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Israel

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Israel Teaching Fellows - Israel Experience|

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel confirmed on Tuesday that his military had shot down a Syrian aircraft over the Golan Heights.|

Many Palestinians are describing a new kind of armed struggle that is based on sporadic, leaderless outbursts against the Israeli occupation and policies; violence has emerged amid lapsed peace process; improvised intifada has been at least tacitly condoned by Palestinian leaders, but without evidence of coordination by Fatah or Hamas, Israel has no straightforward way to curb the attacks or hold authorities accountable.|

Then, at the end of 2001, the Israel GPO (Government Press Office) said that it would not renewing foreign press passes to Palestinian journalists. Instead, the GPO would give out Orange Assistant Cards that would only be valid in the Territories and not give immediate access to Israel because the Palestinian journalists "spread propaganda and do not meet journalistic standards for balanced coverage."|

Acre ('Akko) is about two hours from Tel Aviv. It is an Arab town and, like Nazareth, is a reminder that Israel is indeed part of the Middle East. On the Lebanese border, a half-hour north, are the grottoes of Rosh Hanikra. The road heading east along the border is particularly beautiful.|

Some examples of the publications, listed with brief amounts of background information and chosen to offer a sense of the diversity available, include: (circ. 20,000; founded 1963; weekly; for expatriates), (journal of the young Histadrut Movement), (In the Camp; circ. 70,000; founded 1948; military, illustrated publication of the Israel Armed Forces), (weekly of the Communist Party of Israel), (Freedom; weekly of the Herut Party), (circ. 65,000 worldwide; founded 1959), (Mitteilungsblatt; founded 1932; German journal of the Irgun Olei Merkus Europa [The Association of Immigrants from Central Europe]), (circ. 150,000; founded 1946; women's magazine), (The Telescope; news and current affairs), (founded 1987; for children), (for Christian and Muslim Arabs in the region), (circ. 30,000; founded 1962; review of all aspects cultural in Israel by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), (founded 1965), (founded 2000; Israel's first magazine for Arabic women), (voice of the Jewish settlers of the West Bank and Gaza Strip), (founded 1965), and (founded 1937; Torah science and literature).|

Israeli soldier and woman are killed in separate stabbing attacks that authorities in Israel attribute to Palestinian men, rattling Israelis and intensifying political pressure on Prime Min Benjamin Netanyahu.|

Secretary of State John Kerry is optimistic after meeting with leaders of Jordan, Israel and, separately, Pres Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, that strife over volatile holy site in Old City of Jerusalem can be eased; site is revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, and by Jews as Temple Mount.|

Syrian official say Israeli warplanes struck two areas near Damascus, apparently ending monthslong hiatus in strikes attributed to Israel against weaponry destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon.|

The Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) has completed a US$10 billion investment program in 2000, which has boosted the country's generating capacity from 8,000 megawatts to about 12,000 megawatts. The country's plants almost entirely run on fossil fuels; no nuclear power plants are in operation. Israel is preparing for the availability of natural gas by planning a natural gas distribution network. Local authorities are searching for solutions to environmental problems related to municipal solid waste and wastewater treatment. The first international tender for a waste-to-energy plant was issued in January 1998. Development of regional sanitary landfills, a national air pollution monitoring system, and municipal wastewater treatment plants, even in outlying regions of the country, are indicative of a growing awareness of environmental issues.|

There are a number of changes occurring in the system of higher education in Israel, focusing on the key issues confronting the other levels of education: equality of opportunity, excellence, and diversity. On the one hand, the goal is provide high quality of education and to have a structure that is efficient and effective. Both internal and external reviews have suggested the need for reform and rethinking of programs, as well as changes to the funding structure and control by the government. On the other hand, the goal of higher education in Israel is to make advanced education available to as much of the population as possible, a shift from a view of higher education as properly "elite" to a more egalitarian view of universal access to postsecondary education. This newer view requires changes in the government's role in higher education, the types of institutions that exist or that can be started and supported, and the amount of autonomy various institutions might have within the system. A number of proposals to address both goals are under discussion.|

The major issue with censorship in Israel boils down to this: Anything related to national security or military operations are off-limits to journalists. Of course, most of the news attempting to be reported from Israel deals with issues easily construed as related to national security and/or military operations. Thus, there can be understood to be significant curtailment of freedom of the press in Israel. Material produced by foreign journalists is routinely supposed to be passed by censors before it is broadcast. As well, besides the official channels of censorship, it is commonly recognized that bribery, intimidation, and violence on the part of the government/military plays into the equation of what gets printed/broadcast and what does not.|

These regional institutions offer bachelor's degrees in particular areas of study. Their academic offerings are the parts of their programs supervised by the Council. They are intended to be centers for adult and continuing education and are part of an attempt to make higher education more accessible to the entire population of Israel. They are funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture, by local authorities, and by the Ministry of the Interior. From outside the country, there are extension programs offered by at least three institutions under the auspices of the Council for Higher Education. These programs award degrees outside Israel and are not essentially part of the national system of higher education.|

Lacking large-scale resources of fuel and power, Israel is forced to import more than 90 percent of its energy requirements. Petroleum constitutes around 8 percent of all goods imports. The main sources of the annual crude oil requirements of around 50 million barrels are Egypt, Mexico, and Norway. Around 30 percent of requirements are purchased on the spot market. Most imported crude oil is refined at the Haifa oil refinery, which has a capacity of more than 6 million tons a year. Output of natural gas from the Dead Sea area is transported through a pipeline to the Dead Sea potash works and to towns in the Negev desert and a large phosphate plant. Production totaled 21.5 million cubic meters in 1994.|

In 1958, the Council for Higher Education Law centralized and formalized higher education in Israel through the creation of the Council for Higher Education, the central authority for all forms of higher education. It is chaired by the Minister of Education and Culture. The Council oversees the funding, planning, accreditation, degree offerings, academic freedom, and levels of autonomy for all institutions of higher education in the country.|

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