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here, we go again...after russia special military operations. Israel PM "At War" After Surprise Attack From Gaza "Citizens of Israel. We are at war, not an operation, not an escalation, a war. "This morning Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against the state of Israel and its citizens. We've been at it since early morning. "I convened the heads of the security system, first of all I instructed to cleanse the settlements of the terrorists who had infiltrated - this operation is being carried out during these hours. "At the same time, I ordered an extensive reserve mobilization and a retaliatory war with a strength and scope that the enemy had never known. "The enemy will pay a price he has never known. In the meantime, I call on all citizens of Israel to strictly obey the instructions of the army and the instructions of the Home Command. "We are in a war and we will win it."

https://www.reuters.com/science/israeli-scientists-create-model-human-embryo-without-eggs-or-sperm-2023-09-07/ Reuters September 8, 20237:46 AM GMT+8Updated 11 hours ago REHOVOT, Israel, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Scientists in Israel have created a model of a human embryo from stem cells in the laboratory, without using sperm, eggs or a womb, offering a unique glimpse into the early stages of embryonic development. The model resembles an embryo at day 14, when it acquires internal structures but before it lays down the foundations for body organs, according to the team at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science. The scientists' work was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday after a pre-print came out in June, during the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)'s annual meeting in Boston. The Israeli team emphasised that they were a long way from being able to create an embryo from scratch. "The question is, when does an embryo model become considered an embryo? When that happens, we know the regulations. At the moment we are really, really far off from that point," said team leader Jacob Hanna. However, they said the work could open the door to new ways to test the effect of drugs on pregnancies, better understand miscarriages and genetic diseases, and perhaps even to grow transplant tissues and organs. "They are not identical. There are differences from human embryos, but still, this is the first time, if you open an atlas or a textbook, you can say - yeah I can really see the similarity between them," said Hanna. He said his team took stem cells derived from adult human skin cells, as well as others cultured in the lab, then reverted the cells to an early state with the potential to develop into different cell types. They then manipulated them to form the basis of something structurally resembling an embryo. It is not an actual or synthetic embryo - a term criticised by the ISSCR and other scientists - rather a model showing how one works. "In about 1 percent of the aggregates we can see that the cells start differentiating correctly, migrating and sorting themselves into the correct structure, and the farthest we could get is day 14 in human embryo development," he said. Their next goal, Hanna said, is to advance to day 21 and also reach a threshold of a 50% success rate. Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz, a professor of development and stem cells at the University of Cambridge, said the study joins six other similar human embryo-like models published from teams around the world this year, including from her lab. "None of these models fully recapitulate natural human development but each adds to ways in which many aspects of human development can now be studied experimentally," she said. The study raises some ethical questions over the possibility of potential future manipulation in human embryo development, Hanna and others noted. He drew a comparison to nuclear physics, however, arguing that you should not stop all research in that field because somebody might choose to make a nuclear bomb. It is important to engage and fully inform the public, he said, with "nothing done in the shadows". Reporting by Rami Amichay and Ari Rabinovitch; editing by Mark Heinrich

