Dead Sea Fun

Israel Draws Plan for Rail Network to the Dead Sea

Israel Railways has prepared a major plan for providing train service throughout the West Bank to serve both Israelis and Palestinians.

The plan, prepared at the request of Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, calls for establishing 11 new rail lines, according to a map that Haaretz has obtained. Katz has on several occasions expressed his intention to build a railway network in the West Bank.

Read the full article at Haaretz.com

Jordan to Open New Dead Sea Museum

Pilgrims and tourists who visit the Dead Sea soon will have more than mud packs, seaside resorts and Lot's wife to call on. Coming in April is a new multi-million dollar museum on the Jordan side of the lake about one of the world's most fascinating natural features. It's all about the geological, human, and ecological history that spans many centuries.

Located in Ghor es-Safi, Jordan, The Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth has a scheduled April opening very near the Byzantine era monastery that commemorates Lot's cave and his flight from the wicked ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Read the full article at WashingtonTimes.com

Sea of Life Cancels Contracts, Fires Employees

Sea of Life, which manufactures and markets body care products based on Dead Sea minerals, is struggling to recover from a massive fire that destroyed their factory in Arad in June 2011. Sea of Life CEO Uri Ben Hur announced today that he is planning to cancel deals with foreign customers, including an $11 million contract to supply products to four national US retailers.

Read the full article at Globes.com

Learn Hebrew Phrases - Hotel Check-In

Add some fun to your next Dead Sea vacation: check-in in Hebrew!

Exploring the Jordan River

Other rivers have more beauty. Many are longer. Most are cleaner. But none has garnered as much affection as the Jordan River.

Even the Nile River Valley - although it flows deeper, wider, and longer without tributary or raindrop to feed it - fails to match the depth of the Jordan Rift Valley. The Jordan Valley cuts the deepest ditch on the planet, ultimately draining into the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth. The ancient Egyptians worshiped the Nile as a god, but the Jordan surpasses it in spiritual influence and sanctity. Just looking at it, though, you'd never have imagined why.

Read the full article at JerusalemPost.com

Green Groups Dissatisfied with Dead Sea Budgets

After the cabinet unanimously approved a five-year, NIS 830 million budget for Dead Sea environmental protection and tourism on Sunday, green groups were not wholly satisfied with the decision.

"Only the comprehensive bill to restore the Dead Sea will provide a real solution to the worsening condition of the Dead Sea," said Amit Bracha, executive director of Adam Teva V'Din (Israel Union for Environmental Defense).

"Without the approval and implementation of this bill, it will be impossible to rehabilitate the Dead Sea and safeguard it for future generations - not by means of the amount of money the government approved [on Sunday], which is intended primarily for tourism purposes," Bracha said.

Read the full article at JerusalemPost.com

Update 8th January - Dead Sea Petition Reaches 15,000 Signatures JerusalemPost.com

Israeli Cabinet Okays NIS 830m for Dead Sea Tourism, Environment

Some NIS 830 million will be allocated toward developing tourism facilities at the Dead Sea, and repairing environmental damage caused in the area over the years, the cabinet decided on Sunday.

The funds earmarked for these purposes, as part of a proposal initiated by Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov and Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan, will be allocated over the next five years.

For its part, the Tourism Ministry will invest NIS 700 million in development schemes, of which NIS 434 million will be dispersed as grants to finance various initiatives, with the aim being the addition of 2,700 hotel rooms to the Dead Sea area.

Read the full article at Haaretz.com

Side Trip to Mitzpeh Ramon

Between the geology and beauty of the Ramon Crater, the historical significance of the ancient trade route and the proximity to the Red Sea resort town of Eilat, Mitzpeh Ramon appears to have a lot of unfulfilled tourism potential, an impression confirmed by several tourism experts.

Explore Israel's Grand Canyon and the sleepy desert town of Mitzpeh Ramon. Check out the elegant Isrotel Beresheet Hotel.

Read the full article at Haaretz.com

Israeli's Gov't Earmarks NIS 845m. for Dead Sea Rehabilitation Plan

The state will spend NIS 845 million over the next five years to rehabilitate the Dead Sea, the Tourism Ministry said on Monday.

According to the ministry, the sum was agree upon during a meeting of Finance, Tourism, Environmental Protection, and Energy and Water Ministry officials on Sunday night. NIS 725m. will come from the Tourism Ministry and the rest from the Environmental Ministry.

The plan will include renovations to tourist infrastructure at the Hamei Zohar and Ein Bokek areas, as well as a number of locations that have been damaged by rising water in the Dead Sea's southern basin in recent years (the largely disconnected northern basin is shrinking). The Tourism Ministry said that the work will also include rehabilitating the parks and nature areas that have been hurt by the changes in the level of the Dead Sea.

Read the full article at JerusalemPost.com

Israel Begins to Clear Landmines

An agreement with Israel's Defense Ministry has been signed for the first time ever to allow a contractor to clear landmines -- thousands of them -- beginning in March. Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the Mine Clearance Authority to move ahead with the agreement this week.

The government tender, the first of its type to be signed in Israel, calls for the scenic Ne'ot HaKikar area -- a popular tourist haven -- to be the first to be cleared.

Ne'ot HaKikar is located in the Arava Valley, south of the Dead Sea, and home to several kibbutzim and moshavim that grow specialized fresh produce for export and that are also home to several artisans.

Read the full article at IsraelNationalNews.com