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Netanyahu Pledges for Israel to End Fossil Fuel Use by 2050
ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu announced
April 23 at President Joe Biden’s virtual climate summit that
Israel will stop using fossil fuels by 2050, Haaretz reported.

Netanyahu said the country’s short-term goals include closing
coal-based power plants by 2025 and, by the end of the decade,
having about 30% of the nation’s power production come from
renewable energy sources, largely solar power.

Activists and environmental groups questioned Netanyahu’s
sincerity, saying prior pledges were never fulfilled.

Professor Ofira Ayalon of the Department of Natural Resources
and Environmental Management said the speech didn’t “present a
courageous vision capable of propelling not only the Israeli economy
but also humanity towards a carbon-free future by exporting
innovative technologies in the field of green and clean tech.”
Leaders from about 40 countries participated in the two-day
summit that began on April 22. The summit is likely to set the
ground for the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow,
Scotland, slated for November.

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penncharter.com/virtualopenhouse Israel Buys More Vaccines
Israel made new deals to buy more Pfizer vaccines and added
Moderna doses to its arsenal on April 19, just two weeks after
Pfizer cut off its vaccine supply over a failure to pay, JTA reported.

Israel, which counts about 9 million residents, bought 18 million
more doses from Pfizer and Moderna, The Times of Israel reported.

Although Israel has the world’s highest vaccination rate at
more than half of all civilians, it needs to make a final push to
reach the herd immunity threshold. Experts believe that comes
at a vaccination rate of about 70%.

Pfizer previously stopped a shipment of nearly a million doses
expected to arrive on April 4. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
hinted that political infighting resulted in delayed payments.

re INVENTING classic
Unemployment Drops Sharply in Israel
Israel’s unemployment rate fell to 8.9% in the second half of March,
according to the Central Bureau of Statistics reports, down markedly
from the 9.8% rate in the month’s first half, Globes reported.

The reduced unemployed is attributed to the country’s
economy opening up after vaccine rollouts.

There were 361,000 people unemployed in the second half of
March. Those include those temporarily unemployed — such as in
the tourism industry — because of the pandemic’s lingering effects.

The Bank of Israel recently forecast that the nation’s unemploy-
ment rate would drop to 7.5% by year’s end.

Israeli Wrestler Earns Bronze at European Championships
Israeli Mitch Finesilver won a bronze medal on April 21 at the
European Wrestling Championships in the 74 kilogram weight
class, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The United States-born Finesilver attended Duke University,
earning All-American honors, placing fourth at the 2019 NCAA
Wrestling Championships and compiling a career record of
95-30. He has a fraternal twin brother, Zach, who wrestled for
Duke, too, finishing his career there at 70-49.

In January, Finesilver also won bronze at 74 kilograms at a
tournament in Nice, France.

“I have a lot of pride being able to represent Israel on the
world’s stage,” he said after that tournament. “It’s amazing to be
able to represent my culture and heritage.” l
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM JEWISH EXPONENT
APRIL 29, 2021
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