The Old (and new) Jerusalem Train Station

Click To View Video - The Old (and new) Jerusalem Train Station

'The First Station' -- an Ottoman-era train station, has been converted into a cultural compound.

"It's awesome," exclaims a visitor to The First Station (http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/IsraelExperienc...), the renovated Ottoman-era train station in downtown Jerusalem, which has been turned into a hub for entertainment and nightlife.

"It's so much happening in one place and it's such a variety of fun things, tasty things, and a beautiful thing to see in Jerusalem."

The 130-year-old building stood empty for many years, and now it's alive with music, literary and artistic events for all ages, plus craft vendors, cafés and restaurants.


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The 20 Hottest Startups in Israel via Mashable

The Israeli startup scene needs little introduction. Tel Aviv is rapidly becoming one of the most innovative tech hubs on the planet, vying with London, New York and Berlin as Silicon Valley’s second.

Big acquisitions, such as Waze to Google and Snaptu to Facebook, as well a upcoming IPO for Outbrain means Israeli startups are aspiring for big exits.

1. GetTaxi

With the GetTaxi app, people can call taxis with one click. Make a payment, tip and even save a receipt via the app, which also tracks taxi proximity.

Launched in Tel Aviv, GetTaxi now operates in Moscow and London, and will launch later this year in New York. It also offers a VIP service, wherein frequent users can earn points for free rides and other contingent benefits.

2. Brow.si

Brow.si cares for a mobile site’s engagement levels. For example, it makes sharing much easier with its a Toggle on/Toggle off button across the three major social networks:LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Or send push notifications to mobile web readers — Brow.si scans the site’s RSS feed and converts it to a push notifications that the user can read on the Brow.si reader, directly from his or her device.

3. Tracx

Tracx is a New York City-based company with a SaaS platform for brand marketers who want to manage and monitor their social media presences. The Tracx platform indexes the entire social web and delivers the most relevant conversations by capturing a 360-degree view of brand activity and sifting through streams of social media data to monitor performance.

4. Fiverr

With the Fiverr market, people list a variety of services they provide for $5 each. These services range from writing a CV to buying Facebook followers to building websites.

In 2012 the company received $15 million in Series B funding, and now millions of vendors from more than 200 countries offer more than 1.5 million different services on Fiverr, adding thousands of new ones each day.

5. Viber

Viber is a free texting, photo messaging and video messaging service founded in 2010 to compete with Skype. It now has more than 200 million users in more than 193 countries and has expanded from its iPhone presence to Android and other platforms. Its younger demographic and proprietary “stickers” service have proved very popular, differentiating it from Skype.

6. ClearSkyApps

Based in Tel Aviv and founded in 2010, Clear Sky Apps has developed more than 15 iPhone apps based on fitness and health programs. Its apps have been downloaded 15 million times. They include training runs for beginners, run pace training for advanced runners as well as exercise apps for situps and squats. You’ll even find apps to help people sleep.

7. TireCheck

Neomatix is a developer of automotive sensors and fleet management solutions. It recently introduced TireCheck, a new app based on a patented computer vision technology, which allows drivers to check their vehicles’ tire pressure. Users click on and focus the iPhone camera to take a picture of a tire; the app then measures tire pressure and recommends pumping, if necessary.

Continue reading via Mashable

Ulfat, an Arab-Israeli woman athlete seeking peace

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Ulfat Khaider is the fascinating star of this video, the first of ten on co-existence in Israel.

She has reached high peaks not only as a mountain climber, extreme sportswoman and volleyball player (she played for the Israeli national team), but as a remarkable woman striving for peace.

Ulfat is a project manager at Beit Hagefen, a Jewish-Arab cultural center in Haifa. Self-defined as a person searching for peace with herself and with others, she promotes projects that bring Jewish and Arab students closer together. Ulfat uses extreme sports, mountain climbing and nature programs to install positive values in young Israelis.

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Israeli diplomats win US triathlon

Swimming, cycling, running – and winning (archives) Photo: Danna Zimmerman

Team led by security guard at Israeli Embassy in Washington comes in first in local race’s relay category

A team of Israeli diplomats led by a security guard at the Israeli Embassy in Washington won the first place in a local triathlon, beating thousands of competitors.