https://www.timesofisrael.com/suspected-spy-devices-found-in-gifts-given-to-ministers-by-chinese-embassy-reports/ Suspected spy devices found in gifts given to ministers by Chinese embassy – reports Routine security check finds suspicious component in travel mug sent to Israeli science and transportation ministries By TOI staff Today, 10:34 am An alleged bugging device found in a travel mug given as a gift by the Chinese embassy to an Israeli ministry (Courtesy) A travel mug given as a gift by the Chinese embassy in Israel to an Israeli minister was found to contain a component suspected to be a possible spying device, multiple Hebrew media outlets reported on Tuesday morning. Army Radio first reported that a routine security check found that one of several such mugs sent by the Chinese embassy to government offices contained a suspicious part in it. Further examination raised the suspicion that the component was a listening device and the Shin Bet was alerted. All mugs sent by the embassy were collected for further inspection, the reports said. Moreover, all government offices have been told to be extra careful about receiving gifts from foreign entities as “they may contain listening devices or cameras.” The suspicious mug was sent by the Chinese embassy to the Science and Technology Ministry and was most likely intended for Innovation, Science and Technology Minister Orit Farkash Hacohen, according to an unnamed Israeli official cited by the Walla news site. The mug was examined before reaching her office, the official said, adding that a similar mug had been addressed to the office of Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli. A travel mug, illustrative (semenovp; iStock by Getty Images) Both ministries are relevant for Israeli infrastructure projects China is interested in, the report noted. Officials in the Foreign Ministry said it was looking into the incident, Channel 12 reported, noting that the details were still unclear. The publication of such suspicions by multiple news outlets as an examination was still ongoing was notable, however. Amid a US-China trade war that has ebbed and flowed in recent years under both the Trump and Biden administrations, Israel and China have seen warming relations and growing Chinese interest in Israeli innovations, especially in medical tech, robotics, food tech and artificial intelligence. While the Biden administration has yet to make specific demands of Israel regarding its relations with China, the US has publicly brought up the Israeli relationship with China several times recently. Chinese President Xi Jinping and then US Vice President Joe Biden walk down the red carpet on the tarmac during an arrival ceremony in Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, September 24, 2015. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) China’s growing economy is forcing Israel to reposition itself politically and economically with the rising superpower. Data published by Israel’s National Bureau of Statistics in January indicated that in 2021 China became Israel’s largest source of imports, surpassing even the United States. That same month, Israel and China held a joint committee on innovation cooperation, led by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and China’s Vice President Wang Qishan. The committee agreed to a three-year plan to regulate cooperation and government-to-government dialogue between the countries through 2024. While gradually strengthening ties with Beijing, the Israeli government has also notified the Biden administration that it will keep the White House in the loop regarding significant deals it strikes with China and is prepared to reexamine such agreements if the US, Israel’s closest ally, raises opposition.

