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Minister of Tourism, Haim Katz: “The Minister of Tourism Award is intended to honor the people behind Israeli tourism – the entrepreneurs and workers who generate significant economic and informational value for the State of Israel. Congratulations to the winning initiatives, which have demonstrated optimal execution of a vision that combines quality tourism with the preservation of natural resources.”

Director General of the Ministry of Tourism, Michael Yitzhakov: “The initiatives that won today prove that quality tourism can go hand in hand with values of sustainability, community, and environment, and contribute to the economy and employment. The Ministry of Tourism will continue to support sustainable tourism and initiatives that promote it.”

For the first time, today, the Minister of Tourism Award was presented to two outstanding initiatives in the field of sustainable tourism in Israel. The award was given to Kibbutz Lotan in the Arava and to Rum Farm on Mount Kamon. The winning initiatives will be showcased at the Ministry of Tourism’s pavilion at the major international tourism fair, ITB in Berlin, which will take place in March 2026, and will receive broad global exposure.

The festive award ceremony was held at the Knesset, and it is part of a policy led by Minister Haim Katz, to promote initiatives that combine environmental preservation and community contribution with responsible economic growth.

In the competition, initiated by the Minister of Tourism’s advisor, Bat Sheva Strauchler, 46 initiatives participated, from which five were selected for the final. After the initiatives were presented to a committee established for this purpose, two winners were chosen based on the highest average score.

The committee members who chose the initiatives: Prof. Yitzhak Kreiss, Director General of Sheba Medical Center – Chairman of the Committee; Mr. Dovi Amity, Chairman of the Presidium of the Business Sector in Israel; Mr. Yossi Fatael, Director General of the Israel Incoming Tour Operators Association; Ms. Bat Sheva Strauchler, Office of the Minister of Tourism; Ms. Rakefet Levi, Senior Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Tourism’s Tourist Experience Administration; Mr. Adam Arbel, Senior Deputy Director General for Policy Planning and Strategy, Ministry of Tourism.

Kibbutz Lotan presented the committee with a unique tourism model based on natural building and the use of earth as a raw material.

The complex offers a visitor center for creative ecology, mud-built guest rooms, an ecological kitchen, and additional ecological tourism facilities for guests, alongside vegetable gardens and organic cultivation.
Lotan is a space for tourists seeking quiet, desert, and a deep connection to nature and community.

Rum Farm on Mount Kamon offers an “Adam-Nature-Community” experience through special accommodation in light construction and “from field to plate” culinary experiences. In addition, the site operates a resilience and rehabilitation program for post-trauma sufferers from the war, as well as utilizing solar energy, water recycling, and construction from recycled materials.

Both initiatives demonstrate how tourism can become a significant tool for social rehabilitation and environmental preservation, and serve as inspiration for the continued development of sustainable tourism in Israel.

Minister of Construction and Housing, Chaim Ketz, and Director General of the Ministry of Construction and Housing and the Authority, and Acting Director General of the National Urban Renewal Authority, Yehuda Morgenstern, held a roundtable discussion last weekend with leading entrepreneurs that dealt with the challenges of implementing urban renewal projects and ways to remove obstacles hindering their progress.
During the discussion, an open and in-depth dialogue took place, during which the entrepreneurs pointed out key obstacles hindering project implementation, including: the issue of the uncooperative tenant, lack of economic feasibility due to land values, high execution costs, the impact of interest rate environment, the involvement of Israel Land Authority in some projects, difficulties in development agreements, the method of collecting betterment levies, and general price increases in the industry. Alongside this, proposals for possible regulatory and planning solutions were presented.
Minister Chaim Ketz emphasized the need to accelerate the pace of execution on the ground, increase the supply of housing units, and remove regulatory and planning obstacles, and instructed the professional staff to examine feasible solutions within the responsibility of the ministry and the Urban Renewal Authority in particular, and with other planning bodies in general. 
Director General of the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Acting Head of the National Urban Renewal Authority, Yehuda Morgenstern, noted that there are over 100,000 housing units in approved plans that have not yet been realized into building permits, mainly in the center of the country, due to damage to economic feasibility in light of rising construction costs.

