It seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes you need to give evidence to city councillors: A new multi-institutional study led by UC Davis Health suggests that not all green space is created equal. Living in urban neighborhoods with more visible trees is associated with a 4% lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, while areas dominated by grass or low shrubs may be linked to higher cardiovascular risk.

The research, published in Environmental Epidemiology, analyzed more than 350 million street-level images using machine learning to distinguish between trees, grass, and other types of vegetation. The findings challenge long-held assumptions that simply adding “green space” to cities is enough to improve public health.

“Public health interventions should prioritize the preservation and planting of tree canopies,” said Peter James, associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences and lead author of the study. “Urban forestry initiatives and policies that protect mature trees are likely to yield greater cardiovascular health benefits than investments in grass planting.”

Related: AI scientists from MIT get a map of a city’s trees

Why trees outperform lawns

Unlike satellite imagery, which often lumps all vegetation into one category, the researchers used street-level images—similar to what pedestrians see via platforms like Google Street View—to capture real neighborhood conditions. Deep-learning models identified trees, grass, sidewalks, cars, and other features, creating a granular picture of urban environments.

Those visual data were then linked to nearly 89,000 participants in the long-running Nurses’ Health Study, tracking 18 years of medical records and death certificates. The results were striking: More visible trees → 4% lower cardiovascular disease incidence

More grass → 6% higher incidence: Other green vegetation (shrubs, bushes) → 3% higher incidence

The protective effect of trees held steady even after accounting for air pollution, population density, regional differences, and neighborhood socioeconomic status.

Researchers suspect the negative associations with grass may be linked to pesticide use, emissions and dust from from mowing equipment, reduced cooling capacity, and weaker noise and air-pollution filtering compared to trees.

With cardiovascular disease responsible for over 900,000 deaths annually in the U.S.—nearly one in three deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—even small shifts matter.

“This opens a promising avenue: improving heart health through community-level environmental change, not just individual behavior,” said Eric B. Rimm, professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

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Tel Aviv-Yafo Mayor Ron Huldai recently announced a plan to remove smartphones from schools to improve focus and attention. He stated, “I have a dream that together, we will pull ourselves and our city’s education system out of our comfort zone, relearn the art of attention, and be fully present—100% in time and place. That we will dare to say: we are going to manage technology, not be managed by it. How? By removing smartphones from schools.”

Huldai praised several schools in Tel Aviv already implementing this, calling them “digital pioneers” and highlighting their role in leading this shift.

While this sounds positive, it feels ironic to me as a founding parent of Tel Aviv’s first Waldorf School, established 15 years ago (we joined at Year 3). Our school, formerly called Aviv and now Reut, has always prohibited cell phones and embraced Waldorf principles like minimizing technology and promoting arts and crafts. Most families don’t allow their children to have phones until at least age 12, if at all.

When our school transitioned from private to public 1.5 years ago, the city, led by Huldai and Shiri Carmon, forced us to split grades 7 and 8 from the younger students and integrate them into Ironi Zayn, a challenging middle and highschool school in Jaffa that does not align with Waldorf values. Every day, our values are questioned, and we constantly have to defend our approach to education. A quick survey and most families that tried to integrate, are leaving.

The result? The older classes are struggling, and my son’s grade 6 class now in line to join the experimental integration, is now breaking apart, with students from his class scattering to different schools across Tel Aviv without completing their 8-year cycle where they started.

This isn’t Huldai’s first clash with our school. About eight years ago, he took us to the Supreme Court to prevent our recognition as a legitimate school despite us winning the local court in Tel Aviv that he do so. His current smartphone initiative feels like lip service, especially considering how he disregarded the community and disrupted a thriving, tech-free educational model at Reut Waldorf School. Children in the older grades, Grades 7+ now need to use a phone to check schedules, communicate with staff.

Ron Huldai wants the world to think that Tel Aviv is a green city and there are great programs that are marketed well and touch on green values, see the urban fruit tree program, but he virtually cares nothing about the true environmentalists who built Tel Aviv’s Waldorf Schools, and their community who created the Reut Waldorf School of Tel Aviv. Luckily, he listened to us and didn’t agree to have the trees cut down from Jerusalem Boulevard during the light rail construction; but his dissembling of the Reut Waldorf school and its deeply anthroposophic community is as shambolic as the idea of cutting down 100 year-old trees to make way for an eco train.