How often have we heard about the adventures of a man born about two thousand years ago? And now at Christmas, we celebrate His birth, and so what better way to know Him than to see His life and journey for ourselves? That was one of the main reason I set out to make this journey, to a place where strife and conflict mix with history, politics and adventure. It was also a bucket list item to see the place where they filmed Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade... Petra, who can forget the two Joneses riding out... So to see it for yourself is a really big deal:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Pfizer-vaccine-94-effective-in-real-world-Israel-study?utm_campaign=RN Subscriber newsletter&utm_medium=coronavirus_newsletter&utm_source=NAR Newsletter&utm_content=article link&del_type=10&pub_date=20210225150000&seq_num=12&si=44594 Pfizer vaccine 94% effective in real world: Israel study Results from fast rollout help ease uncertainty in fight against COVID The research in Israel - two months into one of the world's fastest rollouts -- is providing a rich source of data outside of clinical trials. © Reuters February 25, 2021 10:35 JST JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- The first big real-world study of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be independently reviewed shows the shot is highly effective at preventing COVID-19, in a potentially landmark moment for countries desperate to end lockdowns and reopen economies. Up until now, most data on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines has come under controlled conditions in clinical trials, leaving an element of uncertainty over how results would translate into the real world with its unpredictable variables. The research in Israel - two months into one of the world's fastest rollouts, providing a rich source of data - showed two doses of the Pfizer shot cut symptomatic COVID-19 cases by 94% across all age groups, and severe illnesses by nearly as much. The study of about 1.2 million people also showed a single shot was 57% effective in protecting against symptomatic infections after two weeks, according to the data published and peer-reviewed in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday. The results of the study for the Clalit Research Institute were close to those in clinical trials last year which found two doses were found to be 95% effective. "We were surprised because we expected that in the real-world setting, where cold chain is not maintained perfectly and the population is older and sicker, that you will not get as good results as you got in the controlled clinical trials," senior study author Ran Balicer told Reuters. "But we did and the vaccine worked as well in the real world." "We have shown the vaccine to be as effective in very different sub-groups, in the young and in the old in those with no co-morbidities and in those with few co-morbidities," he added. The study also suggests the vaccine, developed by U.S drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech, is effective against the coronavirus variant first identified in the UK. Researchers said they could not provide a specific level of efficacy, but the variant was the dominant version of the virus in Israel at the time of the study. The research did not shed light on how the Pfizer shot will fare against another variant, now dominant in South Africa, that has been shown to reduce the efficacy of other vaccines. Of the nine million people in Israel, a nation with universal healthcare, nearly half have received a first dose, and a third have received both doses since the rollout began on Dec. 19. This made the country a prime location for a real-world study into the vaccine's ability to stem the pandemic, along with its advanced data capabilities. The study examined about 600,000 vaccinated people against the same sized control group of unvaccinated people. Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital also collaborated. "This is more great news, confirming that the vaccine is around 90% effective at preventing documented infection of any degree of severity from 7 days after the second dose," said Peter English, a British government consultant in communicable disease control. "Previous recently studied papers from Israel were observational studies. This one used an experimental design known as a case-control study ... giving greater confidence that differences between the groups are due to their vaccination status, and not to some other factor." The study published on Wednesday was the first analysis of a national COVID-19 vaccination strategy to be peer-reviewed. It also offered a more detailed look at how the vaccine was faring at weekly intervals, while matching people who received the shot to unvaccinated individuals with similar medical histories, sex, age and geographical characteristics. Other research centres in Israel, including the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Israel Institute of Technology have shared several studies in recent weeks that show the vaccine to be effective. At least three studies out of Israel have also suggested the vaccine can reduce coronavirus transmission, but the researchers have cautioned that wider studies must be conducted in order to establish clear-cut conclusions. The Weizmann Institute's latest data shows a dramatic drop in illness - which began this month with the first age group vaccinated, the over-60s - has now extended to the two subsequent groups to have completed both doses. As infections have fallen in Israel, the country has eased its third national lockdown and reopened swathes of its economy including malls, shops, schools and many workplaces in the past two weeks. Recreational venues such as theatres, gyms and hotels opened on Sunday, but are open only to those deemed immune - holders of a "Green Pass", a health ministry document available for download only by people seven days after their second dose or people who have recovered from COVID-19. On Wednesday, Tel Aviv held one of the country's first live concerts after months of gatherings being banned under coronavirus restrictions. "This is so exciting, we are really so happy to be here today. It's unbelievable after one year of staying at home, it's great to be out to see some culture," said 60-year-old Gabi Shamir as she took her seat at the open-air show. Still, the vaccine's efficacy does not mean the country will be pandemic free any time soon. Like elsewhere in the world, a large proportion of the population are under 16 - about a third in Israel - meaning that they cannot yet get vaccinated as there have not been clinical trial results for children. "This is definitely not the end of the pandemic," said Eran Kopel, an epidemiologist at Tel Aviv University. "Once there is a safe vaccine for the children in Israel and all over the world we can then start to say that we could be approaching herd immunity."

