The document states that, during a visit to Spain and Portugal a few weeks ago, Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov met TAP’s president, who said that he wanted to resume operating the route and establish direct aviation links between the two countries. The measure was part of a tourism agreement signed in January between Misezhnikov and Portugal’s Minister of Tourism Bernardo Trindade.

Under the agreement, representatives from TAP are due to begin talks in a few weeks with the Israel Civil Aviation Authority to arrange the operations. The Lisbon-Tel Aviv route is planned to begin operating toward the end of the year.

Source: Globes

This marks the British singer’s second concert in Israel, the first of which took place 27 years ago in Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv. Israel Discount Bank said that it would offer its clients advanced ticket sales, which will go on the market February 9. Other fans will be able to purchase tickets four days later. The tickets are expected to cost between NIS 250 to NIS 900 for Israel Discount Bank clients, and NIS 300-NIS 1,000 for concert-goers in the Ramat Gan stadium.

Source: Haaretz

“Inglourious Basterds” tells the fictional story of a band of World War II-era Jewish-American soldiers turned vigilantes, who slaughter and scalp Nazi soldiers as retribution for the Holocaust.

Tarantino, who also wrote the screenplay for the unconventional “Basterds,” defended his work of historical fiction and called the bloodbath of its Nazi characters a different brand of World War II film.

“To me, taboos are made to be broken. They’re meant to be pushed over,” Tarantino said Tuesday at a news conference ahead of the film’s Israeli premiere. “One of the things that I think is a drag a little bit about movies dealing with World War II for the last 20 years is that … all the movies have really focused in on the victimization of World War II.”

The controversial filmmaker said he wanted to create a Western-inspired adventure story instead. The unorthodox film depicts an alternate universe in which all the top leadership of the Nazi Party are brutally killed in a single night.

“I’ll be seeing it for the first time in an Israeli cinema. I’ll be seeing it for the first time with an Israeli audience,” Tarantino said. “I’m interested to see, ‘OK, are there laughs here? Does the suspense work here as well as it works somewhere else?’”

Tarantino was joined in Israel by the film’s producer Lawrence Bender and one of its lead actors, Christoph Waltz, who plays an offbeat SS colonel dubbed “The Jew Hunter.”

The group also traveled together in Israel and visited Jerusalem’s Holocaust museum.

Bender, who has collaborated with Tarantino on several other projects including “Pulp Fiction,” “Reservoir Dogs” and the violent pair of “Kill Bill” movies, was the first Jewish person to read the script after Tarantino completed the final draft.

“I told him, as a fan, I thank you. As a producer, I thank you. As a member of the Jewish tribe, I thank you,” Bender said.

Source: AP

Vineyards in the Golan Heights by Flickr user Eagle XDV

Israeli wine has long stirred up associations with the syrupy libations of religious rituals, but modern techniques imported from top winemaking nations are now helping it find space on shelves from Paris to New York.

“Today, you’ll find that people are looking for Israeli wines that meet international standards and the good thing is we are actually producing wines like that,” Israeli wine critic Daniel Rogov says in an interview at a busy Tel Aviv wine shop.

“There is no contradiction between wines that are kosher and wines that are excellent.”

Israeli wineries, both industrial-scale and boutique, make over 33 million bottles a year, according to the Israeli Wine Council, but the vast majority of Israeli wine is kosher or made in accordance with Jewish dietary laws.

Whilst the rabbinical seal has long been associated with wines made to appeal to observant Jews rather than connoisseurs, the quality of Israeli wines is improving, helped by government incentives for smaller producers, and some vintages are now garnering international plaudits.

Robert Parker, among the world’s most influential wine critics, has heaped praise and points on some 40 Israeli wines. Fourteen of them won more than 90 out of a maximum 100 points in Parker’s rating system.

Wines from neighbouring Lebanon, which traces its winemaking industry back over 4,000 years, have been winning international awards for decades. Israel enjoys the same Mediterranean climate.

Weighing in with 93 points was the red 2003 Yatir Forest label from a subsidiary of Carmel Winery.

Founded by the Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, an early 20th-century Zionist philanthropist, Carmel is Israel’s largest winery, accounting for 40 percent of the Jewish state’s contemporary wine market.

But along with many of its 200-odd rival Israeli wineries, Carmel has recently been applying methods learned from France, Australia and California, to locally grown grapes.