The three Israelis used their time off from work to train for their first competition together, with one of them swimming, another cycling, and the third running between the many other competitors.

Together they made it to the first place in the relay category, which included as many as 100 teams of three participants each.

The winning Israeli team, which competed for the very first time, beat several experienced teams which have participated in many competitions in the past. The victory awarded them with a medal, a trophy and a lot of respect.

“Our outstanding guys brought a lot of respect to the Embassy and to the State of Israel,” said an Israeli official in Washington.

Source: Ynetnews.com

Happy Rosh Hashana from the IDF

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On the eve of the Jewish New Year, we wish you a Shana Tova, and vow to never cease in our mission of defending the State of Israel.

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Israel’s population hits 8-million mark on Jewish New Year

Since last year, the population has grown by 142,000 or by 1.8%.

As Israel heads into the holiday season, an annual report by the Central Bureau of Statistics has estimated its population at 8.081 million.

According to the report released on Monday, the Jewish population in the country represents about 6.066 million people – 75.1 percent of the total population – and the Arab population represents 20.7%, the equivalent of some 1.670 million of Israel’s inhabitants.

The remaining 4.2% – approximately 345,000 people – are non-Arab Christians as well as people of other religions and those with no religious affiliation.

The CBS figures also showed that in the past year about 163,000 babies were born in Israel. The most common baby names were Noa, Shira, Tamar, Talia, and Yael for girls. The most popular of the boy names were Itai, Daniel, Ori, Yosef, and Noam.

Forty-thousand deaths were recorded.

In terms of aliya, approximately 22,988 new immigrants and returning residents arrived in the past 12 months, according to statistics provided by the Immigrant Absorption Ministry.

Some 17,484 of them will be celebrating the new year for the first time in the country on Wednesday.

Most of the olim came from countries in the former Soviet Union and the majority of returning residents came from Canada and the United States.

More than half of the immigrants and returning residents were between the ages of 20 and 44, with an equal gender distribution.

According to the Interior Ministry, 16,968 people were officially recorded as Israel’s newest immigrants in the year 5773.

An additional 19,000 people were also added to the population migration balance.

Since last year’s Rosh Hashana, Israel’s population grew by about 142,000 people, a growth rate of 1.8%.

Source: Jpost.com

Agriculture technologies - Israeli expertise feeds the world

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Israel's greatest agricultural experts and companies came together at its 18th International Agricultural Exhibition.

With over 7,000 visitors from 115 countries, the atmosphere was electric (and loud). Representative of Israeli companies explain their projects and products, all on the cutting edge, all designed to better feed the world.

From traditional and hi-tech agriculture to hothouses, irrigation, dairy farming, fish farming and alternative energy -- Agritech has it all.

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Israeli hummus conquers Budapest

Hundreds attend Israeli festival in Hungarian capital as giant plate of chickpea paste takes center stage

An Israeli market set up in Budapest’s famous Great Market Hall was inaugurated over the weekend with an irresistible event: Tasting from a giant plate of hummus – the biggest ever to be seen in Hungary.

It was one of the highlights of the Israeli festival in the Hungarian capital, which was initiated by the Israeli Embassy.

The Israeli market included stands presenting the best produce the Jewish state has to offer, alongside exhibitions about Israel and travel agents wooing Hungarian tourists.

Hundreds of Hungarians participated in the market opening ceremony, which was led by Israeli Ambassador Ilan Mor, and wolfed down the huge plate of hummus. The tasters included the deputy mayor of Budapest, Tel Aviv’s twin city, other mayors and senior officials from the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Most importantly, the event received wide, positive coverage on all Hungarian media outlets.

At the same time, the Embassy brought singer Ivri Lider to Budapest to represent Israel at the 16th Jewish Summer Festival held in the city. On Friday Lider was invited to the ambassador’s house, and on Saturday he performed in one of central Budapest’s new and large halls, which was filled to the brim.

Source: Ynetnews.com

"What is Israeli food?" by Chef Erez Komorovsky

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Israeli chefs make the traditional relevant to modern tastes.
Chef Erez Komorovsky matches authentic Galilee tastes with countryside simplicity.

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