More than half desert, frequently hit with drought and subject to chronic water shortages in the past, Israel now produces 20 percent more water than it needs. But, in 2015, the gap between demand and available natural water supplies had reached 1 billion cubic metres. Israel’s rapidly growing po…
How Israel Used Innovation to Overcome its Water Crisis Read More »
This year marks the centenary of the decision by the League of Nations to entrust Great Britain with the Mandate for Palestine. Following World War I and the partition of the Turkish Empire, the League of Nations set up the mandate system to assist the liberated territories to advance toward self-go…
One Hundred Years Ago: 1922, Britain and the Palestine Mandate Read More »
It was startling to hear Russian President Putin use the term “de-Nazification”1 in his address outlining his purpose in the invasion of Ukraine. Under the pretext of “de-Nazification”, Putin accuses the Ukrainians of being Nazis and drug addicts, claiming his invasion was “to protect peop…
Ukraine, Putin’s War and the Jews Read More »
A team of archaeologists working at Lachish has reconstructed how the Assyrian army may have built a huge siege ramp used to conquer the city in 701BC.1 Led by Professor Yosef Garfinkel and Dr Madeleine Mumcuoglu of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Professors J…
Piecing Together the Assyrian Siege Ramp at Lachish Read More »
Mount Zion was conquered by Israel’s Harel Brigade on 18 May 1948, and became the only part of Jerusalem’s Old City to stay in Israeli hands until the armistice. The force on Mount Zion served as the forward position in the defence of southwest Jerusalem. For 19 years, from 1948, Jerusalem was d…
When the State of Israel was declared by David Ben Gurion on 14 May 1948, the Jewish community of Cochin, in southwestern India, were ready to immigrate. “Their whole purpose was to immigrate to Israel and that was their goal”, says Mira Elia of the Cochin Jewish Heritage Centre in Nevatim, in t…
The Cochin Jews – Israel’s Oldest Indian Community Read More »
Excavating under Jerusalem’s Old City, Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists have discovered what they think may have been a 2000-year-old city council building.1 Director of the excavation Dr Shlomit Weksler-Bdolach described the structure as one of the most magnificent public buildings fr…
More Discoveries Under Jerusalem’s Old City Read More »
In one of many remarkable stories of Jewish emigration to Palestine following World War II, Jewish members of British Intelligence worked with the Romanian authorities to bring Jews to Palestine and later to the new state of Israel. The story begins in 1944, when Shaike Dan, a Romanian born Jew who …
The Ransom of the Romanian Jews Read More »
Three fragments of cloth dyed with purple, the most precious dye of the ancient world, have been discovered in the Timna Valley near Eilat.1 The textiles have been dated to 1000BC, the period of David and Solomon. Also known as “true” or “Tyrian purple”,2 the vibrant purple colour of the p…
Ancient Cloth with Purple Dye Found in South of Israel Read More »
A two-shekel weight made of limestone was discovered during wet sifting of excavated earth from beneath Wilson’s Arch at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.1
The weight has been dated to the era of the Temple of Solomon, known as the First Temple Period, and is a standard of measure known to have be…
Two-shekel Stone Weight Discovered in Jerusalem Read More »
