eretz » our Israeli homeland
The Land Of Milk
(Chocolate) And Honey
-RLQXVWRKHDU
0DUWLQ%HONLQ'2
VSHDNRQWKHWRSLFRI
8QGHUVWDQGLQJ05,
DQGD7UHDWPHQW
IRU5HODSVLQJ06
'RQ¶WPLVVWKLVRSSRUWXQLW\WROHDUQ
PRUHDERXW06DQGFRQQHFWZLWK
RWKHUVLQWKH06FRPPXQLW\
DW30
3ULPH6WHDNKRXVH
2UFKDUG/DNH5RDG
:HVW%ORRPILHOG0,
This event is accessible to people
with disabilities.
A light meal will be provided.
3OHDVH5693IRU\RX
DQGDJXHVWE\FDOOLQJ
Israel is the world’s top per-capita consumer of sugar — according to a new report by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
The report states that Israelis take in an average of 170 grams of sugar per person per day; Malaysia comes in second at 160
grams, then Brazil (155 grams) and the United States (142 grams).
According to the World Health Organization, a person’s daily sugar intake shouldn’t exceed 32 grams for men or 24 grams
for women. Excessive sugar consumption can lead to dizziness, headaches, addiction, damage to the pancreas, high cholesterol,
obesity and diabetes, among other disorders.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth wrote about an initiative that would require labeling unhealthy food products as
such. Many, if not most, of these would likely be processed foods — which often have a high sugar content.
Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman responded, saying, “The ministry is determined to wipe out the phenomena and bring a
dramatic change in sugar consumption in order to preserve public health and prevent disease.”
— Rotem Elizera, Ynet News
Pigskin In
Jerusalem
New England Patriots owner and prominent Jewish phi-
lanthropist Robert Kraft has donated $6 million for the
construction of a new, multi-purpose sports facility in
Jerusalem.
The state-of-the-art facility will include soccer fields, a
dual-use U.S. regulation football and soccer field, locker
rooms, administrative offices and pedestrian walkways.
The donation, designed to beef up sports in the Israeli
capital, was pledged as part of the celebrations marking
the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem and
the 20th anniversary of Maccabiah Games, which will be
hosted in the city next year.
The Kraft Family Sports Campus is being built in the
Arazim Valley on the western outskirts of Jerusalem and is
scheduled to open in the summer of 2017.
“The Kraft Family Sports Campus allows me to invest in
two things that I have always been very passionate about:
my love of Israel and my support for youth athletics and
team sports, especially American football,” Kraft said.
Over decades, Kraft has given more than $100 million
to numerous institutions and organizations, many of them
Jewish or Israeli. One of his most distinctive philanthropic
interests is the support of sports, particularly American
football, in Israel.
IDF Ponders
Coed Tanks
— Times of Israel
Amos Ben Gershom/GPO/Times of Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepts a signed
football from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft in
Jerusalem in 2015.
38 November 24 • 2016
A female IDF tank instructor during an exercise in 2013
The Israel Defense Forces is reviewing the possibility of
female soldiers serving in tank brigades, a top general
told a Knesset committee.
Brig. Gen. Eran Shani said that opening additional
positions to women could further increase the motivation
for them to serve in combat units and relieve some of the
burden on male soldiers.
In May of last year, the army determined that women
could not physiologically handle the role and that prac-
tical issues of coed tank units proved too difficult to
resolve.
But while the army may be looking into the matter
once again, one opponent may be the current head of the
Armored Corps, Brig. Gen. Guy Hasson.
Hasson said that in recent years, the Armored Corps
has become one of the least popular units for recruits.
In 2016, just 0.7 percent of drafting soldiers requested a
spot in the IDF’s tank brigades. He attributed this lack of
interest in the tank corps to people’s view that it’s not as
tough as the more sought-after infantry brigades.
Currently, women serve as tank instructors. If women
are approved for combat in tanks, the IDF would have
to deal with the logistical questions raised by the lack of
privacy as a mixed-gender tank crew sometimes forced to
stay in the vehicles for days at a time.
— Judah Ari Gross, Times of Israel