Ilana Curiel

A severe water crisis is affecting the Central Arava as farmers in the region contend with a worsening shortage of irrigation water. Demand for water exceeds available supply and in some communities farmers say they are unable to irrigate crops regularly. At a recent meeting between farmers, the regional council and the national water company Mekorot, participants were told a solution is still far off.

Karma, a two-year-old Labrador, was walking calmly on Beit Yanai Beach with her owner, Nadav Reich from Mikhmoret. When they returned to the car after their routine walk, Reich, a trained marine biologist, suddenly noticed that Karma would not stop vomiting. “She looked exhausted and in bad condition,” Reich recalled. “I immediately took her to the veterinarian Dr. Dotan Miden in Beit Herut. I thought she had drunk seawater or was dehydrated or swallowed a hook.

New details published Friday morning about the daytime abduction of an Israel Defense Forces soldier from Be'er Sheva into areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority reveal the soldier’s composure and resourcefulness before he was located and returned to Israeli territory.