Waldorf schools, created by Austria’s Rudolph Steiner, are the fastest-growing school system in Israel because of their focus on arts and crafts and their avoidance of technology in the classroom. As of 2024, the country hosts 25 elementary schools, 6 high schools, and over 150 kindergartens following the Waldorf methodology.

This expansion reflects a doubling of student enrollment over a five-year period, indicating a strong and growing interest in Waldorf education among Israeli families.

A core principle of Waldorf education is the integration of arts and crafts into the curriculum. Students engage in activities such as drawing, painting, sculpture, knitting, and woodworking, which are designed to foster creativity and practical skills. It is a much loved and appreciated method for the kids of hightech CEOs and engineers –– both in Israel as startup nation, and also in Silicon Valley in California.

It’s ironic, and also very sad for 100 families, that Huldai is being praised for pushing a tech-free school environment while his administration shattered a community that has been practicing this philosophy for over a decade.

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Located in the same ancient port where Jonah sailed off and made his fate with the whale, is a new wave-collecting power plant that officially went online this month. Though it’s been in place for a number of years as a pilot and generally inactive, the city of Jaffa welcomed the municipal company Atarim, in collaboration with Eco Wave Power and EDF Renewables Israel, to Israel’s first pilot station for generating electricity from sea waves.

Related: Eco Wave tests pilot at the Jaffa seashore

Eco Wave Power is a NASDAQ-listed company (ticker: WAVE) holding 18 patents for innovative wave energy technologies. In addition to the Jaffa pilot station, the company is planning projects in the Port of Los Angeles with Shell and in Porto, Portugal, where its first commercial station will be built.

The company’s technology connects floaters to existing marine structures like breakwaters and piers. These floaters rise and fall with the waves, powering a hydraulic motor and generator located onshore. The system includes smart controls that lift the floaters out of the water during storms to prevent damage.

The project is led by Eco Wave Power founder and CEO Inna Braverman, a graduate of the “Women for Climate” program from the group C40. 

Developed by the company Eco Wave Power, the station was built in collaboration with EDF Renewables. The power station is recognized as “pioneering technology” by the Ministry of Energy.  For the first time, electricity generated from sea waves will power the country’s national grid—a historic milestone in the country’s renewable energy progress. 

Related: Oceanwell mines the sea for freshwater

The city which is aiming to brand itself as a green city, says this launch “marks a significant step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and advancing sustainable energy, reinforcing Tel Aviv’s status as a global innovation leader.” High-tech center, yes, green city –– um, not always. The city’s lack of financial support to one of its foundational cultural centers, the East West House (no comment from the Mayor Ron Huldai) and indecisions about cutting down trees don’t make it a green city, just because the city wishes it so.

Middle Eastern Jewish and Arab musical culture, ancient trees: these things make a city sustainable and shouldn’t be pushed aside to make way for “green progress” according to a ledger. The concept is ridiculous. Electric bikes and lack of speeding laws and order make Jaffa an un-walkable city in some of the busier areas. Plastic bags are given out freely. Residents barely compost or recycle home waste. The recent light rail train going online, however, has upgraded the city by 1000%. The CDP group gives Tel Aviv and A- for Sustainability. 

Are you a woman for climate change? Check out C40 here. Maybe you can join.

::EcoWave

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In 1866 a group of 157 men, women and children of the Christian Lovers of Zion left Maine and traveled to Israel. Their mission was to develop the Land of Israel and prepare Israel for the establishment of a Jewish nation in the Promised Land. Christian Zionism is an ideology that, in a Christian context, espouses the return of the Jewish people to the Holy Land.

Read Also: Israeli’s most sustainable hotels 

Today one of their landmark sites in Jaffa is home to a luxury hotel, the Drisco.

The Drisco is situated in the American Colony in Tel Aviv-Jaffa and includes 42 rooms and suites decorated to reflect the magnificent history of the hotel, first opened in 1866. In the hotel there are original murals from the year 1925, a bar, a rooftop facing the beaches of Tel Aviv, a gym, rooms for indulging spa treatments, a nurtured garden etc.

