City Notes: Carmel March marks four years since tragic forest fire

A look at some of the local stories that took place this week.

By TAMARA ZIEVE
Selling Drugs (illustrative photo) (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Selling Drugs (illustrative photo)
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
NORTH
The second Carmel March on Friday, November 7, will mark four years since the Carmel fire disaster that killed 44 people.
The march is set to take place between 8:30 a.m. and 12 noon along the Carmel Forest’s recovering trails.
Police Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino, Fire and Rescue Services commissioner Shahar Ayalon and Prisons Service commissioner Aharon France will attend the event, as will thousands of marchers, including police officers, firefighters and members of the Prisons Service. In addition, MKs, public officials, mayors and other dignitaries are expected to take part.
Some 4,000 people attended the first walk, which took place last October in the Carmel Forest. The walk is the initiative of Na’ava Boker – the widow of Asst.-Cmdr. Lior Boker, who died in the fire – with the assistance of a multitude of volunteers. Last year, members of the public walked together with families of the fire’s victims, Negev and Galilee Development Minister Silvan Shalom, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and the top brass of the Fire and Rescue Commission, the Prisons Service and the police.
Participants will begin the walk from the Agam parking lot next to Kibbutz Beit Oren and will complete a 5.5-kilometer circuit, passing the Ein Alon Spring, Nahal Oren and the monument memorializing the victims.
There will be a closing ceremony at 11 a.m. in the parking lot, led by actor Moti Giladi.
Shuttle buses will take participants to the starting point of the march, leaving at 7:40 a.m. from the Aharonson parking lot on Route 721, which connects Route 4 and Route 2. Private cars will not be able to reach the Agam lot.
The event is a joint effort of the Culture and Sport Ministry, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel-Jewish National Fund, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the Israel Police, the Fire and Rescue Service, the Prisons Service, the Carmel Coast Regional Council and the Or Akiva youth center. Sponsoring the walk is the Lior Boker Foundation, which Na’ava Boker established after the fire to support the Fire and Rescue Service.
The event costs NIS 15. Participants can register on the foundation’s website, http://bokerfund.co.il/m.
Nahariya: Police nab nine suspected drug dealers
Police arrested five Nahariya residents last weekend on suspicion of selling drugs. The arrests came at the conclusion of an undercover operation, the Local website reported.
In addition, police arrested another four suspects, whom they found to be in possession of some 5 kg. of hashish. The suspects were allegedly planning to distribute it in the Nahariya area.
CENTER
Tel Aviv Cinematheque presents Israeli success story
The Tel Aviv Cinematheque screened a new documentary this week called The Go-Go Boys, a film that the Tel Aviv Arts Council says “epitomizes the meaning of Israeli chutzpah.” The movie is about cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, who left the country in the 1970s as young filmmakers to try to make it in Hollywood following their success in Israel.
“Against the odds, they pulled it off and created the Cannon Films studio, producing over 300 films and becoming the most powerful independent film company in the world,” the arts council states.
With testimonials from Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Charles Bronson – all former stars in their films – the documentary explores Golan’s and Globus’s rollercoaster journey. The duo produced Delta Force, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Superman IV and Bloodsport.
The Go-Go Boys recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. The cinematheque screening, which went forward in collaboration with the Tel Aviv Arts Council and the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality, included a question-and-answer session with the film’s writer, director and co-producer, Hilla Medalia.
The event was part of the arts council’s monthly Israeli Cinema Series, which strives to showcase the best of Israeli creative culture to the city’s young professional community.
Special-needs-friendly park opens in Hod Hasharon
Hod Hasharon inaugurated a park last week with features that make it accessible for children with special needs. Among those present at the event were Welfare and Social Services Ministry Director-General Yossi Silman; Hod Hasharon Mayor Hai Adiv; Shmuel Weinglass, director of the Fund for the Development of Services for People with Disabilities, at the National Insurance Institute; Moshe Rauch, president of volunteer organization the Hod Hasharon Lions Club; and other contributors to the park’s establishment, as well as Hod Hasharon residents. The event featured a variety of activities for children and parents, such as clowns, ball games and an artistic show.
The park is the brainchild of former Hod Hasharon Lions Club president Yaffa Zagan, who has worked to raise funds for Krembo Wings – a youth movement for children with special needs.
Driver accused of 2012 ATV hit-and-run acquitted
The driver of an all-terrain vehicle who was accused of a hit-andrun that badly injured two joggers in 2012 was acquitted at Lod’s Central District Court on Sunday.
Yaniv Feirovskine had been indicted for hitting the female joggers – part of a team training for the Olympics in Givat Brenner – then fleeing the scene and failing to call for help.
The judge said Sunday that the police had carried out the case poorly and that it was full of holes.
Feirovskine had originally admitted to the crime, but later retracted his confession.
SOUTH
Jewish Agency unveils NIS 50 million aid plan for South
The Jewish Agency for Israel announced Sunday that it had developed an aid package to the tune of NIS 50 million to help the communities of the South recuperate from the summer’s Operation Protective Edge.
The package was the culmination of donations from the Jewish Federations of North America, Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal and other donors. According to the agency, the aid package includes a series of programs aimed at enabling the southern communities – particularly those closest to the border with Gaza – to expand their population bases and support a range of NGOs. The package covers scholarships for local students, assistance to local businesses, grants for victims of rocket attacks, the construction of bomb shelters, and support for new immigrants and lone IDF soldiers.
Meetings of the Jewish Agency’s board of governors that took place this week in Ashkelon and the surrounding area focused on the Diaspora’s support for the South. Hundreds of Jewish leaders from around the world participated in the gathering, led by board chairman Charles (Chuck) Ratner and Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky. The meeting had been scheduled to take place in Mexico, but was moved to southern Israel as an expression of support for the region’s residents.
Opening the gathering, Sharansky thanked the agency’s partners in the Jewish world.
“This is a continuation of the Jewish world’s massive outpouring of solidarity with the people of Israel and the residents of the South over the course of the summer. The Jewish Agency built southern Israel, helping the early pioneers establish these towns and communities in the country’s early years. During the war, we stood with the residents and channeled the solidarity and support of world Jewry,” he said.
“Today, we are partnering with the government of Israel to ensure that this pioneering spirit endures well into the future, drawing ever more people to this area and keeping it strong and vibrant for many years to come,” he went on. “This is the Zionist response to this summer’s events, and it is an expression of our commitment to the residents of southern Israel.”
OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Shlomo (Sami) Turgeman addressed the board of governors at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, one of the communities closest to the Gaza border, and said, “We are fighting for our homes here. Your decision to hold the Jewish Agency board of governors meetings in southern Israel after Operation Protective Edge is a massive source of strength for me personally and for the soldiers under my command.”