Peppers growing in the Arava. (Photo by Eyal Izhar)

How many peppers can Peter Piper pick? Well, if the protagonist in the old tongue twister were picking them in Israel’s Arava Desert, the surprising answer is about 150,000 tons.

Once a deserted 112-mile strip of land stretching from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea, the Arava now has some 600 farms supplying more than 60 percent of total Israeli exports of fresh vegetables and about 10% of ornamentals.

In addition to dozens of varieties of peppers, Arava farmers produce tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplants, melons, watermelons, table grapes, herbs and dates – many raised organically and all with minimal pesticides. Other Arava agriculturists specialize in flowers or aquarium fish such as the “Nemo” clownfish....

Peppers growing in the Arava. (Photo by Eyal Izhar)

How many peppers can Peter Piper pick? Well, if the protagonist in the old tongue twister were picking them in Israel’s Arava Desert, the surprising answer is about 150,000 tons.

Once a deserted 112-mile strip of land stretching from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea, the Arava now has some 600 farms supplying more than 60 percent of total Israeli exports of fresh vegetables and about 10% of ornamentals.

In addition to dozens of varieties of peppers, Arava farmers produce tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplants, melons, watermelons, table grapes, herbs and dates – many raised organically and all with minimal pesticides. Other Arava agriculturists specialize in flowers or aquarium fish such as the “Nemo” clownfish....

Jeane Kirkpatrick experienced an epiphany shortly after Ronald Reagan appointed her America’s permanent representative at the UN in 1981 when Israel’s ambassador Yehuda Blum came to her office for his first official visit.

She had been appalled during the previous four years by what she regarded as the Carter administration’s contemptuous attitude toward the Jewish state, and particularly by the way that preceding UN ambassadors Andrew Young and Donald McHenry had, respectively, criticized the Jewish state as “stubborn and intransigent” (and met secretly with the PLO representative), and voted for Resolution 465 condemning Israel’s occupation of “Arab territories including Jerusalem.”

But she didn’t realize how deeply these attitudes had penetrated the US mission until she saw the way the career foreign service officers she inherited from the previous administration dismissively referred to Blum by his first name and rudely interrupted him on this first visit. She sternly pointed out to them that Blum was a Holocaust survivor who spoke nine languages, and angrily ordered them out of the room.

“You can see what it has been like for Israel here,” Blum told her after they sat down. Kirkpatrick replied, “It will be different now. No one will be treated better in this mission than Israel.”...

Jeane Kirkpatrick experienced an epiphany shortly after Ronald Reagan appointed her America’s permanent representative at the UN in 1981 when Israel’s ambassador Yehuda Blum came to her office for his first official visit.

She had been appalled during the previous four years by what she regarded as the Carter administration’s contemptuous attitude toward the Jewish state, and particularly by the way that preceding UN ambassadors Andrew Young and Donald McHenry had, respectively, criticized the Jewish state as “stubborn and intransigent” (and met secretly with the PLO representative), and voted for Resolution 465 condemning Israel’s occupation of “Arab territories including Jerusalem.”

But she didn’t realize how deeply these attitudes had penetrated the US mission until she saw the way the career foreign service officers she inherited from the previous administration dismissively referred to Blum by his first name and rudely interrupted him on this first visit. She sternly pointed out to them that Blum was a Holocaust survivor who spoke nine languages, and angrily ordered them out of the room.

“You can see what it has been like for Israel here,” Blum told her after they sat down. Kirkpatrick replied, “It will be different now. No one will be treated better in this mission than Israel.”...

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano (Reuters)

Iran has razed two buildings near a suspected nuclear-trigger test site inside of its sprawling Parchin military complex.

Satellite images taken on May 25 confirm the destruction of two buildings IAEA inspectors have sought access to were published on Wednesday by the Institute for Science and International Security.

“These activities raise further concerns of Iranian efforts to destroy evidence of alleged past nuclear weaponization,” the Washington-based ISIS said in a six-page written analysis....

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano (Reuters)

Iran has razed two buildings near a suspected nuclear-trigger test site inside of its sprawling Parchin military complex.

Satellite images taken on May 25 confirm the destruction of two buildings IAEA inspectors have sought access to were published on Wednesday by the Institute for Science and International Security.

“These activities raise further concerns of Iranian efforts to destroy evidence of alleged past nuclear weaponization,” the Washington-based ISIS said in a six-page written analysis....

Palestinian Hamas militants hold fake rockets during an anti-Israeli rally in 2009. The Palestinian group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, has an armed force to rival that of Israel's Lebanese foe Hezbollah, the head of the Shin Bet security service said on Wednesday. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Abed)

"Hamas has military capabilities almost of a state," a spokesman quoted Yoram Cohen as telling the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defence.

"Some of its military capabilities are even better than Hezbollah's," he said.

He said that the Islamist group's armoury had been swollen by advanced weaponry smuggled into the coastal territory from Libya since the fall of Moamer Kadhafi, including shoulder-fired missiles.

Cohen said that Hamas had also developed a sophisticated local arms industry, using computerised lathes to produce rockets of ranges from four to 40 kilometres (25 miles)....

Palestinian Hamas militants hold fake rockets during an anti-Israeli rally in 2009. The Palestinian group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, has an armed force to rival that of Israel's Lebanese foe Hezbollah, the head of the Shin Bet security service said on Wednesday. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Abed)

"Hamas has military capabilities almost of a state," a spokesman quoted Yoram Cohen as telling the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defence.

"Some of its military capabilities are even better than Hezbollah's," he said.

He said that the Islamist group's armoury had been swollen by advanced weaponry smuggled into the coastal territory from Libya since the fall of Moamer Kadhafi, including shoulder-fired missiles.

Cohen said that Hamas had also developed a sophisticated local arms industry, using computerised lathes to produce rockets of ranges from four to 40 kilometres (25 miles)....

Hezbollah gunman in Beirut (Photo: Reuters)

Israel will consider using military action to intercept the transfer of advanced weaponry or chemical weapons from Syria to a terrorist organization like Hezbollah, OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a conference marking the 30th anniversary of the First Lebanon War at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Golan said that the first challenge for Israel would be to obtain intelligence that such a transfer has taken place, but that once Israel knew it would need to consider action.

"Would it be wise to intercept such a transfer or would this be nonsense," Golan asked, presenting the dilemma Israel would face.

The senior officer said that Syria was a "failed state" and that terrorists were already "flourishing" within the country....

Hezbollah gunman in Beirut (Photo: Reuters)

Israel will consider using military action to intercept the transfer of advanced weaponry or chemical weapons from Syria to a terrorist organization like Hezbollah, OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a conference marking the 30th anniversary of the First Lebanon War at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Golan said that the first challenge for Israel would be to obtain intelligence that such a transfer has taken place, but that once Israel knew it would need to consider action.

"Would it be wise to intercept such a transfer or would this be nonsense," Golan asked, presenting the dilemma Israel would face.

The senior officer said that Syria was a "failed state" and that terrorists were already "flourishing" within the country....