Rachel Abrams, a writer, "Bad Rachel" blogger and editor married to American diplomat Elliot Abrams, died June 7 from stomach cancer. She was 62. Abrams was also a noted artist, as well a prolific contributing writer for a number of high profile outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Weekly Standard and Commentary. Abrams was a devoted proponent of Israel, having spent three years working on Kibbutz Machanayim in the Galilee in the 1970’s. She also served on the board of the Emergency Committee for …More

Solar energy firm Suntech is set to build two massive projects for construction company Shikun Binui, in what is being touted as one of the largest deals of its kind in recent history. Suntech will build two separate photovoltaic fields—fields that convert solar radiation into direct current electricity—for the construction firm. A five-megawatt field will be installed at Kibbutz Sde Boker, and a six-megawatt field will be installed at Kibbutz Hatzerim in the Negev. Enerpoint Israel will take care …More

Hilla Hascalovich was just shy of her second birthday when her family moved from Israel to California, and although she grew up living in the United States, she faced the difficult task of choosing between serving in the Israel Defense Forces or deferring her draft in favor of college. It’s a decision all American teenagers with Israeli citizenship face, but some find a middle ground. Hascalovich, who visited Israel twice yearly and considered Israel a second home, postponed college for a year in order to …More

Israeli leaders celebrated Shavuot this week, the ritual holiday commemorating the gift of the Torah to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu honored the holiday at a gathering with children from the Valley of Springs Regional Council. Bibi spoke with the children and accepted gifts of locally grown fruit, a traditional food for the holiday, as biblical commandment mandated that farmers bring their “first fruits” to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. "I thank you for …More

Israeli Aviram Paz recently came across two rare versions of the Passover Haggadah, including one used by Jews serving in Iran during World War II. Paz, 60, has been amassing a collection of 8,000 Passover Haggadot for years and storing them in a secure climate-controlled room at his home in Kibbutz Mishmar Haemek. One Passover Haggadah found by Paz was made by Jewish soldiers who served in the British military during World War II and were stationed in Iran from 1942 to 1945. “We’re talking about …More

The families surround long tables covered by white tablecloths. Festive decorations line the walls, and the kitchen is free of chametz, the leavened foods forbidden on Passover. Seder plates sit in front of hungry participants. But instead of someone reading the Haggadah or reciting the kiddush over wine, the crowd sings a modern Israeli kids’ song about Passover: “Great joy! Great joy! Spring has arrived, Pesach is here!” So begins the holiday at Ramat Yochanan, an 80-year-old secular kibbutz …More

Yuk Lun Chan, NoCamels - Israel Innovation News When it comes to automated animal-milking, Israel is considered a world-leader. For decades, Israeli innovators have continuously developed advanced techniques to maintain dairy farms and milking efficiently. It is no surprise then that when a Canadian goat farm needed to enhance productivity – they turned to Israeli technology. AfiMilk, a local company specializing in dairy herd management and situated in the Jordan valley kibbutz Afikim, has built a …More

Recycling took center stage this weekend at a number of events throughout Israel. Green Purim parades and a national bottle-recycling contest sponsored by the ELA Recycling Corporation are all part of a new push to encourage Israelis to recycle more. “In the State of Israel, we’re used to just dumping our garbage,” Yakutiel Tzipori, a spokesperson for the Environment Ministry, said. “We’re a developing country and everything else was more important, like security and defense; the …More

For over 25 years, Kibbutz Afikim has pioneered new, modern diary techniques on its Israeli farm and installed over 5,500 AfiMilk dairy systems worldwide. Now the kibbutz-based enterprise is bringing its new, high-tech sheep and goat herding solutions to North America. The program, designed by engineers, monitors each animal’s health, production and fertility, leading to a healthier flock and the ability to select the strongest, most productive animals for breeding and detect sick animals before they are …More

The Jewish state’s largest crop illustration has been created in the image of Shimon Peres, to honor the Israeli president’s 90th birthday later this year. The field formation was sculpted in Kibbutz Tel Yosef, where residents decided to surprise the president with the celebratory homage. Each year, Peres makes a helicopter trek from Jerusalem to the northern Galilee to take part in a memorial service for Zionist activist Joseph Trumpeldor. While en route, Peres’ pilot told the president: …More

Haim Hermesh recalled when female parachutist Haviva Reik jumped from a height of 300 feet into the fields of Ramat David in April 1944, “We felt something extraordinary and fateful had just occurred: the second Jewish woman had parachuted from the skies of Palestine and embarked on a tale of daring and affliction.” Minutes later, it was Sarah Braverman’s turn. Yet, Braverman, better known as Surika by her friends, balked. “It was already my turn to jump from the plane, but when the …More

Rafael Medoff, JNS.org They may not wear those classic blue “kibbutznik hats,” but some Ethiopians, Sudanese, and Eritreans may soon be establishing Israeli-style communes in eastern Africa. It’s part of an innovative project launched by young Israelis to deal with the problem of the tens of thousands of African refugees who have slipped across the Egypt-Israel border during the past several years. An estimated 60,000 refugees and migrants from Sudan, Eritrea, and other African countries have …More