ISRAEL

Courtesy of Netflix // Israeli actor Lior Raz in “Hit & Run.”

‘Fauda’ Creators Debut New Netflix Show

Israeli-made TV show “Hit & Run” has debuted on Netflix, written by “Fauda” creator Avi Issacharoff. The nine-episode series is based around a former special forces soldier, now a tour guide, whose wife is suspiciously killed, leading him to chase the killers to New York City. Segev Azulai, the main character, is played by co-creator and “Fauda” star Lior Raz. The creators went to Netflix and collaborated with American writers to create the series, which premiered Aug. 6. The team that created “Fauda” hopes that they can once again create the hype around “Hit & Run” that surrounded “Fauda,” which won numerous awards and was named among the best international series by The New York Times in 2017. The show consists of nine hour-long episodes, all of which are available to stream on Netflix.

NEWS FROM OUR JEWISH HOME

Tomer Neuberg/Flash90 //Artem Dolgopyat, who won a gold medal at the Olympic games in Tokyo, is greeted by family and friends during a welcome ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport Aug. 3.

Olympic Gold Medalist Celebrated Returning to Israel

Israeli Olympic gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat was celebrated upon his return to Israel at Ben Gurion Airport, greeted with champagne and shofars after winning in the Tokyo games, according to The Times of Israel. Wearing his Olympic medal, Dolgopyat was met by family, friends and fans as he returned a victor after winning gold in the men’s gymnasts floor exercise.

“This is the warmest welcome I’ve received in my life,” Dolgopyat told reporters just outside the airport. “Thank you to everyone for coming. I feel like crying from all the excitement, even more than when I won the medal — just kidding.”

Dolgopyat is only the second Israeli to ever win an Olympic gold medal, with the first being won in 2004 by Gal Fridman for windsurfing, the paper reported. Although there was much excitement upon his return, there is still some overshadowing of his win. He is unable to marry his fiance because he is not recognized as Jewish by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, since his mother is not Jewish, TOI reported.

Israel to Combat Climate Change with Carbon Tax

Israel is trying to curb greenhouse gas emissions through a carbon tax, to be implemented between 2023 to 2028, according to The Times of Israel. The tax, which will slowly increase over the years, is targeted at coal, petroleum and other fossil fuels in a move expected to cover about 80 percent of Israel’s Yaniv Nadav/Flash90 //Villages near Ramat Hovav suffer from air pollution from a power plant in December 2017.

greenhouse gas emissions, the paper reported.

The taxes will be limited to protect consumers from direct impacts, although the tax will expand from fossil fuels to other greenhouse gas emissions, such as garbage dumps and air conditioners, according to TOI.

A statement released by the Israel Tax Authority and the finance, energy, environmental protection and economy ministries stated that the tax “is intended to correct a market failure, which arises when the polluting factor does not pay for the damage caused as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon pricing is considered the most effective and efficient way to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and create certainty in the markets.”

Today in Israeli History

August 15, 1096 — The armies of the First Crusade officially embark from Western Europe to capture the Holy Land. European Jews suffer pogroms amid the fervor. The crusaders capture and pillage Jerusalem on July 15, 1099.

August 16, 2015 — Physicist Jacob Bekenstein, whose theory that black holes emit radiation won over Stephen Hawking and advanced work toward a theory of quantum gravity, dies of a heart attack at 68 in Finland.

August 17, 1949 — The body of Theodor Herzl, buried in Vienna in 1904, is reburied with those of his wife and parents on the Jerusalem hill that now bears his name, fulfilling a directive in his will.

August 18, 1994 — Yeshayahu Leibowitz, who courted controversy and argued for a strict separation of religion and state, dies in his sleep at 91 in Jerusalem. He taught sciences at the Hebrew University for almost six decades.

August 19, 2003 — A suicide bomber kills 23 people and injures more than 130 others by detonating an explosive packed with ball bearings on a bus in the Orthodox neighborhood of Shmuel Hanavi in central Jerusalem.

August 20, 1967 — Etgar Keret, one of Israel’s most popular writers, is born in Ramat Gan. Keret’s quirky work, mainly short stories and graphic novels, wins critical acclaim as well as sales. He also writes screenplays.

August 21, 1969 — A new immigrant from Australia, Denis Michael Rohan, sets fire to Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem by pouring kerosene through a keyhole and throwing in a lighted match. He enters an insanity plea and is deported.

August 22, 1891 — Sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, whose “The Tree of Life” stands outside Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus, is born in Lithuania. In his later years he draws inspiration from Judaism for his work.

August 23, 1969 — Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who has turned to devout Muslim practice, calls for all-out war against Israel in response to the arson attack on Al-Aqsa mosque two days earlier.

August 24, 1926 — Playwright Nissim Aloni is born in a poor neighborhood in the south of Tel Aviv. The Habima Theatre produces the first of his 12 plays, “Most Cruel the King,” about King Jeroboam I, in 1953.

August 25, 2004 — Windsurfer Gal Fridman wins Israel’s first Olympic gold medal at the Summer Games in Athens and, having won bronze in Atlanta in 1996, thus becomes the first Israeli with multiple Olympic medals.

August 26, 1955 — In a speech, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles reveals a U.S. plan to launch covert peace talks, guarantee the borders of Israel and Arab states, and provide a loan to Israel to pay reparations to Arab refugees.

August 27, 2001 — Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Secretary-General Abu Ali Mustafa is killed when helicopter-fired missiles strike his office in Ramallah. Israel takes responsibility for the assassination.

August 28, 1965 — Physicist Giulio Racah dies at 56 during a visit to the city of his birth, Florence, Italy. His work on atomic spectroscopy earned himself and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem international recognition.

