'Israel on a Drone' - bird's eye view of Jerusalem

'Israel on a Drone'

CBNNews.com

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat posted a "drone video" of the capital earlier this week.

We hope you enjoy this bird's eye view of Jerusalem, the eternal undivided capital of the Jewish state.

Israel365 - "Whoever is among you of His entire people - may his God be with him - and let him go up to Jerusalem."

Whoever is among you of  His entire people - may his God  be with him - and let him  go up to Jerusalem. EZRA (1:3) מִי בָכֶם מִכָּל עַמּוֹ יְהִ י אֱ-לֹהָיו עִמּוֹ וְיַעַל לִירוּשָׁלִַם עזרא א:ג mee ba-KHEM mee-kol ah-MO ye-HEE eh-lo-HAV ee-MO ve-ya-AL lee-roo-sha-LA-yeem

Today’s Israel Inspiration

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat is devoted to bringing today's words from the book of Ezra to life, as he says: “The vision I have for the city is to return Jerusalem to the role it played two and three thousand years ago as a world center -- a destination for pilgrims and believers throughout the world.”

Bring the Bible to life and make it "this year in Jerusalem!" Join Rabbi Tuly Weisz on a once in a lifetime tour of Israel.

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A Beautiful Winter View of Israel
Stunning aerial video of the beautiful mountains and towns of Israel covered in snow this winter.
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Hijab vs. Niqab: How Should Women Dress in Public?“…For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7)

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Today's Israel Photo
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Yesterday's Photo Trivia

Did you guess all of the Seven Species? Count them here: “A Land of wheat, barley, grape, fig and pomegranate; a Land of olive oil and honey.” (Deut. 8:8). Tomorrow on Tu B’shvat (the new year of the trees) we eat from the foods that are mentioned here, so if you have a chance, see if you can find a pomegranate to enjoy!





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Jerusalem Post - snow to subside...thousands without power

Storm weakens across Israel, thousands still without power as recovery efforts begin

By JPOST STBUAFF.COM, DANIEL K. EISENBUD

LAST UPDATED: 12/14/2013


 

Messy snowy captal       1 OF 8

Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post 

Jerusalem, December 13, 2013.

Light snow and low temperatures expected throughout Saturday, storm to pass by days end; Defense ministry deploys equipment, food rations to assist emergency services.

The Defense Ministry deployed a large quantity of heavy vehicles, equipment, and food rations to assist emergency services operating in the snow in Jerusalem and the North.

Over 30 vehicles, bulldozers, plows, tractors, generators, and salt scattering trucks have been sent to roads around the capital and Safed. Containers of fuel and diesel fuel have been sent to police to assist people stranded without electricity.

On Saturday morning, a chunk of the country's residents remained without electricity as precipitation continued. While at around 9 a.m., the Israel Electric Corporation reported that 29,600 households were without power, only two-and-a-half hours later the company upgraded that number to 35,000 – or 1.4% of the country's total 2.5 million customers.  About 13,000 of these outages were in Jerusalem and 2,400 were in Safed, the company said.

Emphasizing that crews worked throughout the entire night to restore power to customers, the company said that it continues to operate in emergency settings, and that "it will take a long time to fix problems," warning that broken wires pose life threatening dangers.

Due to conditions, Israel Railways said it operated a special train on Saturday departing from Jerusalem toward Haifa.

Related:

• Snowfall unites Jerusalemites of diverse faiths
• Roads to Jerusalem closed as huge storm batters Israel

The first of two special trains departed at its scheduled time of 11:00 a.m. and  an additional train will depart at 4:00 p.m. and will stop at the following stations: the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, Beit Shemesh, Lod, Tel Aviv Savidor center, Netanya, Binyamina and Haifa Hof Hakarmel.

Due to fears of a potentially overflowing Ayalon River on Friday night – when the river was about 50 centimeters from spilling over – the Israel Police closed a portion of the Ayalon Highway from 9:30 to 11 p.m.

However, after it became clear that the level of the Ayalon River had once again receded, the police reopened the highway to traffic, which was flowing as normal on Saturday morning, according to Netivei Ayalon. At that time, the company said that the Ayalon water level was 170 centimeters below the road.

