The prolonged drought in Israel has led to a water shortage so critical that even Israel’s world-leading waste treatment and desalinization infrastructure is not adequate to address the ongoing crisis. “No one imagined we would face a sequence of arid years like this, because it never happened before,” said Uri Schor, spokesman for Israel’s Water Authority.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman declared on Monday that rocket fire into Israel from Syrian territory over the weekend “was not a leakage but…directed and deliberate firing carried out by Hezbollah with Assad’s permission in an attempt to draw us into the Syrian conflict. We call on the Assad regime, which we consider responsible for everything that happens on Syrian soil, especially today when it controls 90% of its territory, and the Russian forces who are there to restrain Hezbollah.”

The Knesset, Israel’s national parliament, held its first meeting of its winter session Monday evening, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a feisty speech before the plenum. Mocking his opponents for their “bitterness” towards him and towards the modern Zionist enterprise in general, Netanyahu declared that the voters who have chosen him to be the country’s leader 4 times know better. “Israelis know it’s good to live here,” Netanyahu said. “Israel is a beloved homeland, a warm home and, without a drop of cynicism, a wonderful country.”

The travails of Israel’s national Judo team dragged on in recent days, including multiple travel and visa related difficulties in their efforts to attend the Grand Slam event in Abu Dhabi, where they have already been informed that they will not be allowed to wear Israeli flag patches on their uniforms or otherwise be publicly identified as coming from the Jewish State. “We are like an elite army unit entering hostile territory without a flag on its uniform looking to complete a mission,” said coach Oren Smadja. “We want to beat our opponents, pick up ranking points and move on.”

Israel’s technological contributions to improving the quality of life for all people on this planet continued this week with the unveiling of a 3D printing device developed by the Yissum Research Development Company that allows a natural, edible, calorie-free fiber to be formed into almost any kind of food. The device is planned to be commercially available by the end of the decade.

Having elected Netanyahu as prime minister four times, including in the last three elections, there exists a broad consensus within Israeli society that sees his policies as the only possible response to a Palestinian political culture that still refuses to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state, no matter where its borders might be drawn. Moreover, Netanyahu’s rivals on the center and the left also embrace it.

Teheran’s ongoing efforts to foment trouble virtually wherever Shia live in the Middle East have worsened wars that have killed more than half a million and displaced more than 15 million since 2011. Its ongoing lethal support for Hamas and Hizbullah put Israel at constant peril. So yes, we need a better strategy for containing and checking Iran, and it is needed now.