 Israel Teaching Letter. We thought you would enjoy it as much as we did.

Laser Destroys Roadside Bombs

Rafael, Israel’s leading developer of arms-related technology, and American defense contractor General Dynamics have produced and deployed the system called Thor. It uses the concentrated energy of a high-powered laser to clear unexploded bombs and improvised explosive devices.

Moroccan Jewry: Moroccan Chicken Tagine

By Charleeda Sprinkle

Jewish people have been living in Morocco, on the northwestern corner of Africa, since before the Roman Empire. Before 1948, there were over 265,000 Jews in Morocco; now there are only 5,000 to 7,000. However, approximately 600,000 Moroccan Jews live in Israel today!

More from Ahmadinejad:

“I tell my friends most of the time, don’t worry about the nuclear issue, [because] they [Westerners] are just bluffing. I tell them that the West is disarmed toward us and doesn’t know how to handle this issue. Believe me, we have been successful in terms of legal and public opinion. I am speaking from my own knowledge. Somebody asked me, ‘People say you are connected,’ I said, ‘Yes, I am.’ ‘Do you really have a connection? With whom?’ and I said I have a connection to god [Allah]. If we stay faithful, god [Allah] will show us his miracle.”
—Reported by Omid Memarian, Asia Times Online, October 28, 2006

It’s 1938, and Iran is Germany

The Iranian bomb can be stopped, and in 1,000 days or so, claimed opposition leader and Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu in a meeting with some 60 foreign envoys in Tel Aviv in December. Netanyahu urged the diplomats to take action against the Iranian threat and not sit on the sidelines on the issue, saying that the longer the stick used to bar Iran from developing the bomb, the better the world’s chances are of not seeing such a bomb used.

Cleaning Up the Kinneret

Before the winter rains began, while the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) was still low, police divers began an underwater clean-up campaign. Over the years, junk—dangerous to both swimmers and the environment—has piled up. Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency service, reported that dozens of Kinneret swimmers have been injured by cans, broken bottles, metal pieces, and other items. Plastic bags, boxes, and other environmental hazards were also removed from the underwater beach.