Israel assigns great importance to the promotion of its ties with China, the number two economic power in the world, a member of the UN Security Council and a major player in Asia and in the international arena Israel and China are commemorating today (24 January) twenty years of diplomatic relations. Israel assigns great importance to the promotion of its ties with China, the number two economic power in the world, a member of the UN Security Council and a major player in Asia and in the international arena. Israel greatly admires the economic, scientific and technological development that characterizes the growth of China in the last few decades.
The connection between China and the Jewish people goes back a thousand years, to the time when Jewish merchants from Central Asia arrived via the Silk Road to the city of Kaifeng and found a home there.

The Jewish people appreciates that China provided a safe haven for thousands of Jews during two dark and difficult periods in its history: during the persecutions and pogroms in Russia at the end of the 19th century and throughout the Russian revolution, and during World War II, when 30,000 Jewish refugees from Europe found sanctuary in the city of Shanghai.

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We invite you to attend Agritech Israel 2012, the 18th International Agricultural Technology Exhibition. Agritech Israel is one of the world’s most important exhibitions in the field of agricultural technologies. The exhibition will be held May 15 – 17, 2012 at the Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Center in Tel Aviv.

The exhibition program will include the conference of the International Committee for Plastics in Agriculture (CIPA). The conference is held once every three years and, in response to the invitation extended by the organizers of Agritech, the Committee decided to hold its 2012 Conference within the framework of the Agritech Exhibition.

We invite all those involved in manufacturing, marketing, R&D, as well as all those involved in the various agricultural sectors both directly and indirectly, to take part in the Agritech Exhibition.

To register, please email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For more information, please click here. 

Tu B’Shevat, the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar—celebrated this year on Wednesday, February 8, 2012—is the day that marks the beginning of a “New Year for Trees.” This is the season in which the earliest-blooming trees in the Land of Israel emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle.

Legally, the “New Year for Trees” relates to the various tithes that are separated from produce grown in the Holy Land. These tithes differ from year to year in the seven-year shemittah cycle; the point at which a budding fruit is considered to belong to the next year of the cycle is the 15th of Shevat.

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Scarce rainfall and abundant seawater prompted Israel to find desalination solutions now getting a 'green' makeover and being shared globally.
By Rivka Borochov

In an old Middle Eastern curse, enemies are told to drink from the sea. Cursed with water-shortage problems, Israel has pioneered desalination solutions that are changing the world. From manufacturing China's largest desalination plant and smaller ones on Caribbean islands, to watering its own agricultural industry, Israel's desalination business is a story that started at the founding of the state.

Today Israel's award-winning desalination companies are quenching the thirst of dry nations, and are challenged by today's environmental questions to provide greener options for tomorrow.

Desalination is a process that removes salts and minerals from otherwise undrinkable sea or saline water. With about 70 percent of the world covered in water, and more than 90% of it saltwater, even the water-rich United States finds itself in need of desalination solutions in California. And Israel is there to help.

The biblical Book of Exodus relates how the ancient Israelite leader Moses was empowered to turn bitter water sweet for drinking. Wind the tape forward to the 1950s, when Israel's technological progress in desalination was catalyzed by founding father David Ben-Gurion, who saw desalination as part of Israel's destiny.

Over the last few thousand years, nothing has changed: To survive and thrive, Israelis still need a source for fresh drinking water.

Israel's major foray into desalination began with IDE Technologies  - known as Israel Desalination Engineering when it was government-owned - which has built more than 400 desalination plants in some 40 countries, from Caribbean islands to the United States, to mammoth plants in China and Israel. The company is headquartered in Kadima.

Every day, IDE plants produce about two million cubic meters of potable water for the world to use, and its R&D staff is investigating and implementing greener solutions for an industry not known for its environmentalism.

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Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians may be deadlocked, but an online community of young Israelis and Arabs from across the Middle East is hoping for better results in the virtual world.
On Monday and Tuesday the group, using Facebook, is hosting a virtual peace and economic cooperation conference seeking to transcend borders by sharing ideas on the Internet. Initiated by the Peres Center for Peace, an Israeli institution, and Palestinian partners, the YaLa Young Leaders Facebook page has attracted more than 40,000 supporters since it was launched last summer. Participants in the online conversations have included Egyptians, Palestinians, Israelis, as well as people from Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria. Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, according to organizers.

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