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/20-year-old-nsf-detained-isa-planned-waterloo-synagogue-attack-14374432 SINGAPORE: A full-time national serviceman (NSF) was arrested for planning to carry out a knife attack against Jews at a synagogue at Waterloo Street and was subsequently detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Singaporean Amirull Ali, 20, had also made plans to travel to Gaza, Palestine to join the military wing of HAMAS in its fight against Israel, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said in a news release on Wednesday (Mar 10). Amirull was self-radicalised with a deep hatred for Israel after being convinced that Palestinians were being oppressed in the Israel-Palestine conflict, the ISD said. He was arrested on Feb 5 while he was an NSF with the Singapore Armed Forces. A detention order under the ISA was issued against him on Mar 5. This is the second reported case this year involving a young person held under the ISA. In January, it was revealed that a 16-year-old student had been detained for planning to attack two mosques in Woodlands. Amirull posed an “imminent security threat to Singapore”, said the ISD. He had planned to attack the Maghain Aboth Synagogue on a Saturday after the Jewish congregational prayers, with a goal to kill three Jewish men, the ISD said. He later considered carrying out the attack on Dec 25 last year. “He had targeted the males on the assumption that they would have served national service in Israel and hence carried out alleged atrocities against the Palestinians,” ISD said. After deciding to use a knife for the attack, Amirull downloaded an image of the human vascular system to study how he can inflict “a quick death from massive bleeding”, said ISD, adding that he made a replica knife to practise stabbing motions and grip techniques at home. Between August and early October 2019, he made at least two reconnaissance trips to the synagogue and identified a spot to ambush his victims as they exit the place of worship. Amirull eventually shelved his attack plans as he was concerned about not dying as a martyr if he was arrested and sentenced to death, ISD said. “The Ministry of Defence had alerted ISD that Amirull could have been radicalised by extremist ideologies,” the agency said. “ISD’s subsequent investigations confirmed that he was self-radicalised.” SELF-RADICALISATION PROCESS Amirull’s interest in the Israel-Palestine conflict started sometime in 2014 after watching a video that showed Palestinian civilians being bombed by Israeli fighter jets, ISD said. “His subsequent online research into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict convinced him that Israel was oppressing Palestinians and also deepened his hatred for Israel,” it added. Amirull’s support for the HAMAS military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (AQB), began in 2015 after he read a book that glorified the group’s fight for Palestinian rights. In 2018, Amirull discussed with a foreign contact his intention to travel to Palestine and join AQB. The contact encouraged him to do so, telling him that he would become a martyr if he died fighting the “enemies of Islam on the battlefield”, ISD said. The foreign contact was a "casual acquaintance" of Amirull and is currently not in Singapore, said ISD. "Apart from Amirull, he is not known to have influenced any other individuals in Singapore with his radical views," it added. Between mid-2018 and 2020, Amirull prepared to travel to Gaza and take up arms alongside AQB. He researched travel routes, intending to fly to Cairo before reaching Gaza, and practised how to handle an assault rifle using a self-made AK-47 replica. “He was focused on the AK-47 as he believed that he would be issued one by AQB based on what he had read about the group,” ISD said. Amirull planned to make the journey after November this year, after completing his full-time National Service and saving enough money by working as a chef. SYNAGOGUE ATTACK PLAN In July 2019, Amirull watched a CNA documentary on the Jewish community in Singapore and was enraged that Jews here were “thriving peacefully” while Palestinians were “suffering overseas”, ISD said. This was when he decided to attack Jews at the synagogue, ISD said. Knowing that it would be difficult to buy a firearm in Singapore, Amirull decided to use a Smith and Wesson knife he had originally bought in 2016 for scouting activities. “To prepare himself for the attack, he downloaded an image of the human vascular system which he used to identify the mid-section as the best place to stab his intended victims to inflict a quick death from massive bleeding,” ISD said. He also made a replica PVC knife to practise handling it at home and avoid damaging the actual knife or injuring himself, ISD said. From his recce trips to the synagogue, Amirull identified a spot along its exterior wall to ambush his potential victims. He was careful not to take pictures during these trips to avoid attracting attention, and downloaded an image for reference instead, ISD said. When carrying out the attack, he intended to conceal his face with a white keffiyeh, or traditional Arabian headdress, and would return home afterwards to post a manifesto online. “The aim of the manifesto was to incite all oppressed people to mount attacks against tyrannical regimes using ‘any means necessary’, including ‘assasinat(ion)’ and ‘vigilante justice’,” ISD said. In October 2019, Amirull had second thoughts about his attack plan after he was concerned about not attaining martyrdom should he be arrested and sentenced to death. “In his mind, martyrdom could only be achieved by fighting in an actual battlefield in Gaza,” ISD said. Nevertheless, Amirull revisited his plan in December last year when he became enraged by an online video on the killing of an unarmed and autistic Palestinian man by Israeli forces, ISD said. “He considered mounting the attack on Christmas Day (Dec 25, 2020), and planned to wear a black ski mask instead of the white keffiyeh,” ISD said. Amirull had bought the ski mask in March last year with the intention of wearing it when he joined AQB in Gaza, as he had seen the group’s fighters wearing similar masks. “However, he eventually shelved his attack plans, as he remained concerned about not attaining martyrdom,” ISD added. ISD’S INVESTIGATIONS SO FAR ISD said its investigations so far indicate that Amirull had acted alone, with no sign of him trying to influence anyone with his radical outlook or involve others in his attack plans. “His immediate family and others in his social circles were not aware of his attack plans,” it added. ISD said it will take firm action against any individual in Singapore who supports, promotes, undertakes or makes preparations to undertake armed violence, regardless of how they rationalise such violence or where it takes place. “In Amirull’s case, he wanted to engage in violence both at home and abroad. He made detailed plans and preparations to kill Jews in Singapore, and was held back only because he was uncertain if he would achieve martyrdom from doing so,” ISD said. “If Amirull had remained undetected, he might have eventually carried out his attack plans in Singapore or travelled abroad to undertake armed violence.” ISD said it is important for the public to remain vigilant to signs of radicalisation in the community, so it can “intervene early to avert a tragedy”. These signs include avid consumption of radical materials, expressions of an “us versus them” mentality, or interest in travelling overseas to participate in armed conflict. “Anyone who knows or suspects that a person has been radicalised should promptly contact the ISD Counter-Terrorism Centre hotline at 1800-2626-473,” it stated.

