NORTH Police officers and their students planted some 200 seedlings together with first-graders in the Tzipori forest ahead of Tu Bishvat last week.The initiative, held in cooperation with Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, was attended by children from the Or Avner school in Kiryat Yam and members of the police studies program in Hodayot youth village, along with their educators. The police studies program places an emphasis on relations with the community, giving initiative and service to the public.This initiative was just one of many green events taking place all over the country last week in honor of the environmentally friendly festival. KKL-JNF announced that a record-breaking one million seedlings were planted over the week, with more than 600,000 being planted by hundreds of thousands of people in one day.JNF world chairman Effi Stenzler issued a message of thanks “to all the hundreds of thousands of people who participated in the biggest Tu Bishvat planting enterprise ever held in the country.“Every seedling that was planted this Tu Bishvat will in its lifetime absorb an average of 200 kilograms of carbon dioxide and will emit some 600 kg. of oxygen, which will result in green lungs for everyone,” he said. “The State of Israel is the only country in the world that has more trees in the 21st century than it had in the previous century.”He added that the heavy rainfall that showered the land ahead of Tu Bishvat would greatly aid the seedlings to grow.Haifa residents nabbed in prostitute-smuggling network Police last week arrested suspected members of a network that smuggles minors to Israel for prostitution.Police arrested two men in their 30s, both residents of the Haifa district, on suspicion of managing the network.Police said that the two worked alongside a young Ukrainian woman living in Israel, to locate girls abroad and smuggle them to Israel to work as prostitutes, seemingly with their consent.Police search for hit-and-run suspect Police were searching for a white Citroën Berlingo van that was involved in a hit-and-run road incident in Kiryat Bialik last weekend. A man in his 50s was seriously injured in the accident and was taken to the Rambam Medical Center for treatment. Police were also seeking a witness to the accident and believed the suspect’s vehicle to be missing its right-hand side wing mirror.CENTER Soldiers embark on ‘Operation Rescue Bird’ as Israel votes As Israelis exercised their democratic rights on Election Day last week, the United Hatzalah organization received an emergency call from soldiers regarding a wounded bird. Soldiers serving at one of the Tzrifin bases had rescued a little bird from the mouth of a hungry cat and were determined to find medical help for their feathered friend.One of the soldiers set out, with the bird in a cardboard box, to the Ramat Gan Safari veterinary clinic. But he was held up by heavy traffic, as the roads were jammed by day trippers taking advantage of the national holiday. Fearing that he would be greatly delayed, the solider turned to the volunteer emergency medical organization United Hatzalah. The dispatch center sent out one of its volunteers by emergency motorcycle to meet the soldier. The volunteer picked up the bird and hurried it to safety of the safari clinic.United Hatzalah spokesman Haim Greydinger said that he and his colleagues were very moved by the soldiers’ efforts, and responded accordingly to help save a life. “We hope the wounded bird will soon be able to spread its wings,” Greydinger added.‘Abraham Was an Optimist’ photography exhibition A unique photography exhibition brought about by a chance encounter between a German photographer and a Holocaust survivor opened this week in Tel Aviv.Neveh Shechter, in cooperation with the German Embassy in Israel, is hosting the event, in which photographer Manuela Koska-Jäger and Rabbi William Wolff document the past and present of the Jewish community in Schwerin, West Pomerania.The photographer met her subject while wandering around a market in Berlin a decade ago; the hat-clad rabbi caught her eye and his intriguing smile kindled their joint project. Koska-Jäger, who was born in communist East Germany, previously had no knowledge of Judaism or the Holocaust and was not aware of the existence of rabbis. Rabbi Wolff fled Nazi Germany as a child and later re-established the Jewish community in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern community, which is today the second-largest Jewish community in the country.The exhibition is open for two weeks, on 42 Chelouche Street, Neveh Tzedek.Agriculture Ministry warns against buying ‘bad eggs’ The Agriculture Ministry issued a warning last week against buying eggs stamped by Yossi Eggs Ltd., after it discovered that despite having had its distribution license revoked, the company continued to market is produce.The warning came five months after police arrested company owner Yossi Amar on suspicion of smuggling eggs from the Palestinian Authority into Israel, among other allegations. Officials filed an indictment at the district court, charging Amar with knowingly acting in a way that could spread disease, transporting undocumented eggs in violation of Poultry Council regulations and illegally importing animal products.In light of these allegations, the ministry decided that there was no place for Yossi Eggs to continue as a licensed contractor in the eggs market, and thus canceled Amar’s accreditation. Yossi Eggs previously distributed approximately 8 percent of the eggs on the market.SOUTH Beersheba man attacks officer over election propaganda material A Beersheba resident allegedly attacked a policeman on Election Day last week, after the officer prevented him from entering the polling station with propaganda, the Local website reported.The police officer detained the suspect on the grounds that he was breaking the law, which does not permit bringing propaganda into polling stations. The police said that the man objected and subsequently assaulted the officer.In a separate incident, a fight broke out near the polling station in a Beduin village near Tel Sheva, according to the website. A 17-yearold was evacuated to Soroka University Medical Center after being lightly hit in the head, seemingly by a stone that was thrown at him.Crystal type drugs and cannabis found in Tel Sheva Police found 200 grams of a crystal type drug and 43.7 grams of cannabis divided into portions and four M16 cartridges in Tel Sheva last week.The identity of the suspect was known and police said that he would be arrested at a later date.Ashdod poop scoop campaign yields results A long campaign to clean the city of Ashdod from dog feces has borne fruit, according to municipality inspectors quoted by the Local website. Through the formulation of a municipal bylaw, an emphatic PR campaign, a happening for dogs and cooperation with dog owners, inspectors say Ashdod has become both clean and dog-friendly.“We see the change in the public mentality and we are pleased with the cooperativeness of dog owners in the city and their recognition of the PR campaign that urges them not to leave their dogs’ feces in public areas,” the Local website quoted the manager of the municipality’s inspectors’ unit, Moshe Binyamin, as saying. “In the last round of inspections only one report was filed.” Inspectors patrol the city every day starting at 6 a.m. “All the dog owners we met in recent days were equipped with plastic bags and used them as needed, so the area remains clean and well-kept,” Binyamin stated.Young cancer patient goes on tour with police Southern District police made it their mission to fulfill a young cancer patient’s wish to accompany police in their squad car for a day. Police learned of 11-year-old Zohar’s dream when they visited the oncology ward in Soroka Medical Center over Hanukka. Zohar was excited by their visit and told them of his dream, which they promised to bring to fruition as soon as he felt better. When Zohar’s health improved, his mother called to the boys in blue and they readily upheld their promise.Last week, FSM Guy Yeruham and Supt. Sarit Agami picked Zohar up from his house in Beersheba with their police car and took him on a ride around town to patrol the streets. They also explored the police station with the boy and showed him the Division of Identification and Forensic Science and the interrogation room.