The global organization Relais & Châteaux chose the Drisco to be part of its collection of unique hotels, and 340 Michelin star restaurants around the world.

Relais & Châteaux was founded in 1954, and since its foundation the organization promotes a large number of luxury hospitality properties and culinary traditions, enhancing their prosperity, and acts for the preservation of local heritage and surroundings of each property.

Each year, more than 500 requests to join Relais & Châteaux are submitted, less than 2% of them actually get to join the prestigious organization.

The Drisco includes an elite restaurant the George & John restaurant, led by Chef Tomer Tal, which was graded among the 50 best restaurants in the Middle East, according to “50 BEST” (2022 to 2024).

The post The Drisco Hotel in Tel Aviv built by American Christians joins luxury association appeared first on Green Prophet.

In the beautiful streets of Jaffa near the Flea Market, Ada Hanina Cafe is a marvellous cafe must-try, an exquisite and artistic coffee shop offering the highest quality coffee. As a coffee guru who enjoys trying different coffee shops, Ada Hanina Cafe is unlike any other.

Owner Tomer Adam Lenzinger has been running this cafe for four years now and hasn’t disappointed. With his well-crafted blends featuring both dark and light roasts from the best coffee bean destinations in the world, you are guaranteed a fabulous cup of coffee.

What makes Ada Hanina stand out like any other cafe is how Tomer integrated his love of music into the design of the cafe. An element that stands out once you walk into Ada Hanina is the large stereo speaker and sound system. Either Tomer himself will play music or he will bring in others to play.

Tomer told me he plays music as often as he can, and he will play vinyl. For him, it’s all about the experience of a cafe, and for that reason, he designed the shop with two doors, so you can go in and go out. “It’s all about the vibe,” Tomer said, “a cafe is about talking, exchanging, taking a break, falling in love, or writing a book.” Coffee brings people together, he said and that was what was important in the designing and planning of the cafe, blending all these aspects into one.

Sourcing his own beans, applying fair trade

The source of Tomer’s coffee beans comes from far and wide: including Africa, Brazil, Columbia, Guatemala, and more. The farmers they work with are the best, specifically the ones in Africa, the beans are wild and are picked by hand, never purified, and no use of chemicals or salts. You can watch videos of the farmers in action on their Instagram. The whole idea, says Tomer, is having fewer hands between us and the farmer. In addition, whatever is not used in the selection process gets composted.

The farmers in Ethiopia are being taught how to harvest and package more sustainably. It is important to Tomer that the farmers in Ethiopia are receiving at least 70% of the profits. Over in Brazil, the terra farmers in Brazil are the first and best rainforest alliance coffee farm. Overall, Tomer strives to have the best connections between him and his farmers to ensure quality coffee is delivered to his customers.

Sustainable water

Like I previously wrote about in my article on Tel Aviv’s Vegan Fest vegan festival, Ada Hanina cafe also has vegan options. The most common milk option they use is Oatly oat milk, (you can make your own at home) which is used 70% of the time in the cafe.

According to Tomer, almond milk takes away from the flavor of the coffee and just turns the coffee into an almond flavor. He also is not a fan of the popular trend in America of flavor additives, which are sugary and are used to disguise the taste of bad coffee. In addition, Ada Hanina only sells water in boxes to take away from the plastic waste issue.

The straws are from the Upper Galilee and are made of real straw. Tomer believes the biggest environmental issue in Israel right now is the issue of plastic, and wishes there were to-go cups for the cafe that were made of sustainable material. He also thinks there should be more green electricity and says we are moving way too slowly in our efforts to make energy all renewable.

His favorite thing about his job is having customers come up to him and tell him that this is the best coffee they’ve ever had. He enjoys guiding his customers through the coffee selection process and finding the perfect coffee for them. The inspiration behind the cafe is all about having “a very, very good coffee with very, very good music around,” Tomer said emphasizing the very. He’s met people all around the world at coffee conferences who tried their coffee and asked him why he doesn’t bag it and sell it all over the world.

