Disabled athletes joined Mayor Nir Barkat to rappel down Jerusalem's Old City walls during International Disability Awareness Month

By Avigayil Kadesh

It's not every day that you see people rappelling and omega-lining down the thick stone walls of Jerusalem's Old City - and certainly not in wheelchairs. But to mark International Disability Awareness Month in December, ordinary folks with disabilities did exactly that, along with disabled athletes and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.

The daredevil event was sponsored by Israel's National Insurance Institute (NII) in partnership with Etgarim (Challenges), a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 by a group of disabled IDF veterans, disabled civilians and rehabilitation professionals.
Barkat's rappelling buddy was Nati Gruber, 42, who represented Israel at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics in hand cycling and expects to compete in the London Games this summer. "Every day, my goal is to bring to the public a realization that people who are different can be just like the person next door - or even better," says Gruber.

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President Shimon Peres on Wednesday (February 1), met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at the start of the Secretary-General's visit to Israel.

UN Sec.-Gen. Ban Ki-Moon said that, "I am deeply concerned by the latest report of the International Atomic Energy Agency.  I have been urging the Iranian authorities to prove that their nuclear program is genuinely for peaceful purposes.  I think they have not yet convinced the international community.  It is very important that the international community engage in a dialog with the Iranian authorities to resolve this issue peacefully.  I urge the Iranians to engage in dialog. There is no alternative to a peaceful resolution of this issue."

President Peres emphasized that, "At this time, the UN has a decisive role to play in the war against global terrorism, at the head of which stands Iran.  No country is immune from terrorism – not the US, not the European states and not the countries of the Middle East.  While Israel welcomes the sanctions, in and of themselves they are not enough.  I expect the international community not to take any option off the table, and to take determined action to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb!  Iran finances and uses terrorism.  We have witnessed the shipments of weapons and missiles that reach Gaza directly from Tehran and are received by Hamas, and the weapons convoys that go directly to Hezbollah in Lebanon and to Syria as well."

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Three reasons to visit Israel's up-and-coming Carmel region: organic wine, boutique beer and chocolate.
By Ariel Blum

Israel has come a long way since the main attraction in the Carmel region, located along the Mediterranean coast south of Haifa, was the Carmel Winery, producer of the country's original sticky-sweet sacramental wines used for the Shabbat and holiday Kiddush.

Today, not only have the wines improved to the point of winning international awards, but the entire Carmel is being positioned as the next up-and-coming region for natural and culinary tourism. The attractions include an organic farm, a trendy micro-brewery and several boutique wineries, including one with the added bonus of pioneering chocolate wine tastings.

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(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Hundreds of web surfers from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, the Gulf states, northern Africa, the Palestinian Authority and from among the Israeli Arab sector responded to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call and directed their questions to him on Monday morning, January 30, via the Prime Minister's Office Facebook page in Arabic.

The questions dealt with a broad range of issues including the Arab Spring, the diplomatic process with the Palestinians, Iran, relations between Israel and Arab countries and more.  The questions expressed a genuine interest in learning more about Israel and its policies in a range of areas.  Ofir Gendelman, the Prime Minister's Arabic Media Adviser, translated the questions and answers for Prime Minister Netanyahu and the surfers.

In response to a question about the diplomatic process, the Prime Minister said that, "I am ready at this moment to go to Ramallah and begin talks with Abu Mazen without preconditions.  To my regret, Abu Mazen is not prepared to come to my office.  I think that this is a mistake."

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January 27, 2012

Though Israel commemorates its Holocaust Memorial Day to coincide with the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, the international community marks today, January 27, to coincide with the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. Irrespective of the day, Israel stands with the enlightened nations of the world in remembering the most horrific mass murder in history – the massacre of six million Jews and millions of others – and in pledging to prevent its recurrence. Today, as anti-Semitism remains an increasingly accepted reality, and as extremists continue to plan for mass murder of Jews, our memory and our determination are supremely important.