10 Fascinating Numbers You Did Not Know About Israel

UPDATES

9:00 am Israel time, Saturday, August 16 2015

**The daily Palestinian terror report:

A few of the many terror incidents yesterday: Molotov cocktails thrown by Palestinians burned several cars cars in Beit Hanina; arsonists set a gasoline station on fire near the Eli community on Route 60 in Samaria; rioters attacked Israelis in Silwad–IDF responded with rubber and sponge-tipped bullets to disperse; “rocks” thrown from a mosque in Hawara hit passing Israeli motorists.

The most egregious attack occurred yesterday morning just off Highway 6 near Agha Al Gharbiya where Palestinian terrorists set fire to a synagogue. The building suffered exterior and interior damage, but fortunately no one was wounded.

Where is the outcry about this attack on a Jewish place of worship? Where is the Vatican? Where is the U.S. State Department? Where is the European Union? Where is the United Nations?

As usual, nowhere to be seen.

From Tuesday through last night, there were 81 terrorist attacks against Israelis including shooting attacks, stabbings, IEDs, Molotov cocktails, and “rocks”. During these four days, 9 Israelis were wounded. No one has died, but several remain in the hospital this morning.

**A major legal victory yesterday:

You will recall that last September, a federal jury in the United States found the Arab Bank guilty of funneling money to Hamas terrorists who killed and wounded Israelis. The plaintiffs in the case were 297 people who were victims of that terrorism.

Yesterday, in order to avoid a “sentencing” trial to determine how much it owes these 297 terror victims and their families, the Bank agreed to a settlement.

The exact terms of that settlement are as yet unknown, but it is believed that tens of millions of dollars are involved. The Bank itself has assets of some $50 billion dollars.

**An interesting choice for Israel’s new U.N. Ambassador:

Your humble servant could not be happier with PM Netanyahu’s choice to replace the outgoing Ron Prosor in the United Nations. Danny Danon, a staunch Zionist defender of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, will bring a decidedly nationalistic perspective to his new post.

Of course, as with everything that PM Netanyahu does, there is a distinctly political aspect of the choice. In the first place, the 44-year-old Danon will need to resign his seat in the Knesset freeing up that spot for Sharren Haskell–an unusual Likud member who advocates for “compromises” with the Palestinians (Haskell’s membership in the Knesset means that there will be more women in that body than ever before). Danon’s appointment also clears the road for another Likud “peacenik” and Netanyahu confidant, Tzahi Hanegbi, to run for leadership of Likud.

One final word: Danon will find it difficult to fill the shoes of the eloquent Ron Prosor who has been one of the best U.N. Ambassadors in the history of Israel.  Israelstreet wishes Prosor well in whatever his next posting will be.

TODAY’S BLOG:

Every once and a while, your humble servant likes to write a blog in which he lists a few “numbers” in the hope that they will provide a more complete picture of what is going on in Israel.

Herewith 10 numbers for today. 

**79,800.

This is the number of passengers who flew through Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday bringing to more than 2,000,000 who have flown in and out of the Airport in the last 15 days, an all-time record.

Not coincidentally, El Al  is now in negotiations to buy and lease 15 new Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft which will be the largest aircraft order ever made by an Israeli airline. El Al’s market share of Ben Gurion Airport traffic has risen to 35.4% this year.

**350,000.

This is the number of Israeli citizens from the former Soviet Union who are not Jewish. A significant number of these are single, and at least 100,000 are under the age of 18.  

It is estimated that some 5000 of these non-Jewish citizens marry Jewish Israelis outside of Israel every year because religious authorities will not permit them to marry here. More than this, an additional 4,500 non-Jewish children are added to the citizen rolls each year. The point: the conversion process needs to be streamlined to add all of these people to the “tribe”.

**$23 billion dollars.

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This is the value of Israeli exports during the first six months of this year–a decline of 6% from that of the previous year. The main reason for the downturn is the economic situation in Russia which resulted in a 29% decline in exports to that country. On the plus side, exports to China increased by 10%, to India by 43%, and to the U.S. by 6%.

**358.

This is the number of cars per 1000 citizens in Israel–making Israel 48th in the world in terms of cars per capita (if you can believe it, San Marino is number 1 with 1,263 per 1000).

Your humble servant mentions this number because it is hard to believe. Israeli freeways, highways, roads, and city streets are packed all the time day and night.  Two nights ago, we returned to Ashdod after watching a movie in Rishon at about 12:30 am. Highway 4 was crammed full of cars all the way.

**13.

This is the number of kilograms of turkey that Israelis eat per year–making Israel the world leader in turkey consumption per capita. 

In fact, Israelis are some of the highest consumers of meat in the world–about 97 kg per person per year. Just go to any supermarket on Thursday and Friday as people are preparing for Shabbat, and note the 45 minute wait line at the meat counter.

**$4.5 billion shekels.

The amount of budget cuts which will be approved this week in the 2015-2016 budget. Most of the cuts are coming from the Defense, Education, and Transportation Ministries. The cuts to Education are misleading–$1 billion is being cut, but a $5 billion supplement has been added. Talk about budgetary prestidigitation.

**60%.

This is the percentage of total Israeli exports of fresh vegetables that come from the Arava–the 112 mile strip of land that stretches from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea.

If you have ever traveled through the Arava, it is remarkable how a once barren area has become a food basket.

**$4.58 billion dollars.

This is the amount of money that has just been agreed upon by Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians to clean up the Jordan River–by the year 2050. 

The 200 kilometer long river, more accurately named the Jordan Trickle, is merely a shadow of its former self as 95% of its water has been diverted over the years for use by agriculture both in Jordan and in Israel. South of the Kineret (Sea of Galilee) the trickle of water that still exists is mostly raw sewage and pesticide-ridden agricultural runoff. 

**1,619.

This is the number of “new” illegal Palestinian structures that have been discovered in Area C of Judea and Samaria since last year (it does not include the some 30,000+ constructed before then). According to the Oslo Agreement, Area C is under complete Israeli control–administratively and militarily.

Many of these structures consisting of modular units with concrete floors have been built illegally by the European Union. So far, 140 of them have been demolished. In the past week, Israel has lodged yet another complaint with the EU about the illegal building, and the EU has fraudulently accused Israel of “humanitarian violations” for destroying the EU’s illegal buildings.

**4.

The number of teams in the Israel’s Premier Baseball League. The teams are the Ra’anana Raiders, the Modi’in Miracles, the Tel Aviv Comrades, and the Jerusalem Lions.

At this point in the season, the Lions are in first place with a record of 13-4.

The number of baseball teams contrasts with 12 teams in the Premier Basketball League: Tel Aviv, Rishon, Haifa, Ashdod, Nes Ziona, Nahariya, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Holon, Kiryat Gat, Eilat, and Herzliya (Eilat is the reigning champion). And 14 teams in Israel’s Premier Soccer League: Jerusalem, Sakhnin, Bnei Yehuda, Akko, Beersheva, Ra’anana, Kfar Saba, Kiryat Shmona, Netanya, Petah Tikva. Haifa (2 teams), and Tel Aviv (2 teams).