City Notes: Thousands visit KKL-JNF national parks at start of Succot

250,000 people visited KKL-JNF parks and bicycle trails over the weekend, following the start of Succot.

By COMPILEDTAMARA ZIEVE
Kiryat Sefer Park, Tel Aviv (photo credit: Itai Palti)
Kiryat Sefer Park, Tel Aviv
(photo credit: Itai Palti)
NORTH
Some 250,000 people visited Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund parks and bicycle trails over the weekend, following the start of Succot. A record number of visitors was counted at Britannia Park, where family activities were run on the Israel National Trail. Euro Challenge participants visited the Ben-Shemen Forest, and many hiked in the KKL-JNF park named after Menachem Begin in the Judean Mountains, marking 100 years since the birth of the late prime minister. Thousands went to Agamon Hahula to watch birds migrate toward Africa.
Thousands of people also celebrated the holiday in the kosher succot installed by JNF-KKL in their forests.
Meanwhile, the nature festival in the northern Galilee kicked off, set to continue until Simhat Torah. The public was invited to participate in workshops and creative activities using ecological materials, and to visit an art exhibition put on by various Israeli artists.
The annual traditional olive harvest was also held Sunday in the Tel Hadid center in Ben Shemen Forest and in the North’s Kabri Forest.
Entry to the KKL-JNF events and parks is open to the general public at no cost.
Rescue organization releases Succot safety guidelines
The Rechasim Regional Council and United Hatzalah in the Carmel region called on the public to follow safety guidelines over the holiday.
United Hatzalah Carmel branch director Naftali Rothenberg urged the public to be cautious when lighting candles on Shabbat, which he warned had caused many disasters and even deaths in the past.
Haifa film festival in full swing, two Romanian films to be screened
Haifa’s 29th International Film Festival began last week, and is continuing until tomorrow. This year, two Romanian films are being screened at the festival: Child’s Pose and Of Snails and Men. The former is directed by Calin Peter Netzer and was the first Romanian film to receive the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival. The latter is directed by Tudor Giurgiu and was the biggest box office hit in Romania for the past 10 years. Producer Oana Giurgiu will be presenting Of Snails and Men at the festival.
The Haifa festival is Israel’s leading cinematic event and has been running since 1983, bringing Israel its first international film festival. Hundreds of Israeli and foreign TV and film professionals attend the event each year, where 280 screenings of new films are shown, including 70 Israeli ones.
2 young men die in head-on collision on Route 65
Two men in their 20s were killed early Sunday after their vehicle collided with a truck in the Lower Galilee Regional Council on Highway 65.
Magen David Adom paramedics arrived at the scene near Mitzpe Netofa, where they confirmed the deaths of the two, who they said were killed instantly.Man seriously injured after being stabbed in head in Haifa
A man in his 20s was seriously injured after being stabbed in the head early Saturday morning on Giborim Street in Haifa.
MDA paramedics treated the man at the scene and evacuated him to Rambam Medical Center in the city.
The circumstances of the incident were not clear.
In a separate incident, a woman in her late 20s was found dead in a yard adjacent to her building in Haifa, police said last week. It was believed that the woman fell from a high place and police were investigating the incident.
Motorcyclist killed in head-on collision with car in Galilee
A motorcyclist was killed in a head-on-collision with a car on Route 784 south of Karmiel in the Galilee last week. The driver of the car involved in the accident as well as a passenger in the vehicle suffered light injuries.
Both the motorcycle and the car caught fire as a result of the accident, causing the closure of Route 784.CENTER
High-quality mural discovered in Ganei Sarona house
A mural was discovered in Sarona last week, ahead of the opening of the Ganei Sarona project that is expected to be opened at the end of the summer in Tel Aviv. The mural is a high-quality decorative painting from 1920, found in a building on 22 Kaplan Street.
A team of painters and conservators had undertaken a restoration and recovery operation of murals in the house of the Templer Karl Steller on the street. The house was built before World War I; Steller owned orchards, farms and one of the largest dairies in the village. After World War II, he played a key role in the sale of land in Sarona to the Tel Aviv Municipality.
The newly discovered mural is the highestquality painting discovered in Sarona thus far and covers the entire wall of a room. Thirty-three buildings were preserved in Sarona, but not all of the paintings survived; many were destroyed during the British Mandate.
Man, 56, dies after falling from bicycle
A 56-year-old man died last weekend after falling from his bicycle near the Alexander River in the Hefer Valley. MDA paramedics attempted to resuscitate the unconscious man without success and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Police arrest 16 for possessing variety of illegal drugs
Sixteen people were arrested last weekend after police discovered hashish, marijuana, heroin and crystal meth in their possession.
The suspects, residents of central Israel, were on their way to a party in the North, police said.
Stabbing in south Tel Aviv causes moderate injuries to man
A fight between two foreign migrants resulted in a 25-yearold man being stabbed and moderately injured last weekend on Har Zion Street in south Tel Aviv. The injured man was evacuated to Sourasky Medical Center in the city.
The other man involved, who fled the scene, was known to police.
Modi’in hosts circus festival
The Modi’in-Maccabim-Reut international circus festival opened on Sunday, hosting top circus artists from Israel and abroad. The festival included acrobatic performances, juggling, clowning, dance, fire performances, mime and theater. Several foreign circus troupes were in this year’s lineup for the three-day festival.
A youth party for ages 12-18 was also set to be held in the circus tent in the Hula Valley, and stars of the festival included Italian tightrope walker Andrea Loreni.SOUTH Man found shot dead at side of highway
A man in his 30s was found shot dead at the Kseifa Junction on Highway 31 last weekend. MDA paramedics found the man with gunshot wounds to his torso and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Police were investigating the shooting.
Danish tourist missing; last seen at Dead Sea hotel
Police were searching for a Danish tourist who went missing last week after leaving the Leonardo Hotel at the Dead Sea, the Local website reported Sunday.
The tourist, Carol Anna Jensen, 76, who arrived in Israel on September 10, was supposed to return to Denmark last Tuesday but did not. According to the website, a taxi driver who drove her on the day she arrived in Israel said she did not have any money on her and was using a Danish passport.
Police appealed to the public to help them in their search for the missing tourist. Her height is 160 centimeters, and she has shoulder-length white hair and light eyes. Anyone with information that could help locate her was requested to contact the police at 050-627-0547 or 050-506-7826.
Police arrest 3 on suspicion of stealing Dead Sea factory equipment
Police arrested three employees of Dead Sea Works last week on suspicion of stealing equipment from the factory, the Local website reported.
The police said two of the suspects are senior staff members and the third is a subcontractor. They allegedly ordered equipment worth thousands of dollars to the factory, then removed it from the grounds.
The three were arrested in an undercover investigation conducted by the Negev’s central police unit.