After a delay of a few hours caused by adverse weather conditions, a ceremony was held Monday evening at Nevatim Air Base in the Negev to welcome the first two F-35I “Adir” Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to the Israeli air force. The planes were the first of their kind to be delivered to an air force outside the US.

Reports out of Syria indicate that forces loyal to the regime of President Bashar Assad are near to completing the defeat of rebel factions in the northern city of Aleppo, which has been almost completely destroyed by the fighting. “I don’t know if this is the beginning of the end, but it’s definitely a shift in the war,” said Benedetta Berti, a Syria specialist at the Institute for National Security Studies think tank in Tel Aviv.

Herzliya-based Eccopia’s solar panel cleaning machines recently secured a contract to service the 10,000-hectare, 2,255-megawatt Bhadla Solar Park, located some 200 km. outside Jodhpur, India. It is hoped by the company that this contract will lead to others in India and around the world, generating quality jobs in Israel and making sustainable solar more affordable and widespread around the world.

A report released Monday by the NGO Latet and entitled the “Alternative Poverty Report” showed, among other things, that nearly 30% of Israelis live in dire economic conditions, including over a million children. Government agencies tasked with providing human services such as education and health care came under withering criticism in the report, but a government spokesperson countered that the NGO had used faulty methodology in compiling its statistics and gave examples of steps being taken to address the problem of poverty in Israel.

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Following the recent round of fires which ravaged thousands of acres of forests across Israel and caused extensive damage to several urban areas as well, ecologists reported this week that they can already see signs that plants and trees are beginning to grow back, giving literal “green shoots of hope” to the landscape. “Fire is really a part of the Mediterranean ecosystem,” explained Chanoch Zoref, director of the Judean Hills region for Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, adding that human beings should leave the affected areas alone for a few years to let nature repair itself.

During the election campaign, Donald Trump affirmed that immediately upon entering the White House he would “renegotiate the “disastrous” and “horrible” nuclear agreement with Iran. Since the elections Mr. Trump has not addressed the issue, and many believe he may change his stance. The president-elect actually has three options.

The F-35 is one of a kind. Its stealth technology allows our pilots to carry out top-secret missions without tipping off the enemy. Within 20 seconds of takeoff, a team on the ground can see the route data of the jet, letting the pilot fly at his or her best while knowing that they’ve got support on the ground.