by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Corporate, Corporate Governance, Emerging Businesses, Muslim World
Washington : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Saudi Arabia has given Air India approval to use its airspace for flights between Israel and India.
Netanyahu made the announcement during a briefing in Washington on Monday after meeting US President Donald Trump, the Times of Israel reported.
“Air India signed an agreement to fly to Israel over Saudi Arabia,” he said, emphasizing that the flights to and from Mumbai would consume the same time as flights between London and Tel Aviv — about five-and-a-half hours.
There was no immediate confirmation of the agreement from Saudi Arabia or Air India.
Currently, El Al Israel Airlines offers direct flights from Israel to India, with a Tel Aviv-Mumbai route.
In order to avoid Saudi Arabia, which has hitherto forbidden flights to and from Israel over its airspace, the plane must detour over the Red Sea and around the Arabian peninsula, adding over two hours to the journey.
The Indian airline’s ability to fly over Saudi Arabia would substantially reduce the flight time. Netanyahu stressed the planes would not be able to fly over Iran, Iraq and Pakistan — other countries with which Israel has no diplomatic ties, the Times of Israel reported.
The “agreement” marked a significant achievement as Jerusalem attempts to upgrade its relationship with Riyadh, the report said.
While no formal ties exist between Israel and Saudi Arabia, it was revealed by Israeli officials over the last several months that there had been covert contacts between the two countries, according to a Jerusalem Post report.
Netanyahu, who visited India in January, acknowledged the agreement could hurt El Al. During the India trip, Netanyahu had said that an “efficient and direct route” between the countries was an important goal.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Mount Carmel
By Prashant Sood,
Tel Aviv : How about visiting a beautiful beach along the Mediterranean Sea, walking on layers of history stretching back to over 2,000 years, and dropping in on one of the most diverse organic farms in the world? All in a day?
It is possible to pack one’s day with vast possibilities in Israel, a country rich in culture and history — and one that is geographically compact and yet has a varied topography. The excellent transport infrastructure also ensures easy and fast travel.
We started our day with a quick visit to the organic farm of Mizpe Hayamim, a hotel in northern Israel that can be a role-model for the farm-to-table concept. Spread over a vast area, the organic farm has flowers, vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, livestock and a dairy.
The farm provides fresh seasonal produce for the hotel’s vegetarian restaurant and meets almost all its needs. Apart from boutique cheeses, liqueur, jams, unique blends of coffee, home-made pastries and sweets, even soaps are produced on the farm.
The farm is on a hillock and reflects the enterprise and determination that have turned the seemingly barren land into a fertile asset, attracting people from all parts of the world.
Mizpe Hayamim is close to the Sea of Galilee and views of the vast expanse around were amazing. The expansive views continued as we travelled to Zichron Ya’akov, a quaint town on Mount Carmel, founded in 1882 by 100 Jewish pioneers who returned to their Biblical homeland from Romania.
The main shopping street at Zichron Ya’akov is on a slight incline, making the walk a pleasure. It is lined with cafes, small shops and old buildings. After having a sumptuous lunch at a Baronita restaurant, located on a pedestrian street, we headed for the ancient port city of Caesarea, a fascinating place steeped in history that transports you back in time by centuries.
The Caesarea National Park has remains of many periods and the attractions include Roman theatre, hippodrome, sea-shore promenade, the crusader gate and the magnificent port.
The city, rebuilt by Herod the Great in 22-10 BCE, is a treasure trove for any student of history and archaeology. While we took a quick tour, an entire day can be spent here discovering its chequered past — which also saw it emerge as a major port of trade between the Roman empire and Asia.
It did not take long to reach Tel Aviv from Caesarea and the city impressed with its neatness and vertical architecture. The modern, cosmopolitan city with several avenues of shopping and a thriving nightlife also has the highest number of high-tech companies per capita in the world. Located on the eastern Mediterranean coastline, Tel Aviv has captivating beaches.
We took Segways, the two-wheeled electric vehicle, to explore the beach promenade, and it was an unforgettable treat.
Moving along on the big wheels in gentle breeze, the Segway tour presented different views of the waves, the sea, the setting sun and the elegant shops on the beach side. It is not difficult to use Segway and all it requires is a bit of practice under watchful eye of an expert.
Tel Aviv can be the base to visit some other destinations in Israel, including Jerusalem and Haifa.
The coastal city of Haifa has a sense of tranquility about it and the Baha’i World Centre and Hanging Gardens — a Unesco World Heritage Site — immensely add to its quiet charm. There are quite a few places to explore nearby. We went to Derech Hatavlinim Herb and Spice Farm and it was a model for agri-tourism. The farm attracts about 150,000 people from all parts of the world annually. The farm, with a visitor centre in the fields, offers about 600 varieties of species and hundreds of varieties of blends and now has shops in different parts of the world.
Jeruslam, 66 km southeast of Tel Aviv, is a perennial attraction and our visit to Israel would have been incomplete without a look-in at its Old City. The Church of Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall and the Dome of Rock are a few minutes walk from one another.
