From December 9th to December 10th, the Canadian Minister of the Environment, Peter Kent, together with the Canadian Ambassador to Israel, Paul Hunt, embarked on a tour of Israel with KKL-JNF.
On Sunday, the Canadian diplomats travelled south to the Sderot reservoir, which enjoys support from Friends of KKL-JNF from all over the world, including in Vancouver and Calgary, which hold special Negev Dinners to raise funds for projects in Israel's south. The group was met by the KKL-JNF Regional Director Elisha Mizrachi. Elisha explained the importance of agriculture to the area, and how it all connects to the need for cities to purify their own sewage water, in order to enable them to expand.
From there, the diplomats were met at the Sderot police station by Barak, the head of the bomb disposal unit, who explained the difficult circumstances the residents of Sderot have had to live with over the past 12 years. While driving around Sderot, one could see the security structures that have been erected all over the city, in order to provide readily available shelter within 15 seconds of the sound of the siren.
On Monday, the Canadian Environmental Minister and the Canadian Ambassador to Israel travelled north to see two main KKL-JNF sites in the region; the Carmel Forest and Hula Lake Park. At the Carmel, head of KKL-JNF Afforestation in the North Kalil Adar gave the group a briefing on the Carmel fires of 2010, and the rehabilitation work that is being carried out following the fire.
For further information, comments or permission please contact
Ahuva Bar-Lev
KKL-JNF – Information and Publications
Email: ahuvab@kkl.org.il
Phone: 972-2-6583354 Fax:972-2-6583493
www.kkl.org.il/eng