I had a coffee with oat milk, which Tomer said was made with about 20 hand-picked cherries, each having two seeds inside. I also had one of their best sellers and one of Tomer’s favorites, the Worka Wuri blend from Ethiopia, made wild and in an anaerobic process, meaning it was made fermented without oxygen.

It was delicious and had notes of flowers and fruit. Tomer most importantly wants to share with people the beauty of coffee and have access to taste the high-quality coffee beans that are offered inside his cafe in Jaffa. I highly recommend checking out Ada Hanina and asking Tomer all about his coffee. Check out our Green Guide to Jaffa for more sustainable travel ideas.

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Jaffa, Tel Aviv’s historic sister city, is famous for its rich biblical tales and unmatched sightseeing. With its unique combination of history and modernity, Jaffa offers countless opportunities for environmentally sustainable and unique day and nighttime activities.

Green Spaces of Jaffa

Jaffa Port

Make sure to check out Jaffa Port, one of the oldest ports in the world. Jaffa Port is a historical landmark well known for being the biblical location of Jonah and the Whale. In addition to its historical roots, the port serves as an active fishing port, allowing visitors to peek into the daily lives of fishermen. Visitors can rent kayaks for paddling around in and some local boat owners sublet their yachts for a night or a week for those who want to sleep on the water. Jaffa, Tel Aviv’s historic sister city, is famous for its rich biblical tales and unmatched sightseeing. With its unique combination of history and modernity, Jaffa offers countless opportunities for environmentally sustainable and unique day and nighttime activities.

Jaffa Slope Park

Along the seaside is the Jaffa Slope Park. Embrace the awesome scenery and spice up your day by packing a picnic and taking a nature walk to enjoy natural beauty. Slope Park is an excellent escape from the “hustle and bustle” of city life. This park was a construction waste site, later transformed into a park on the insistence and lobbying of environmental activists. If you walk from the port to the Slope Park look into the sea and find Eco Wave’s pilot project collecting energy from the sea. 

The Slope Park is a great location for flying a kite. There are no electricity wires and few trees to get stuck on.

It’s a great stretch of park for runners who start in Tel Aviv. Run all the way to the end of the boardwalk around Aliya Beach near the Shimon Peres Center and return back along the sea. 

Givat Aliya Beach

Givat Aliya Tel Aviv-Jaffa’s Southernmost beach is the perfect location for beachgoers. Have a picture-perfect day and enjoy the palm trees, limestone, and stunning arches. After soaking up sun rays, Givat Aliya conveniently offers nearby trendy bars and restaurants.

HaPisgah Park

Another beachside park worth exploring is Gan HaPisga. Named after the Hebrew word for the summit, this park has an eye-popping view of the coastline in addition to a well-known amphitheater used for outdoor concerts and summer events.

Local and Sustainable Dining in Jaffa

Hummus

Jaffa is about the hummus. It’s simple and vegan. Abu Haasan serves what consider the best hummus in Jaffa. They are a family-owned local spot that serves both traditional and spicy hummus, which are excellent vegan and sustainable options. The best idea- try the triple plate and taste all three vegan dishes.

Israelis are pretty picky when it comes to hummus. Some locals suggest these ones might be just as good. Some say better:

Alkalha “is a deluxe experience” says one resident of Jaffa. They are located on Salame. Eliyahu Hummus in the flea market is a nice place to hang out. Asli on the corner of hatkuma and yerushalayim across from the hotel. Dani Ful in the same area of Asli.

Jaffa Coffee Shops

We have tried them all. The only two coffee shops we can recommend in Jaffa are Ada Hanina Cafe, in the Flea Market area run by Tomer Lenziger, who picks hand-selected beans from countries like Africa where he pays farmers direct and roasts locally, and the other is Cafelix in the Noga area. 

Alhambra Deli and cafe offers a unique Farm to Table experience. They have much more than coffee, and offer culinary experiences of Slow Food sourced from all over the Land of Israel. 

Jaffa Fishery

Visiting Jaffa port by 7:00 in the morning is a treat for the early birds as you witness fishermen unloading their fresh daily catches and displaying them along the harbor. Take advantage of this opportunity to purchase high-quality doral, snapper, and seafood directly from the fishermen, all at a more affordable price than restaurants.

