The Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry, in cooperation with the Tsofen organization, launched a new initiative this week to encourage more Arab participation in the hi-tech sector. The initiative will include training courses and workshops in career development, self-branding, and interviewing for jobs, among other things.“The ministry would like to develop joint ventures with civil society to promote and encourage employment among special populations and job seekers in the Negev and Galilee,” Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Shalom Simhon said of the new program. The opening of a new regional headquarters for development, he added, “aims to map the areas and entities with whom the ministry can build this type of partnership.”
Police arrested a 49-year-old man in Safed Friday on suspicion of murdering his wife. Police said the man, a former member of the Israel-backed South Lebanese Army, beat his 51-year-old wife to death with a stone while they were at home. The woman, a mother of four, died of her wounds.Magen David Adom paramedics dispatched to the scene confirmed the woman’s death, noting that her body showed signs of violence. According to the initial investigation, the youngest son, 13, was present initially but fled when the man started beating his wife.Their other children, the eldest of whom is 24, were not present in the house when the incident occurred. Police said the family was not known to have a history of domestic violence.17 injured as 2 buses collide near Tiberias
Two people were moderately injured and 15 lightly injured when two buses collided at the Poriya Junction near Tiberias over the weekend.After a preliminary investigation, police believed the accident was the result of poor visibility due to heavy fog in the area. Traffic investigators were conducting a further investigation.CENTER
Water line explosion closes Namir Rd. again
For the second time in a month, Tel Aviv’s Namir Road was closed Sunday afternoon following an explosion in a water main under the central commuter artery. The road was closed to northbound traffic between Shaul Hamelech Street and Pinkas Street for a number of hours. The water supply to residents was not disrupted.Utility crews were quickly dispatched to the scene to clear the rubble that the explosion left. In the previous water main explosion, a bus was caught in a sinkhole caused by the rupture.Ra’anana moves to name streets after women
In response to the recent national dialogue on the status and exclusion of women, the Ra’anana Municipality decided to name a number of streets in the city for “Israeli women who took part in shaping our society and Israel’s history,” Mayor Nahum Hofree said.“It is of great importance to present the contributions of prominent women in Israeli society, and we will continue that in the future,” Hofree said of the decisions, saying that the initiative would be expanded to additional planned neighborhoods.Among the women to have streets named after them in the first stage of the project are Golda Meir, Manya Shohat, Tzivia Lubetkin and Chaike Grossman.IDF tests cellular warning system
Residents in some areas of the Center received a strange SMS message on their cellular phones on Sunday, as the IDF Home Front Command tested its “personal message” early warning system. The messages were sent to those in the area surrounding the Rehavam IDF base, in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and English. Residents in Ramle, Lod and the Gezer Regional Council received messages reading: “HFC: Test of mobile warning system.” In order to unsubscribe from the Home Front Command cellular warning system, residents can contact their cellular service provider.Ministry fines dog owners for docking tails
The Agriculture Ministry levied fines on three dog owners and breeders in the Center of the country recently for docking dogs’ tails. According to the Animal Welfare Act, it is prohibited to cut living tissue off of an animal for ornamental purposes (ears, tails or any other body part).In one case, inspectors from the Agriculture Ministry found an advertisement on Facebook for “Rottweiler puppies for sale.” Rottweilers are forbidden in Israel as a dangerous breed of dog. When they arrived, the inspectors found that the breeders, a father and son, had docked the tails on six of the dogs for cosmetic purposes.The second case came to light following a complaint in Netanya, in which seven Yorkshire terriers were found with docked tails. The third case also involved rottweilers, this time in Ness Ziona. Veterinary Authority inspectors confiscated the five rottweiler puppies, which will be sterilized and put up for adoption when they reach the age of three months.Paramedics find burned man in TA apartment
Magen David Adom paramedics who were called to the scene of a fire near Dizengoff Square in central Tel Aviv-Jaffa last week discovered the burnt body of a man in an apartment. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.Police had yet to determine whether the incident was criminal in nature, and the identity of the victim remained unknown.SOUTH
Arava resident fined for picking plant
The Parks and Nature Authority and police caught a resident of the Arava stealing 10 bags of a protected plant this week, fining him NIS 7,000. The magistrate’s court issued the fine and levied an additional NIS 15,000 suspended fine for illegally harvesting some 400 kilograms of the protected gundelia plant.Gal Arieli, director of the Parks Authority’s Intelligence and Investigations Division, called the catch “huge,” noting that the defendant could have sold the plant for NIS 10 per kg., which would have netted a huge profit. “Usually we find families in the field who are picking the plant for personal use, and in those cases we usually give only a warning or a small fine. But this case is of a criminal who was attempting to profit at the expense of nature and all of us.” The defendant had previously been convicted for similar offenses, he added.Gundelia is a perennial plant that grows in open fields.Arieli added that “if we pick [it] ceaselessly, it will disappear.Therefore the Parks Authority declared them protected plants. The authority invests considerable resources in public relations campaigns in both Hebrew and Arabic in order to preserve the plant in nature.”Eilat throws party for senior citizens
The Eilat Municipality hosted a joint birthday celebration for city residents celebrating their 80th birthdays this week.The event was hosted by Mayor Meir Yitzhak-Halevi and the municipality’s Unit for Volunteering in the Department of Social Services. Celebrants and their families were treated to a performance by singer Aviva Avidan, and received birthday cakes. The event marked the second year in a row Eilat has hosted birthday celebrations for its elderly citizens.