“Our chief winemaker studied in France, so we’ve learnt from the traditions of France but we also make use of the technologies from places like Australia and California,” Adam Montefiore, marketing director for Carmel Winery, said at a wine festival in Jerusalem this month.

“We feel in the last 10, 15 years, Israeli wines are really making world class wines.”

Montefiore says Carmel produces a range of wines both for those who want to “drink wine without tasting it” and for connoisseurs. Prices range from $10 to $100 (6 pounds to 60 pounds) a bottle. Half of Carmel’s annual production of 15 million bottles is exported to the United States, Europe and Asia.

Israel exports roughly $22 million dollars worth of wine a year, according to the Central Statistics Bureau.

EXPERTS AND EXPORTS

Founded in 2002, the family-owned Pelter winery in the Golan Heights benefits from the cool climate and water-rich soil of the plateau, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war and annexed in 1981 — a move rejected by the United Nations.

Sam Pelter, whose son Tal founded the winery after extensive wine-making studies in Australia, says he combines Australian techniques and technology with Golan grapes. His wines sell at $18-$50 a bottle and are sold in the United States and Europe.

Some 18-20 percent of Israeli wine comes from the Golan, according to wine critic Rogov, though wines made on disputed land can sometimes invite controversy.

Last December, Syria protested to U.N. leaders that Israel had distributed Golan wine as year-end holiday gifts to U.N. staff. In 2006, Israel complained that Sweden was labelling Golan wines as coming from Israeli-occupied Syrian territory.

Israeli settlers also make wine on occupied Arab land in the West Bank, sometimes drawing boycotts by peace activists.

Political sensitivities have not stopped Pelter’s wines making a splash abroad.

Pelter’s most famous wine is Trio 2007, which took a double gold award at Finger Lakes competition in New York. A blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc grapes aged 14 months in French oak barrels, it has hints of fruit and cocoa.

Chris, an American visitor attending the Jerusalem festival, described Trio 2007 as a “different and surprising” wine.

Other tourists also expressed surprise over the lightness of Carmel’s red wines, and the sweetness of their whites.

“For my taste, (the red wine is) a little on the light side. I’m looking for a red wine that has the kind of body that I would find in, say, a good robust Australian red wine,” said Malcolm Kessin of Atlanta, Georgia.

While Israel’s wine industry is growing, Rogov says vintners have yet to sort out the best of Israel’s 42 grape varietals.

“We have to find out which grapes are most suited to our particular sub-climates, different regions of Israel, et cetera, which is no sin,” said Rogov. “Remember — we’re still young.”

Article: Reuters

Alive Productions is a company born between Nisha Musical and Dinamo Dvash Productions, two of the most important and leading production companies in Israel who are shaping the local culture and entertainment standards.

It was only a matter of time before these two leading forces joined together to produce this new and fascinating corporate body in the world of popular entertainment.

The quality repertoire of Alive Productions has received the attention of local and international institutions and businesses, providing financial backing and support for the projects.

Alive Productions will be launching a musical spectacular from August 19 to August 20 titled World Musix Festival in Tel Aviv.

Top artists include British rock band Kaiser Chiefs, French Canadian pop/rock band Simple Plan, American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga, Israeli rock singer and songwriter Aviv Geffen, Israeli hard-rock band Hayehudim, creator of electro hip-hop beats Aether and several other leading and international performers.

The World Musix Festival will be held at the Israel Trade Fairs and Convention Center, Tel Aviv. Tickets obtainable on (03)521 5200.

Throughout its existence, Alive Productions has quarried the path for a better musical view in Israel’s cultural landscape, trying to keep a pace ahead of everyone, while charting the endless new territories provided by contemporary music.

Article: Ynet

In the town of Kirvat Yam, near Haifa, where dozens of people have reported mermaid sightings, a $1 million reward is on the line for anyone who can prove by photo or capture that mermaids do exist, reports the Jerusalem Post.

“Many people are telling us they are sure they’ve seen a mermaid and they are all independent of each other,” Kirvat Yam town council spokesman Natti Zilberman told Sky News.

Many of the sightings have taken place at sunset, attracting crowds of tourists and locals alike, hoping to snap a picture of the mythological creature.

“People say it is half girl, half fish, jumping like a dolphin. It does all kinds of tricks, then disappears,” Zilberman said.

Witness Shlomo Cohen was one of the first to identify the mysterious creature, according to IsraelNationalNews.com.