Airbus 320 operated by Cham Wing Airlines carrying 176 passengers flying from Najaf, Iraq to Damascus, Syria had to make an emergency landing at Khmeimim air base in Syria. From BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51411860 Flightpath of the plane from Najaf (right of pic) to Damascus , divert back and then north. Note: SIA does not overfly Syria. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/sia-does-not-overfly-syria-while-cathay-pacific-re-routes-flights-to-avoid

Anyone done a road trip in Israel before? Is it safe to self drive?

Chance upon this documentary in Youtube. Very impressive and bold rescue mission by the IDF! Enjoy! Operation Entebbe was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by the Special Forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976.[3] A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France plane with 248 passengers was hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists and flown to Entebbe, near Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Shortly after landing, all non-Israeli passengers, except one French citizen, were released.

Qoros, a joint venture between Chery and Israeli investment firm Israel Corp, has released sketches of its upcoming compact sedan due to be unveiled at the 2013 Geneva Motor show. The European body style is clean and inoffensive but is not something that will make heads turn. Such styling theme is evident in the VW Group. The dashboard of the car adopts a minimalist approach and would not look out of place in a Skoda. Like Kia, another Asian brand, Qoros has recruited a foreign talent to head its design department. He is the former MINI design boss, Gert Volker Hildebrand. The sedan, internally known as C11, is expected to be powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine mated to six-speed manual or dual-clutch automatic transmission. Hybrid and electric versions are expected to follow later on. Qoros has set a goal to build all cars to achieve maximum NCAP crash ratings. The company is currently building a new production facility in China with an initial annual capacity of 150,000 units.

Extract from autozine.org . Just like we have new water for independence, the Israelis are really going to cut their dependency on oil. Interesting what a smart guy with a wise government, who is not just looking to raising their own paycheck, can do. -------------------- The world's largest scale application of electric cars is going to take place in Israel. For national security reasons, Israeli government has long been pursuing alternative energy to oil because oil price is heavily dependent on its enemy Arabia countries. One of the biggest headache was how to turn the 2 million cars on its roads to run on electricity. Electric cars have been notorious for high purchasing price and long recharging time. Moreover, so far no countries are willing to invest substantial money to build the necessary infrastructure - countless of recharging stations covering all over the country. However, a breakthrough is finally achieved by the cooperation of the Israeli government, Shai Agassi and Renault-Nissan. The idea was originated by Shai Agassi, an Israeli software entrepreneur. Since he quit German software giant SAP, Agassi became an environmental activist. He realized that, to shorten the recharging time by only improving battery technology is not enough. The public wants recharge to be done in a few minutes, just like they get refill in petrol stations. Agassi therefore suggested, instead of really recharge the battery, the recharge station should replace the discharged battery with a fresh battery. This can be done in a few minutes time. Therefore the drivers no longer need to recharge the car overnight by themselves or worry of running out of electricity during driving. Everything works like driving a conventional car. The depleted battery will be recharged to full in the stations and installed into another car. Recharge will take place at late night to enjoy lower electricity rate. .......... To drive the electric car program, Israeli government will offer tax incentives on the electric cars and raise the tax for other cars. It is also building 200MW of regenerative power plants (wind power and solar power) to provide the electricity necessary. If the plan goes right, hopefully by 2020 petroleum cars will be history on Israeli roads.