The Old City Train — a cute little green and yellow road-train — makes it easy and interesting to go through the Old City to the Western Wall.
(Prashant Sood was in Israel on the invitation of its Ministry of Tourism. He can be reached at prashant.s@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Constructions of the Israeli settlement Ramot continue over the Palestinian lands in Jerusalem, on November 22, 2017.
Jerusalem: The Israeli authorities on Thursday approved the construction of hundreds of new Jewish-only housing units in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Israeli media reports.
“The [Israeli] Jerusalem Municipality’s planning and construction committee has approved the construction of 3,000 new housing units at the Gilo [settlement] in southern Jerusalem,” Israeli radio reported.
“The planned settlement units will be built on an area of approximately 280 dunams [around 252 square km], most of which is owned by Palestinians,” it added.
“This is a historic day for the city of Jerusalem,” Meir Turjeman, chairman of the municipal planning committee, was quoted as saying by the broadcaster.
“We approved the construction of thousands of new housing units in the Gilo settlement with a view to encouraging more young [Jewish Israeli] couples to come to Jerusalem,” Turjeman said.
“We are committed to building wherever possible in order to increase Jerusalem’s Jewish majority,” he added.
Last year, Israel’s Channel 10 reported on plans to build 300,000 new Jerusalem housing units as part of a so-called “Greater Jerusalem” bill aimed at annexing settlements built in the occupied West Bank.
According to Channel 10, most of the units would be constructed in areas located beyond the Green Line, in reference to territories that Israel occupied during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Roughly 600,000 Israeli settlers currently live on more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967.
The Palestinians want these areas, along with the Gaza Strip, for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “occupied territories” and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity on the land as illegal.
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Benjamin Netanyahu
Jerusalem : Two associates of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been remanded in custody amid a corruption investigation.
The Tel Aviv Magistrates’ Court has extended the arrests of Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Israel’s giant telecom company Bezeq, and Nir Hefetz, Netanyahu’s confidant and former media adviser.
They will stay under arrest at least until Monday, the court said on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.
Elovitch is suspected of being part of a bribery deal, in which Bezeq received regulatory and financial benefits from the Communications Ministry, which Netanyahu headed between 2014 and 2017 in addition to his capacity as prime minister.
In return, Walla, a news site controlled by Elovitch, allegedly refrained from criticizing Netanyahu and gave him and his wife, Sara Netanyahu, positive coverage.
Hefetz is a suspect in the Bezeq affair, called by the police “case 4000.” He was also charged in a separated case with bribery, in which he sought to throw out a criminal case against Sara Netanyahu, said the police.
Also on Thursday, the court extended the arrest of Shlomo Filber, who was until recently one of the closest associates of Netanyahu.
Filber, who served as the director general of the Communications Ministry under Netanyahu, became a state witness against Netanyahu on Wednesday. Under the terms of his deal, he will stay in custody until he finishes his testimony.
The media reported on Thursday that Filber told his investigators that he acted under direct orders from Netanyahu.
The recent arrests came only a week after the police said there was sufficient evidence to charge Netanyahu with corruption in two other cases.
Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing, saying the allegations are part of a witch-hunt by the media and “the left.”
His coalition has remained stable for now, with his major partners, the ultra-nationalist Jewish Home party and the centre-right Kulanu, saying Netanyahu will be required to step down only if the general attorney decides to indict him.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Large Enterprise, Muslim World
An Israeli gas platform west of Israel’s port city of Ashdod.
Tel Aviv : Israel-based Delek and Texas-based Noble Energy signed on Monday a $15 billion deal to export natural gas to Egypt, the officials said.
The gas will be drilled from Israel’s offshore natural gas fields, Tamar and Leviathan, Delek said in a statement.
Under the agreement, Delek and Noble Energy, which control the gas fields, will provide Egypt’s Dolphinus Holdings Ltd. with about 64 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the two fields over a period of ten years, Xinhua reported.
Delek said it is looking into several options to transfer the gas to Egypt. The company is also considering going into negotiations with the East Mediterranean Gas Company, known also as EMG, an Israeli-Egyptian corporation.
Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz praised the economic and strategic implications of the agreement.
“The huge export deal forms Israel as a key player in the regional energy market and is expected to strengthen relations between the countries,” he said in a statement.
In 2016, Delek and Noble signed agreements to supply natural gas from Tamar to a Jordanian chemical company in the Dead Sea.
Exports started in 2017. Under an additional contract, also signed in 2016, Israel would supply Jordan’s electric company NEPCO with gas from Leviathan, starting from 2019.
Leviathan is a huge 622 billion cubic meters gas reservoir that was found off Israel’s Mediterranean coast in 2010. The gas field is still under development with production expected to begin in 2019.
Gas production in Tamar, a nearby smaller gas field, kicked off in March 2013.
In December 2015, after years of political infighting, the Israeli government signed the long-awaited agreement allowing Noble and Delek Group to develop the Leviathan and Tamar gas fields while forcing them to sell two minor fields.
—IANS