Treachery on the roads

Police worked to help dozens of drivers stranded on Jerusalem's streets and on the entry roads into the capital as intermittent snow continued to fall on Friday morning. Roads to the capital remained closed Friday morning. In the evening outbound lanes of Route 1 closed again to traffic from Jerusalem in the direction of Tel Aviv.

IDF vehicles and snow plows were also aiding police and municipal employees in efforts to aid motorists.

Ben-Gurion Airport closed on Friday for about an hour due to the storm battering the country.

The Home Front Command set up a control center in Latrun overnight Friday, and deployed units to snow-stricken areas. Drivers stranded on Route 1 and Route 443 at the entrance to Jerusalem were being evacuated to emergency help centers established at the Jerusalem Convention Center, in Mevaseret Zion and at the Ofer military camp.

Some 2,000 stranded motorists in the capital and on the highways leading to the city were rescued by police, IDF and Border Police forces.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat turned to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz and Jerusalem District police chief Yossi Pariente for help in evacuating the motorists.

"We are currently using all means available to save the people stuck in the storm. Only after the weather calms will we be able to open all of the roadways in the city," Barkat said Friday morning, adding that the city was facing "a battle against a rare storm, the likes of which we have never seen."

The municipality called on drivers to avoid coming to Jerusalem and instructed the city's residents to stay off the roads until the storm had subsided.

Due to heavy rains and snow conditions in many parts of the country, Police
issued a general advisory on Friday morning for the public not to leave their homes.

Police said that there was an increased risk of fatality for drivers in the current conditions.

The Egged bus company announced that it had stopped service to the capital and that it would only restart service on Saturday night contingent on improved conditions.

Jerusalem received between 30 centimeters and half a meter of snow by Friday morning depending on the area in the city, Israel Radio reported. 

"We expect difficult weather conditions to continue, and we're asking all civilians to listen to instructions from emergency services and not come to Jerusalem," an IDF source said on Friday. The army has gone on a state of alert on the Golan Heights due to the storm, and has deployed dozens of rescue crews and heavy vehicles there on standby. "We are more experienced with dealing with this kind of weather in the Golan," the source said.

Some ten centimeters of snow had accumulated Friday morning in the northern Golan Heights from Kibbutz Ortal northwards.

A number of area roads were partially closed and snow removal was in progress. Public transportation was shut down in the northern Golan until further notice.

The Golan Heights regional municipality warned tourists not to cross fences and walk into fields due to the risk of stepping on mines.

Snow was also coming down Friday morning in Safed, Meron, Sasa, Ma'alot, and in Upper Nazareth and continued throughout the night and into Saturday morning.

Police told motorists not to travel to Safed as the access roads to the city were closed. A number of vehicles were stuck on the roads leading to the Galilee city.

The Forecast

Rain is expected to continue through Saturday until it begins to weaken and eventually ceases by nighttime, the IMS reported.

Snowfall in Jerusalem should turn to sleet by noon and stop by the afternoon. As the skies become clearer, however, the temperatures will remain cold, falling to below zero in many places and causing icy – "black ice" – road conditions, the IMS warned.

Yaakov Lappin and Sharon Udasin contributed to this report.

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Breaking News Videos - Tens of thousands without power in Jerusalem - total of 20" of snow expected 12.13.13

