3 min read
4 min read
11 min read
5 min read
How do you rate?
Israel gets a lot of attention in the Western press, but often there’s more to Israel than what you read in the papers. See how your knowledge of the Jewish state rates in this news quiz.
Answer: A. An Israeli Police officer since 1978, Mr. Hakroush told an Israeli newspaper “My religion and origin are facts I do not ignore, but I have never, in all my years of service felt discriminated against or hurt by it.” Mazal Tov to General Hakroush on his promotion. (Muslims have always voted in Israel, and have graduated in the tens of thousands.)
Answer: B. Hamas refused the Red Cross’s demand to provide information on whether Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped in 2006, is still alive. A Red Cross spokesman noted “The total absence of information concerning Mr. Shalit is completely unacceptable… The Shalit family have the right under international humanitarian law to be in contact with their son.”
Answer: B. Netanyahu’s “Gilad Shalit Bill” proposed guidelines that would curb college studies, television, and other privileges for Hamas prisoners serving time in Israeli prisons for security-related offenses.
Answer C. Organizers rented a wedding hall, and thousands of Sudanese refugees from all over Israel came to dance, sing and celebrate.
Answer: B. This project, years in the making, will reduce traffic, cut pollution, and help tourists come into Jerusalem’s historic center without worrying about parking hassles.
Answer: A. Israel is on track to generate 7-10% of its energy from renewable sources within the next decade, though Israeli environmental activists are pushing the government to go even further in its pursuit of a green future.
Answer: C. “Jewish and Arab, secular and religious…Israel provides free, unlimited IVF procedures (for all its citizens)”. The resulting IVF rate in Israel far higher than in any other country; it is 10 time more common than in the United States, for instance.
Answer: A. The Weizman Institute, located in Rehovot, Israel, credited its great reputation to increasing levels of funding. The Weizman Institute’s budged increased 20% between 2007 and 2011, even as funding for scientific research dropped in much of Western Europe and the United States.
Answer: B. The Indian film-directors are considering scripts with story-lines set in Israel, and are also considering outsourcing some animation work to the Jewish state.
Answer: B. Since it was set up in 1996, Holon-based Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) has brought over 2,600 sick children to Israel from all over the world to receive life-saving heart surgery, free of charge. It has also sponsored the training of 56 doctors and nurses from all over the world, including Africa, Asia, Europe and the Palestinian Territories.
If you scored less than a perfect 10 in this quiz, then consider visiting Israel: a diverse, fascinating country, with a lot more going on behind the scenes than many Western news outlets would suggest. If you cannot make the trip to Israel yourself, try reading up on some of these less-well known stories about the Jewish state.