“I was with friends when suddenly we saw a woman laying on the sand in a weird way,” he said. “At first I thought she was just another sunbather, but when we approached she jumped into the water and disappeared. We were all in shock because we saw she had a tail. At least five of us saw it and we all couldn’t believe it.”

The town council, which is offering the reward, insists that the mermaid mania is not just a marketing ploy to attract tourists, though it does hope tourists will come out to try their luck at the $1 million prize.

“I believe,” Zilberman said, “if there really is a mermaid, then so many people and tourists will come to Kiryat Yam, a lot more money will be made than $1 million.”

Source: nydailytimes.com

An event not to be missed. Currently in its fifth year, the Jerusalem Beer Festival will display over 100 different types of beer from Israel and around the world

Beer from premium breweries, boutique breweries and home made beers will be featured in a variety of flavors, including herb beers. For one night Independence Park in Jerusalem will be converted into a giant bar with additional entertainment such as great music with live entertainment by various artists, street events and cultural activities.

From all accounts the history of Beer Festivals can be traced back to Munich in 1810 as part of the wedding ceremony of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese. The Royal Court, the Royal Family, city officials and townspeople all gathered at one of Munich’s many gates for post-wedding celebrations. Evidently, it proved to be a very bawdy affair. It was followed immediately afterwards by horse racing events attended by all the guests.

The Municipality of Jerusalem who are hosting the event are encouraging all visitors to come early to this event which will be held at Independence Park on August 26, 2009 from 6 pm to 11:45 pm

Admission until 6:30 pm will be free and NIS 20/25 thereafter.

On an added note on interest, the world’s largest Beer Festival, Oktoberfest, is still held annually in Munich, oddly enough in September. It attracts more than six million visitors each year. With an influx of tourists of that order, perhaps they can be forgiven for some confusion with the months.

Source: Forward

Related article: Micro-breweries in Israel

Relaxing in the park

The Hiriya is a 60 meter high mound of waste. It is the first sight, and smell, many tourists have upon entering Israel, being next to Ben Gurion Airport. Thankfully, the landfill is now closed, and the mound is being converted into the centerpiece of the new Ariel Sharon Park, set to be the largest new urban park built in the last century in the world. Bigger than Central Park in New York, the Ariel Sharon Park is currently open in a limited format, and will be opened in stages until its completion in 2020.

At present the walking and cycling trails, recreational pond, tiny zoo and picnic areas of the western section, Menachem Begin Park, are open, as well as a recycling center for which tours must be booked (for groups only +03-739663)

A green lung

Hiria recycling park is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world. On a tour of the park you can see landfill rehabilitation at its best: One facility utilizes biological sub-systems to reduce the weight of municipal waste by more than 90% and produce bio-gas to create electricity, recovering glass and metal in the process. Methane gas recovery from the mound is a means for Hiria to earn part of its development funding (the rest is through contributions and matching government funds); the gas is sold and piped to a nearby textile factory.

This year a recycling plant for tires; another for building material and yet another that turns plant prunings into ground cover that Israelis are encouraged to use instead of water-guzzling grass.

Bike trails

The carefully tended garden near the visitor center is no ordinary flower bed. Aquatic beauties like water lilies, papyrus and other species sprout from a very special mini-wetland: a self-sustaining system that treats sewage with the help of bacteria flourishing on the roots of the plants. The micro-organisms break down toxins in water siphoned off from daily arriving municipal refuse and from the Hiria mound. This process purifies the water, which can then be used for irrigation.

At the visitor center, virtually everything (including the building itself – which was once a huge compost shed) is recycled: Furniture and accessories are made out of tires, cans and bottles, as is a gigantic, colorful ceiling fixture. Even the employees’ kitchen is a treasure-trove of found-object décor.  At lectures and workshops, visitors can learn here from the experts how to change behavior patterns to help protect and rejuvenate the environment.

And for the future

The mega 2,000 acre park will be a green lung in the center of Israel’s densely populated Coastal Plain serving not only the residents of Tel Aviv, but also the many neighboring cities. A proposed 50,000 seat amphitheatre will make the park a venue for concerts on an international scale, whilst the views from the top of the mound, and the ‘inner lung’ which will be created featuring special plants and a lake, will create a site which is more than one of just leisure, but an ecological masterpiece.

Park Website: www.ayalon-park.org.il/Eng