Tens of thousands without power in Jerusalem, Hundreds of Drivers stranded in snow as St Click here to watch: Jerusalem Gets Hit By Worst Storm Ever The Jerusalem Municipality said that the city was expected Friday afternoon to be hit by a wave of stormy conditions “three times worse” than what has been experienced so far since late Thursday night. Beginning at approximately 16:00 pm local time, municipality officials told The Times of Israel that it was urging all residents of the capital and the surrounding areas to stay indoors as weather conditions worsen. “We are expecting a second storm triple the size of the one we’ve seen now and possibly up to 20 inches of snow,” said municipality spokesperson Brachie Sprung Friday at 1:30 p.m. “During the storm the highways will remain closed and all public transportation services will be suspended.” The Israel Electric Corporation declared a nationwide state of emergency Friday as tens of thousands of homes in Jerusalem and the surrounding region remained without power amid the severe winter storm currently besieging the area. The electric company said it was manning a situation room to receive reports of outages and was calling in emergency workers to help restore power to those affected in certain parts of Jerusalem, Mevasseret Zion, Har Adar, Abu Gosh and Tzur Hadassah where many power lines were hit by fallen trees. “We did not anticipate the storm to be on this scale,” Oren Helman from the electric company told Channel 2 news. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat turned to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz and Jerusalem District police chief Yossi Pariente for help in evacuating the motorists. "We are currently using all means available to save the people stuck in the storm. Only after the weather calms will we be able to open all of the roadways in the city," Barkat said Fridaymorning, adding that the city was facing "a battle against a rare storm, the likes of which we have never seen." Earlier Friday, Ben Gurion Airport closed briefly as the unprecedented winter storm — bringing the heaviest December snows on record to Jerusalem — continued to batter the country for a third day. Two incoming flights initially rerouted to Larnaca, Greece were set to land in Tel Aviv. Police instructed citizens Friday to stay indoors and avoid driving on roads, citing life-threatening dangers. The main arteries leading in to and out of Jerusalem, Highway 1 and Road 443, were closed off after thousands of people were left stranded overnight Thursday-Friday by the heavy snowfall, leading the IDF, the police and volunteers to launch rescue operations. Police said Friday morning that a rescue operation on Road 443 was completed, after rescuers evacuated some 600 travelers from that route. Crews worked throughout the night and into the morning to rescue travelers in cars and buses trapped on the roads, at one point putting out a public call for help from anybody with a 4X4 vehicle. Around 2,000 people were rescued from vehicles during the night, according to Israel Radio, and hundreds were evacuated to shelters set up at convention centers in the city, including the International Convention Center, or Binyanei Hauma. The Defense Ministry said it was sending emergency generators and meals to those currently at the centers. On Thursday, the IDF’s elite 669 search and rescue unit retrieved 10 trapped passengers from a commercial vehicle that was swept away by flood waters in Nahal Gerar, north of Beersheba. The passengers, nine of whom were children, were airlifted to Beersheba’s Soroka Medical Center in fair condition. Over 24 hours between Wednesday and Thursday morning, some 103 millimeters (four inches) of rain — the monthly average — fell in the capital and 35 mm (1.4 inches) in Tel Aviv. There were several  incidents of people caught in flash floods that swept their cars away. WATCH HERE The stormy weather was expected to persist into the weekend, with snow reaching elevated areas as far south as the Negev Desert on Friday. On Wednesday, high winds, torrential rain and floods inflicted damage in many areas, with some injuries caused by flying debris. CLICK HERE to sign up for "Israel in my Heart" updates! Israel is in My Heart Receive beautiful pictures and videos of israel!! Follow us on Facebook for top Israel videos: https://www.facebook.com/israelinmysoul

Jerusalem mayor blasts Obama over construction criticism

Thursday, December 06, 2012 |  Ryan Jones, Israel Today  

 

 

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on Monday slammed the Obama Administration for once again pressuring Israel over where it can and cannot build in and around its own capital city.

"I don't know of any city in the world whose regulator is the US president," Barkat said during a conference in Herzliya on affordable housing.

Barkat was responding to American criticism over Israel's approval this week of long-standing plans to expand the Jerusalem suburb of Ma'aleh Adumim to the adjacent hill known as "E1".

Israel finally approved the plans as punitive action for the Palestinian Authority's unilateral effort to receive official recognition at the UN.

But Barkat said the planned construction has been and remains crucial to providing affordable housing in the capital, which is Israel's most densely populated city.

Successive American governments have condemned Israel's plans for E1, even though it is a barren hill completely controlled by Israel, because the Palestinians say Israeli construction there will negatively impact their plans to gain sovereignty over the eastern half of Jerusalem.

But like most other Israeli leaders, Barkat views these areas as disputed, not occupied, and therefore either everyone must be allowed to build there, or no one must be allowed to build there.

"When the world talks about a freeze in Jerusalem, I ask, a freeze on what? ...Should we stop construction for Arabs, Christians or Jews?" questioned Barkat.

Does the Obama Administration mean to say that "when an entrepreneur approaches me, I should, heaven forbid, ask him what religion he subscribes to so he can receive a permit to build in Jerusalem?" the mayor continued. "That would be horrendous and it negates even US law."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was adamant this week that his government would not back down on its decision regarding the new construction.

On Wednesday, Israel's Civil Administration Planning Council approved the E1 building plans. There will now be a 60-day waiting period during which the Israeli public can file objections to the plans, after which the District Planning Committee will provide final approval.


http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23550/Default.aspx