“Heaven-sent” was the feeling last year as winter rains filled Israel’s reservoirs and the inland lake, the Sea of Galilee.
But 2014 has been a different story, as a severe drought was declared by February.
Israel is 60 percent desert, and for the last 60 years it is has braced itself for dry winters like this one, possibly the driest ever. Yet except for growers of non-irrigated crops, Israel isn’t worried. Since 1948, Israel has planned, forecasted and built infrastructure, policies, research and technologies to withstand drought.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently offered to help California overcome its extreme drought –– affecting about two-thirds of its 38 million residents — using Israeli science, water conservation and desalination technology.
Beersheva’s new Advanced Technologies Park is being hailed as a defining moment for the high-tech industry as it stands to date. During the official inauguration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who earlier this summer declared Beersheva the national cyber center — told the crowd gathered that “this is a day that will change the history of the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu, as well as leaders of the high-tech field, are on a mission to turn Beersheva into a Silicon Valley of Israel’s south. Earlier this summer, Netanyahu announced that IDF technology units will move to the city.
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Desert fishing seems like an absurd notion. Yet the lucrative tropical fish-growing industry in Israel’s Negev desert is one of the best, and most environmentally friendly, in the world.
Click on the video to see Arava Research and Development Center Director Alon Gadiel explain why this arid region has become a world leader in the fancy fish industry.