Inspectors crack down on illegal fishing in Caesarea

City notes: Agriculture Ministry opens investigations into 2 men allegedly engaged in illegal fishing off Caesarea coast.

By MICHAEL OMER-MAN
Fishing (photo credit: Courtesy)
Fishing
(photo credit: Courtesy)
NORTH
The Agriculture Ministry opened investigations into two men allegedly engaged in illegal fishing off the coast of Caesarea last week, the government agency said in a statement. During routine activities looking for illegal fishing, inspectors from the ministry’s Plant and Wildlife Enforcement Division caught the two, who were allegedly using compressed air-powered harpoons.
During the course of the operation, which included inspectors on land and in boats, the seaborne patrol spotted a suspicious vessel. When they approached the boat, they found the two men using the illegal fishing tools, according to the ministry. The men were brought to shore, where inspectors interrogated them about their activities.
An official investigation was opened and will be transferred to the ministry’s Legal Enforcement Division.
Hagai Neuberger, director of the ministry’s Fisheries Division, said that using air-powered tools for fishing without a license is prohibited by law and severely affects the already diminished fish population, “causing great damage to the biodiversity in the sea. The ministry inspectors will continue their efforts to enforce the fisheries ordinances.
3 killed in crash in Jezreel Valley
Three people were killed and a baby suffered moderate-to-serious injuries in an accident between a tractor and a car at the entrance to the Megiddo airfield in the Jezreel Valley on Sunday.
An MDA helicopter flew the one-year-old baby to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. Paramedics pronounced the three other victims dead at the scene.
The driver of the tractor was lightly injured and was treated on the scene. Police are investigating the circumstances of the accident.
CENTER Netanya publishes Service Charter
The Netanya Municipality announced the publication of its new Service Charter this week, which it described as a declaration by the municipal leadership of the level of service residents are entitled to. The charter was published on the Netanya municipal website.
The Service Charter, which was prepared in a lengthy process, is a declaration by the top municipal leaders of the level of civil service that should be provided to residents. It seeks to improve quality of life in the city, to improve services to residents and to provide professional, efficient and courteous service in each interaction with the municipality, according to the statement.
Additionally, it strives to maintain an open dialogue between the municipality and residents of the city.
The charter can be found on the municipality’s website in Hebrew.Following arrests, more violence in Tira
Deadly violence continued last week in Tira last week, following a police raid that saw five people arrested in a string of murders that took place in the city over the past two years. On Saturday, a 22- year-old woman was stabbed to death in her home.
Police arrested the woman’s brother, 19, whom they suspected of committing the murder. A day earlier, Magen David Adom paramedics treated and took to hospital a 65-year-old man who had been shot on a street in Tira. Paramedics took the man to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, where he was listed in moderate condition. Police launched investigations into both incidents. It was not clear if the violence was connected to the crime-family feud targeted in the recent police raid.
Elsewhere, perpetrators threw a stun grenade into a home in Tuba-Zanghariya in the Galilee on Friday morning. In a separate incident, assailants threw a stun grenade at a restaurant in a town in the Golan Heights. There were no injuries or damage in either incident. Police are investigating the circumstances of both attacks.
Parents disgruntled over Herzliya’s new playground
Upgrading and renovation work in a Herzliya park left residents wanting when it became clear that the construction of a new playground in the Neveh Israel Grove Park was missing benches for parents to sit on. Reporters from the Local website spoke with a number of residents who had voiced their complaints, which ostensibly led the municipality to commit to installing the integral pieces of outdoor furniture.
“It’s nice and certainly impressive that they installed the new playground in the Neveh Israel Grove Park,” one resident told the news website, “but there is not even one bench for exhausted parents, and not even one or two trash cans, only near the road and not in the area of the playground itself.” The dissatisfied parent continued, “Parents who come to the park with their children after a tiring day of work look for a place to sit while their children have fun, but in the entire playground there is not even one bench.”
The Herzliya Municipality responded to the complaints with a pledge to rectify the situation. “According to the plans, in the near future specially designed benches will be placed in the park, in addition to trash cans,” Local reported.
Man attempts self-immolation at Kfar Saba NII branch
A man tried to set himself on fire at a National Insurance Institute branch in Kfar Saba last Tuesday but was prevented from doing so by a police officer at the scene. The man, a resident of Rishon Lezion, poured a flammable liquid on himself before being stopped by the officer. The attempted self-immolation was the latest in a string of similar events that have taken place since Haifa resident Moshe Silman set himself on fire during a social justice demonstration this summer in protest at the bureaucratic hurdles he said prevented him from receiving state benefits he was owed. Silman, who died of his injuries, had handed out a note outlining his grievances before setting himself alight.
SOUTH
Eilat schools integrate African children
Eilat municipal schools began integrating children of African migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees into the regular school system this week in line with a High Court decision issued last month. Approximately 30 pupils began their studies in four Eilat schools – Mitzpe Yam, Hayovel, Yitzhak Rabin High School and the Kidum School – albeit in classrooms separate the rest of the pupils.
Despite the court order and subsequent arrangement between the municipality and the Education Ministry, however, parents at one school kept some 300 children at home on Sunday in protest, Ynet reported. Parents of children studying at Hayovel have taken a prominent role in the protests against integration of the local school system.
The Eilat Municipality said ahead of the new arrangements that it had undertaken extensive public relations activities directed at pupils before the new school year, and especially in the schools in question, in order to emphasize values of tolerance and acceptance of the other.
Eilat to host European Chess Cup
The city of Eilat began preparations for Israel’s first hosting of the European Chess Cup, which will take place next month at the King Solomon Isrotel Hotel. Among the expected participants are the world’s second-ranked chess player, Boris Gelfand, and possibly world chess champion from India, Isnand Annan.
The Israeli Chess Federation said that great efforts went into securing the event in Israel. “The championship is considered the most prestigious chess event organized by the European Chess Union,” said Israeli Chess Federation director of competitive events Malchiel Peretz.
“Many [chess] clubs from across the continent compete for the right to represent their countries in this championship, and Eilat won. Representatives of the European Chess Union visited Eilat and examined our ability to hold such an event according to their strict standards. As a result of our efforts, we won the vote with a majority of 28 to 26.”
Some 600 participants from 50 clubs in 22 countries are expected to compete in the championship. The 10-day competition will include 80 groups. At the end of the competition, the winner will be presented with a medal by Eilat’s mayor, Meir Yitzhak Halevi.
The mayor said, “As a city of international sports, every year Eilat hosts dozens of sports events and European championships, as well as other [competitions] from around the world in a variety of sports,” such as swimming, the triathlon, basketball, tennis and weightlifting. In addition to those events, he continued, the city welcomes its first opportunity to host the chess cup “and hopes to continue hosting chess players next year.”