Israel
-
Israel trades irrigation technology for access to India’s ag-gene bank
Israel is seeking to invest in Indian agriculture, according to this article in the India Times. The two powers signed a bilateral agricultural agreement a couple years ago; in the pact, India agreed to trade information on "genetic resources" from their crops in exchange for Israel's dryland farming expertise. As part of the agreement, Israel would share its expertise on water recycling and irrigation. It would also help India "intensify" its agricultural production, share greenhouse farming techniques and "livestocks feed, dairy equipment, and technology," according to the article. Israel's biggest dairy producer, TNUVA, is also interested in India's dairy industry.
Will this be a good thing for Indian farmers or the environment? I have my doubts.
-
Israel to build national electric car infrastructure
Photo: iStockphotoProject Better Place, in partnership with Renault/Nissan and the Israeli government, will build a national electric car infrastructure.
A major manufacturer developing new electric vehicles with swappable batteries, and a plan to develop 500,000 battery recharging sites across the country? It's still January, and I'm ready to call this the most important environmental news story of 2008.
I'm going to write more about this later, but do yourself a favor and read all about it here.
This, friends, is the road to Middle-East peace. And it was announced on MLK day. How appropriate.
-
Israeli eco-activist and student Roey Angel answers questions
Roey Angel. With what environmental organization are you affiliated? I’m a graduate student at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, a regional center for academic studies and research. It’s a rather unique place where Palestinians, Israelis, and Jordanians — as well as North Americans and Europeans — study the environment, live together, and do joint […]
-
Eilon Schwartz, founder of The Heschel Center, answers questions
Eilon Schwartz. What work do you do? I’m the founder and executive director of The Heschel Center, an environmental NGO in Israel. I am also an academic, teaching at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. What does your organization do? Only in the last decade has environmentalism gotten on the map in Israel. For years, “The […]
-
Without fair water distribution, the Middle East peace process is all dried up
A variety of explanations have been offered as to why Israel is reluctant to redistribute water resources. The most obvious reason is that doing so would require a change in Israeli lifestyles: no more private swimming pools and green lawns. But the motives go deeper than that, according to Robin Twite, director of the Environment […]
-
Israel and Palestine struggle over water in an arid land
Oil, namely the vast reserves in Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, is the cause of many of the broad geopolitical battles plaguing the Middle East. But it is access to water, a more fundamental resource, that is at the root of much of the bitter conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Blood and Water […]