August 29, 1897 — Led by Theodor Herzl, the First Zionist Congress opens in Basel, Switzerland. It declares that “Zionism aims at establishing for the Jewish people a publicly and legally assured home in the Land of Israel.”

August 30, 1987 — The Israeli Cabinet decides to end production of the Lavi fighter jet. The Lavi (“Young Lion”) was doomed by cost overruns and by an agreement not to sell the aircraft to other countries.

Jacob Bekenstein, shown in his Hebrew University office in 2009, developed his theory about the entropy of black holes while working on his doctorate at Princeton University in the early 1970s. Algemeiner/science.co.il Cleanup crews work at the scene of the deadly bus bombing in Jerusalem on Aug. 19, 2003.

Photo by Moshe Milner, Gal Fridman is honored during a ceremony upon his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport on Aug. 30, 2004.

Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.

Israel Requires Week of Quarantine for Travelers

By Jan Jaben-Eilon

The window that had opened — very briefly — allowing Atlantans to visit Israel has essentially closed again. And it looks like it will remain closed through the upcoming High Holy Days in September.

Despite setting records getting a majority of its population vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, climbing rates of infections and hospitalizations have forced the Israeli government to establish new restrictions on travelers. In essence, anyone who enters Israel, whether they are returning Israelis or travelers from dozens of countries including the U.S., vaccinated or not, individuals or in groups, must quarantine for one week upon arrival. Two negative tests are also required before coming out of quarantine.

Atlantan Cheri Scheff Levitan, CEO of Kenes Tours, an Israel-based tour operator, expects the quarantine requirement to continue through September. “We have no groups lined up for September, but we do in October,” she told the AJT. What complicates the situation even further is that the government adopted the new rules on Aug. 3 and they are set to go into effect Aug. 11.

Kenes Tours had one group “already approved to enter” on Aug. 7 so that trip was proceeding because the participants didn’t have to quarantine. At least one more group had to cancel its plans.

“I have worked harder in the last year-and-a-half dealing with guessing games and trying to be clairvoyant,” Levitan said. “Many elderly clients want to do multi-generational trips. People are becoming desperate. I have one colleague who keeps looking for loopholes and there aren’t any loopholes.”

Levitan was one of the first Atlantans to travel to Israel earlier this summer after the Israeli ministries of tourism and health announced a pilot program that allowed tourist groups of five to 30 people to travel to Israel under strict guidelines. Individual travelers who met an extensive list of criteria also could procure approval to enter the country. But otherwise, Israel had essentially shut its borders to non-citizens for more than a year due to the pandemic.

The new restrictions came just a day after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted its travel health notice to “Level 3: High,” warning U.S. citizens not to travel to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

The limitations also came in the wake of Israel simplifying the application permit procedure for non-Israeli citizens. Instead of emailing dozens of documents to an Israeli consulate and waiting for approvals, there’s now an online system for entry permits. “It is, at the moment, the only way to request entry to Israel,” said Alex Gandler, deputy consul general of Israel to the Southeast. The form became available July 13 and can be accessed online through the Israeli government site.

Levitan called the online system “a tremendous improvement. I’ve referred many people to the form.”

Only now it is nearly irrelevant for anyone traveling to Israel for a short visit since the week of quarantining is required upon arrival. And breaking quarantine comes at a severe price, according to Gandler. Fines as high as $1,500 may be imposed as well as a ban to travel to Israel for 10 years.

Anyone with the time and determination to still travel to Israel must have a negative COVID-19 test before they embark and after they land, along with a serology test that proves they have antibodies against the virus. “People have entered Israel feeling they are vaccinated and did everything right, but the tests show they don’t have antibodies. We tell people to get on the plane at their own risk. You don’t know what’s in your blood.”

And hopes that Israel’s tourism industry could soon recover from the long months of pandemic have seemingly been dashed. Mark Feldman, CEO of Jerusalem-based Ziontours, told AJT in an email, “These new regulations are another step backward in opening up Israel to incoming tourism. So many organizations want to send groups to Israel but have been stymied by the complete lack of clear instructions when the country will open up and under what circumstances,” Feldman said. “My sad opinion is that these latest restrictions will stay in place until the end of September thus eliminating any tourists from the United States unless they can plan to spend seven days in quarantine before starting their trip. Why Israel is the only country in the Western world making such conditions escapes logic.” ì

Breaking quarantine could lead to a 10-year ban on travel to Israel, Alex Gandler said. Cheri Scheff Levitan of Kenes Tours has had to be a clairvoyant to predict new Israeli travel restrictions. Tour operator Mark Feldman blames the government for harming the tourism industry.

SANDY SPRINGS

•AVAILABLE LISTINGS•

1545 SPALDING DRIVE 310 RIVERHALL COURT

SANDY SPRINGS, GA 30350 SANDY SPRINGS, GA 30350 6 BEDS • 5 FB • 1 HB | $1,089,000 5 BEDS • 4 FB • 1 HB | $1,450,000

Gorgeous Updated Light-Filled Brick Home with Bedroom on Main Located in an Exclusive Private Cul-de-Sac Enclave off Spalding Drive. Beautiful Chattahoochee Riverfront Estate Home Nestled in Privacy on a Quiet Cul-de-Sac with Gorgeous River Views and Master on Main!

CALL ROBIN FOR MORE INFORMATION

THE ROBIN BLASS GROUP

ROBIN BLASS

O: 770-394-2131 | C: 404-495-8233 Robin.Blass@HarryNorman.com LAUREN BLASS

O: 770-394-2131 | C: 770-789-4464 Lauren.Blass@HarryNorman.com

Harry Norman, REALTORS | 4848 Ashford Dunwoody Road | Atlanta, GA 30338