Pizza

Eat pizza and drink local craft beer from Schnitt. You might feel that you are in a Swiss or German beer garden. The beer and pizza are our favorite

Shaffa Bar

Immerse yourself in 70s vibes and enjoy locally sourced ingredients at Shaffa Bar. Known for its vibrant ambiance, this bar offers a range of cocktails during happy hour with the bonus of eating sustainably. Indulge in great company and feel good about your environmentally positive choices.

Eco-Friendly Transportation

Electric Scooter

If you love an adventure like me, I’d like to introduce you to Tel Aviv-Yafo’s electric scooter takeover. Many scooter-sharing companies operate in the city, allowing people to rent electric scooters for short-distance travel. They produce zero emissions and make a greener and more fun alternative to driving in a car. Watch out for reckless drivers. 

Biking

Get active by biking around Jaffa’s bike-friendly city and using the dedicated bike lanes and bike-sharing programs. Renting a bike to explore the city while minimizing your carbon footprint is encouraged. Several bike rental stations throughout Jaffa make it easy for locals and visitors alike to help the environment.

Walking

Jaffa is certainly a walkable and pedestrian-friendly city. Enjoy the city’s charm and discover new places only seen on foot. Walking does not only reduce pollution but also allows a fully immersive experience of the culture and overall vibe of the city. 

Public Transportation

The old city is conveniently well-connected to the Tel Aviv metropolitan area through public transportation networks. The choices are abundant between the easily accessible bus system and light rail trains, providing convenient and eco-friendly options for traveling within Jaffa and nearby destinations. 

Sustainable Cultural Experiences

Flea Market

The Jaffa flea market, known as the Shuk Hapishpeshim, is where creativity thrives. Endless treasures, including antiques, crafts, and locally made products, are yours to find. Supporting local artists and small businesses as well as sustainable entrepreneurship. A few boutique hotels have opened in recent years.

Galleries

You aren’t doing Jaffa’s correctly if you do not explore its renowned art scene and visit its many galleries of local visionaries. Admire or even purchase unique pieces from the local art community. Try Beit Kandinof which is an art gallery and happening space combined with a high-end restaurant. 

Live Music

The East West House offers weekly shows featuring local music with ethnic roots from the Arab and Jewish world. There is also a more taverna-style showing of a similar vibe at Shaffa Bar many days of the week.

Artisanal Shops and Workshops

And finally, from pottery and ceramics to jewelry-making and textile weaving, Jaffa’s artisans combine their gorgeous work with the city’s rich cultural heritage. Gain insight into their creative processes and learn about the importance of their craft. Make sure to check out hands-on workshops, mainly concentrated in the area called Noga.

• There is Beit Hamelacha which offers print-making and textile-dying workshops in Noga.
• Ilanit Neutra maker of upcycled tire bags has her studio in Noga.
• Enjoy a free co-working space for the 18-25 year-old crowd on 83 Yefet Street. It is supported by the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality.

Take a walk around the streets of the Noga neighborhood in Jaffa. You will discover hand-made shoes, pottery shops and young fashion designers like these guys from Havie making goods and clothing out of upcycled army tents

The post The Green Travel Guide to Jaffa appeared first on Green Prophet.

Perfect for Muskoka or Tahoe in the summer: the city of Tel Aviv has started a boat-in theatre this summer. Those with boats or dinghies can sail in within safe distance to other boaters to enjoy movies on the boat lake of Tel Aviv.

The coronavirus outbreak has proved particularly challenging for the cultural sector worldwide, with outdoor initiatives representing almost the sole solution for cultural events.The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality will now launch a “sail-in” floating cinema under the clear night sky from August 22 to 28, in partnership with Tel Aviv Cinematheque. 

A total of 70 socially distanced boats will be available to moviegoers seeking to enjoy a night of cinematic entertainment under the stars, the city writes in an announcement it sent Green Prophet. Boats will be distanced two meters apart (or 6 feet) at all times opposite a large screen allowing all ticketholders to float away and unwind from the daily grind for at least a few hours.

“The coronavirus crisis poses new challenges for Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, including bringing cultural life to a halt in the city. During recent months, we have been constantly examining ways of providing assistance. The initiative to screen movies at HaYarkon Park’s boating lake is another creative way to spend the hot August days,” says Ron Huldai, Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo.

