Israel News for 4-25-18
No Expulsions
The state gave official word to the Supreme Court yesterday that it will refrain from issuing further expulsion orders to Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers, and that all orders already served will be rescinded. The decision came in response to two petitions calling on Israel to halt the dissemination of expulsion orders and the holding of hearings for the African migrants, seeing as no country has agreed to take them in as yet.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri announced that following Uganda and Rwanda’s refusal to take in migrants under the terms Israel demanded, immediate preparations for the reopening of detention facilities will commence.
The Population and Immigration Authority released a statement saying, “The state will continue working on the issue of infiltrators, including encouraging their willing departure or unwilling deportation, in accordance with the possibilities the law affords.”
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Terror Kites
The Palestinians seem to have found a new method of terror to use against Israel: kites. Over the last couple of weeks kites carrying incendiary devices have been unleashed over Israeli farms from Gaza. When the kites land on a field they set the dry fields on fire.
One farmer who lives in a community near the Gaza border said, “We’re dealing with a new phenomenon, one which is destructive, dangerous and quickly gaining momentum. We see kites flying towards us on a nearly daily basis. We monitor them to see that they don’t land in fields just now—during the harvest—when everything’s dry and highly combustible. It may seem like a gimmick to a lot of people, but for us it’s a serious threat.”
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Terrorist Body Returned
The body of a Hamas scientist killed last week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will be repatriated to Gaza for burial. Egypt has agreed to allow the body to be returned through its border. Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman had appealed to Egypt to refuse the Palestinian request for the body’s return. Palestinians are blaming Israel for the assassination.
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No Phones
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that that holding a mobile phone while driving, even if not using it, is illegal. The court ruling was in response to an appeal by someone convicted for driving while holding his phone. If you’ve driven in Israel you’ve probably noticed that many drivers are busy doing several tasks while driving, including drinking coffee, reading, arguing, sleeping, or trying to prevent other drivers from getting in front of them, which no doubt has something to do with the high number of road accidents and fatalities. Let’s hope Israeli drivers get the message and start focusing on their driving. It’ll save lives.
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Green City
According to a study by online travel specialist TravelBird, Tel Aviv is the 16th greenest city in the world. Overall, about 23% of Tel Aviv is comprised of green space. The city is also home to more than 260,000 trees covering some 20 square miles. That comes out to around 5,000 trees per square kilometer. And city officials continue to increase green space by refurbishing pedestrian walkways and planting shrubs and trees in empty lots. Not too bad for a city founded on sand dunes just over 100 years ago.The number one city on the list is Reykjavik, Iceland.
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