Report: Passover a Wasteful Time in Israel
Food rescue organization Leket Israel and accounting firm BDO said food waste increases significantly in Israel during the month of Passover — about 14 percent, The Jerusalem Post reported.
About 106,000 tons of food worth about $313 million is wasted during the month.
Leket Israel said the waste is driven by the leavened products supermarkets and consumers are discarding prior to Passover and the kosher for Passover foods, including matzah, that will be tossed after not being sold or eaten.
Despite the waste, Leket Israel, which rescues food for individuals at risk, said it has experienced a 35 percent increase in pre-Passover requests from its network of 200 nonprofit partners.
“Part of the answer is that children are at home and not at school, where some of them have a lunch program,” Leket Israel CEO Gidi Kroch said. “At home, they have to find some kind of sustenance, so the family needs more food. Others feel that they need more food during Passover to feel part of the festivities.”
Plans for Next Moon Trip Underway
A crash landing isn’t deterring a new Israeli effort to land successfully on the moon, JTA reported.
“We are going to actually put a new spacecraft on the moon and we are going to complete the mission,” SpaceIL Chairman Morris Kahn said on April 13. “As for my message for all the youngsters — if it doesn’t work at first, stand up, and complete it. And this is what I’m doing, and what I wanted to tell you this evening.”
The South African-born billionaire had contributed a significant chunk of the $100 million for the first project, named Beresheet.
A task force met the next day to begin developing a plan for Beresheet 2.
SpaceIL attributed the April 11 crash of Beresheet to a technical computer glitch that led to a chain of events. Israel Aerospace Industries, which built the spacecraft with SpaceIL, said Beresheet traveled 248,548.5 miles in all.
Israel is seeking to become the fourth country to successfully land on the moon.
Natural Gas Reserve Discovered off Northwest Shore
Between 28 and 42 trillion liters of natural gas off was discovered off Israel’s northwest shore by Greek energy firm Energean, JNS.org reported.
A 19-year $900 million deal to sell some of that gas to Israeli power producer I.P.M. Beer Tuvia is already in place.
“It will be more than enough to power 40 [percent] of Israel’s electricity needs for the next 10 to 15 years when production comes on stream in 2021,” The Telegraph reported.
J. Lo to Perform in Israel
Pop singer Jennifer Lopez will perform in Israel for the first time on Aug. 1, The Times of Israel reported.
The show is part of J. Lo’s “It’s My Party” tour, and she will appear at Yarkon Park a week after Bon Jovi performs there.
Lopez’s 100-person entourage will including dancers, instrumentalists and light and sound technicians with 45 tons of equipment. Concert producer Mario Arlowski said Lopez hadn’t received pressure from boycott activists.