The launch of the floating cinema joins a long list of municipal initiatives launched in recent months to support cultural activity in the city. Meanwhile people who own decades-old cultural centers in the city such as the East West House in Jaffa are drowning in a labyrinth of paperwork, with no one to speak with at the City Hall.

Yisrael Borochov, the founder of the East West House, one of the main cultural centers of Jaffa, runs the non-profit organization which supports local and ethnic music from the Arab and Jewish cultures. Borochov is very confused about the current situation and decisions of Ron Huldai.

He tells Green Prophet: “I got a letter from the government, from the Ministry of Culture who sees our cultural center as foundational to the city of Jaffa and they said they earmarked money for our organization. We just have to apply to get it. We haven’t been operating normally since March and are used to sold out shows every week. Now we have zero income. The Culture Ministry told us to apply for the money coming to us from the city.

“I filled out the forms and called the City and no one is answering or acknowledging our requests,” Borochov tells Green Prophet. He continues: “The government is telling me to go to the city to start performances, an activity that the government is also forbidding us to do, while on the other hand the city is allowing new venues such as museums and bars to host the same musicians that used to come to my center to perform. Instead of addressing the problem they are creating a new flawed system that will devastate the cultural heritage of the city.

“While I think it’s important to social distance, and we could do this at outdoor performances at the East West House in Jaffa, the city is creating new projects that only put a colorful bandaid on the bigger problem: the collapse of real cultural activities in the city, for the centers, the artists and the supporting teams like the sound crew,” Borochov relates.”

Most of the demonstrations as of late have been related to the collapse of the cultural sectors and those demonstrating are artists and supporting professions who are now without work. Instead of operating like Berlin or London, cities that support existing artists Tel Aviv is operating to the beat of its own drum.

The city has started musical performances on the roof of the Eretz Israel Museum as a new activity while those at existing centers collect dust and foot the bill for their many years of cultural service to the community.

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Get stuck in an Israeli gridlock and you feel like you are better off in LA. The fast lane doesn’t really work. Traffic in the Mediterranean sun makes people nervous, especially when it can take you an hour to drive 3 miles. There is no wonder the dangerous but fast electric mopeds and bikes have taken the city by storm. With little oversight and supervision, kids bones are getting broken and grannies overturned as the merciless young cyclists overtake the citizens of Jaffa and Tel Aviv, day by day by day.

The idea of an Israeli subway system always seemed perilous in the height of terror attacks in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. A bus with 20 or 50 people blowing up isn’t tolerable, but a mass transit system with an expected 2 million passengers per day, about 1/4 of the country’s population? That’s what’s being planned for Israel. We imagine the terrorist threat is either under control, or we’ve got bigger fish to fry.

The Greater Tel Aviv Metro M2 line was presented earlier this spring in Israel amidst the corona crisis. This line will be about 15 miles long and will connect the suburban cities of Petah Tikva to Holon, with Tel Aviv and Jaffa in the middle.

The overdue project is being implemented by government company NTA – Metropolitan Mass Transit Ltd. About 90 miles of subway is being planned for the country. Consider the size of Israel – about the same size as New Jersey. A nation-wide subway system wouldn’t be thought impossible.

The central M2 line will have 22 stations and among other locations will serve Bar-Ilan University, Bloomfield Stadium in Jaffa, the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv, Habimah Theater and Wolfson Hospital.

Like Elon Musk touted in California with the announcement of his Boring Company if you can’t go over traffic, you might as well tunnel below it. The Israeli system won’t be tunnels for your cars, but rather an underground train system like in New York City. Tunnel boring machines are expected to dig as much as 10 meters per day (about 11 yards) which will be about  25-40 meters or yards underground, with a diameter of 7 yards. This new subway or underground train will complement the light rail train currently being built throughout Tel Aviv and Jaffa.

Avoid a transport system collapse

With the income levels of people rising and the need to commute to work to cities like Herzliya, citizens demand a better way to get around, especially from inside the city. We also expect tourism, post covid-19 will want to enjoy a good public system.