Will be making a trip to the country on business and heard many nice thing about it...;Places and etc.... But One thing i heard is that, if you got a Israel stamp on your passport. Next time, when you travel to a country like Bolehland....or middle eastern countries....(I don't want to state too clearly on the religion thingy to avoid bringing that into discussion...so i hope when u add comment here....pls be mindful not to offence our brother/sister...) , you will faced an issue with the custom....They will question you like you are their parents killer...Anyone have experienced that? My EU counterpart used a second passport to travel so he wont faced issue when traveling to middle east, indo and Bolehland.....

See how tough the Israeli Army is? http://news.sg.msn.com/topstories/article....umentid=2054893 Reservists are been mobilised and send into warzone......

Israel electric car project aims to wipe out oilSell them like mobile phones, kill oil by 2020 By John Lettice → More by this author Published Tuesday 22nd January 2008 14:20 GMT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nail down your security priorities. Ask the experts and your peers at The Register Security Debate, April 17, 2008 DLD08 Israel today announced backing for Project Better Place, intended to switch motor transportation from oil to electric, and by a massive coincidence one of the project's prime movers, Shai Agassi of Better PLC, was evangelising at the DLD (Digital Life, Design) show in Munich. His objective, he says, is to "take one country off oil in a way that is repeatable." Israel is that country. And the model is the mobile phone. Really. The point of choosing Israel, says Agassi, is that doing it in a chaotic country is important, and he claims Israel is the most chaotic nation he knows. Plus there are helpful limits to how far you can drive in Israel - the endurance of a electric car on one 'fill up' is about 200km, and that easily covers the furthest you can go within Israel. He takes a pretty rational view of how far people are prepared to go to save the planet, and when it comes to cars that's not very far. It's got to be your car, no shares, with performance and size at least equivalent to today's models. It's got to be affordable (which includes image and cred, so lose points for non 'green' Hummers), and it's got to be fairly easy to 'fill up'. That last one's one of the gotchas of electric, and it's Agassi's primary point of attack. So you've got a vehicle that allows people to be green without it actually costing them anything to do so, and you've got the 'filling stations'. Which work this way. Israel will be blanketed with a network of battery exchange stations and roadside charge points which allow the cars to be charged whenever they're parked. Agassi suggests there will be about 500,000 of these, and points out that it's doable, because they've got them in Sweden, Norway and parts of Canada, where if you don't plug in when you stop your engine freezes. Charge points and swap stations mean there's no need for lengthy charge periods, so 'filling up' should take no more time than it does currently at a petrol station. Israel's helping with the economics. It currently taxes electric vehicles at 10 per cent and petrol at 72 per cent, and the government has promised to keep the electric car tax at that level until at least 2015. The switchover to electric vehicles is where the mobile phone model comes in. Say the motorist pays the equivalent of their current annual petrol bill for a mileage plan, they could be given the car to use, and it would become theirs after four years. Other mobile plans could operate - all you can eat unlimited mileage, pay as you go, and so on. The plan is to have the first of the cars on the road in 2009, 100,000 in 2010 and Israel off oil within ten years. Singapore boleh

Drivers panic as Mazda 3 cars recalled to fix wiring glitch By Daniel Schmil Tags: Israel It's the biggest car recall in Israel's history and garages are reporting incessant calls from frightened drivers of the Mazda 3, the best-selling car in the Holy Land. Some drivers didn't bother phoning; they drove straight to the nearest Mazda repair shop. Not too many, though - some car repair shops say that while their phones are ringing off the hook, drive-ins remain reasonably packed. But company officials insist that the problem is a minor one and does not comprise a safety hazard. "My switchboard is collapsing," says Moshe Somekh, manager of a garage licensed to handle Mazdas. "I have to turn down clients who came for repairs because I can't handle them all. The panic here is unnecessary." Despite an announcement urging drivers to bring in their cars "without delay," following a somewhat panicky reaction in the street, importer Delek Automotive Systems urges calm. The cars do need preventative repairs, but there is no urgency in doing so, clarifies deputy CEO Shachar Shemesh. Advertisement "The reports created utter hysteria," Shemesh said. "There is no urgency in the preventative treatment, and there is a very small chance that anything will happen." Asked to clarify that directive in letters to car-owners to bring in their cars "without delay," Shemesh says: "We wanted to prevent a stampede at the garages and allow the car owners to undergo this in an orderly manner." Evidently, that strategy didn't work. The recall involves about 50,000 Mazda 3 automatics manufactured between 2003 and November 2006, after which time the cars were upgraded to solve the problem. The preventative measure involves insulating the wiring of the engine computer from the engine block. Friction between the heated wiring and the engine block can lead to short circuits. In any case, the problem does not render the car less safe and cannot cause much damage to the engine. Contrary to certain media reports, the problem cannot cause the driver to lose control of the car, say company officials. At worst, the engine will stall, and can then be restarted. Customers will not pay for the preventative treatment, which takes about 40 minutes. The cost will be borne not by Delek Automotive, a Yitzhak Tshuva company, but by the global Mazda corporation. Assuming that the work costs NIS 160 per hour, Mazda is looking at a bill of about NIS 4 million plus the cost of the insulation material, which should run at a few shekels per car. "It's peanuts for a company like Mazda," says Shemesh. Leasing companies with large fleets of cars were more relaxed about the whole thing than private car owners. Cal-Auto leasing manager Eldad Koren commented that all they're doing is programming the needed treatment into the car computer, so the next time the car is taken for a tune-up or any handling by a garage, the job can be done. Car recalls are not rare, and the reasons tend to be hazardous problems. There have been recalls in Israel before, but of much smaller scope, no more than a few hundred cars at a time. Source extracted from : [link]http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=955577&contrassID=2&subContrassID=2[/link]

What a kelong match this morning. Israel beat Russia 2-1. ESPN Soccernet Reported : "Israel 2-1 Russia: Golan gets England out of jail" "England were thrown a Euro 2008 lifeline in Tel Aviv as Israel overcame Russia to leave Steve McClaren's men requiring just a draw against Croatia to qualify. Dorel Golan's stoppage-time winner, just seconds after Dmitri Sychev had struck a post with a shot which looked destined to send England out, must have raised the roof not only off the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv but the Grove Hotel in Watford, where McClaren was watching on, accompanied by his coaching staff. McClaren must have been shredding his fingernails as, for 29 long minutes, Israel resisted their increasingly-desperate vistors after Diniyar Biyaletdinov had levelled Elianiv Barda's early effort. Amazingly, the Russian's seemingly goalbound shot bounced off the outside of the Israeli post. And, as they poured forward looking for a winner, the visitors were caught with the perfect sucker punch as Golan scored the goal which could mean so much to McClaren." Well, well, well what a surpise in football.. Congra to all those who bet on Israel to win. . ($6.70) Now England needs only to draw against Croatia to go through. So now Euro 2008 is more exciting with England in it but they have still to over come Croatia this Wednesday.

Just returned from Israel yesterday.VAG cars very popular there.Golf,Passat,Polo are common.Saw the new Jetta as well but didn't manage to snap a shot.Looks nice & spacious.The cops in Bethlehem are using 2L Passats.Managed to snap some shots of the Seats there.New Ibiza & Cordoba looks nice too. Too bad the dealership here closed down.