To get to another city like Jerusalem from inside Tel Aviv, expect your journey to last at least a few hours or more once there. While major transport hubs exist and are okay (actually rather loathsome and confusing), getting there is a challenge and getting to your destination – the last mile – is impossible especially in cities like Jerusalem where the bus system is complex and hard to navigate.

I used to take the train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem years ago to get dropped off in a far away suburb that buses don’t pass through. You needed a car to take the train! Things have been improved since the creation of a new Tel Aviv to Jerusalem line.

The point of the subway system, the project builders argue, is to make cars extraneous, explained Gilad Zwebner, VP Planning and Design of NTA – Metropolitan Mass Transit Ltd., the government company implementing the metro system. Zwebner has said that 90% of traffic in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area is from private vehicles.

“A system based on a metro could bring us to 40% usage of vehicular traffic. According to all the scenarios that were considered, without a metro, there would be a complete collapse of the transport system,” said Sharav.

One more question: will it run on solar or renewable energy? Please say yes. Israel needs to increase its commitment to solar energy. Read here.

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Tel Aviv used to be an urbanist’s nightmare, but it is learning fast. And it is growing on me though I like Jaffa, its sister city better. When I first met Tel Aviv 20 years ago it was polluted and noisy. Now it’s trying with all its might to do good by its people: The City has launched a creative solution to enable restaurants and bars to extend their outdoors seating areas, assisting owners to increase dining capacity while ensuring social distancing required by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The municipality has rolled out a series of sidewalk-level platforms at the expense of road space, permitting restaurants and bars to add dozens of outdoors tables and chairs, and welcome significantly more customers.

The move accelerates a key Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality urban policy to prioritize pedestrians and cyclists, and encourage local trade across the city, highlighted by a recent municipal decision to convert 11 streets into pedestrianized commercial zones.

Sidewalk-level platforms were introduced this week along Chayim Vital Street in Tel Aviv’s vibrant (also very stinky from cat pollution) Florentin neighborhood, home to many popular restaurants and bars.

While the street represents an important thoroughfare for vehicular access to surrounding streets and residences, and cannot be entirely pedestrianized, the platforms provide a “breathing” sidewalk that may be extended to support local businesses and encourage greater foot traffic.

In May 2020, Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality announced that it would convert an additional 11 streets into pedestrianized zones, open strictly to pedestrians and cyclists. The decision follows the successful conversion of Tel Aviv’s Levinski Street into a 24/7 pedestrian zone and shut Sheinkin Street to traffic on Fridays during the past year.

In addition, the municipality has placed more than 1,000 outdoor chairs and umbrellas across pedestrian zones to encourage visitors to take advantage of the newly-converted areas.

Last month, as part of large-scale efforts to emphasize pedestrian travel, reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, Tel Aviv said it would double bike paths in the city from 140 km. to 300 km. by 2025. That’s a great plan, but if they are overtaken by rude and vicious and usually inexperienced moped drivers or electric bikes racing to 100km/hour, no thanks.

The implementation of the plan is expected to reduce traffic congestion in the city by 30% says the city but to what personal expense if the bike lanes are not policed.

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Low impact fishing using a drone

Local men love to fish but most can’t afford to own a boat. Before work or after they jump down to the sea and cast out there line. But fishing in shallow waters will own bring you home teeny tiny fish called ‘barbunia’ or red mullet and they are really an acquired taste. 

But Avram here who we caught on film uses a very clever approach. He has rigged out his drone with a catch and release apparatus. He ties the baited line of his rod to the drone and then steers his drone out 400 yards, deep enough to where the fishing boats can go. He drops the line and brings the drone back to home base. 

He turns the drone off and then tightens the line manually, and waits. It can take  1 or 2 hours until he catches the big one. And it is worth the wait, he tells me. 

Reeling in the drone

“I catch all kinds of fish,” he says. “Grouper, and even red snapper. I caught a 2.5 red snapper last Friday and we ate it at our Shabbat dinner.”

This is out of the box thinking and definately an innovative Israeli approach to fishing. Using hightech for low-tech ideas and pleasures.  Another way to use drones? Dropping cannabis packets on people of Tel Aviv, of course. 

Have a story like this to share? Drop me a line karin@greenprophet.com

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