In conclusion of the discussion, Morgenstern emphasized that the state, led by the Ministry of Construction and Housing, must act to promote legislative amendments and complementary tools, including examining more profitable standards in cooperation with the Government Appraiser, and noted that close cooperation between the public and private sectors is key to the success of urban renewal in Israel.
 

Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, signed today (Monday) an order for a significant expansion of import quotas for hard and premium cheeses to Israel, as part of the fight against the high cost of living and the effort to increase competition in the food market.
Dairy products in Israel are about 50% more expensive than the OECD average, with hard cheese prices reaching twice the average.
In light of these gaps, the minister decided on a dramatic move to increase duty-free import quotas, with the aim of increasing competition and gradually lowering cheese prices for consumers.
According to the order signed by the minister, the duty-free quota will increase from 11,500 tons per year to 19,500 tons, an addition of 8,000 tons, which constitutes a 70% increase in the volume of duty-free imports. The increase in quotas will take effect immediately and will be valid for two years, with the Minister of Finance retaining the authority to extend the order according to market developments.
The order was signed concurrently with a broad reform promoted by the Ministry of Finance in the dairy sector, which aims to bring about price reductions in all dairy products, including soft cheeses and liquid milk, while maintaining significant local production. The reform includes broad protection for dairy farmers, a safety net for local production, and government investments in small and medium-sized dairy farms and dairies, with the aim of strengthening the industry alongside opening the market to competition.
The Israeli market is characterized by high concentration and significant competition barriers, which lead to Israeli families paying high prices for a limited variety of products.
 
Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich: “I have now taken another significant step in the fight against the high cost of living and dramatically expanded the opening of the hard cheese market to imports.
Duty-free yellow cheese costs NIS 32 per kilogram today, compared to the same cheese from monopolies that costs three times as much. Do you know why they sell it at three times the price? Because they can. Do you know why they can? Because until today, they limited the amount of imports and forced all of us to pay dearly. Now that’s over. It can be cheaper here.”

Jerusalem, 19 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s Foreign Minister met with the visiting President of the Czech Senate Miloš Vystrčil and described his discussion with Vystrčil and Deputy Presidents of the Czech Senate who are also visiting as “good.”

Sa’ar said they agreed to “continue strengthening cooperation between our countries in various fields, including academia, medicine, and science and also agreed that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards “promote global terrorism and carry out the murder of their own people.”

“The IRGC is a terrorist organization,” declared Sa’ar, adding, “We’ll continue strengthening relations between our countries!”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Foreign Minister Gidon Sa’ar met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem with the President-elect of Honduras, Násseri “Tito” Asfura.

The designated Foreign Minister of Honduras, Mireya Agüero, also participated in the meeting.

The two agreed to strengthen bilateral relations between the countries.

Foreign Minister Sa’ar: “We are confident that your election will restore Honduras to be one of Israel‘s close allies and friends.”

Photo: Shlomi Amsalem, GPO

Jerusalem, 18 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) — prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today, Sunday, in his office in Jerusalem with the Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, paul atkins.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said the meeting discussed the possibility of promoting a mechanism of mutual recognition in securities registration, similar to the Multi-Jurisdictional Disclosure System (MJDS) model used in the US, which allows for regulatory mutual reliance between securities authorities. This move is expected to make it easier for Israeli companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to register for trading in the US as well, while reducing regulatory duplication, streamlining reporting procedures and increasing companies’ accessibility to international capital markets.

“This is significant news for the investing public, who will be able to trade securities traded on the US stock exchange easily and affordably, while gaining exposure to high-quality and valuable companies,” said the PMO. “The parties agreed that joint professional teams of securities authorities will meet to examine the feasibility of promoting the model and the regulatory adjustments required for its implementation between Israel and the US.”

“I’m excited to continue strengthening the partnership between Israel and the United States in supporting free and fair global financial markets,” Atkins recently stated about his visit to Israel.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, today, at the Prime Minister’s Office, met with honduran president-elect Nasry “Tito” Asfura.

Prime Minister Netanyahu:

“I’m delighted to welcome you, Mr. President. We’re refashioning the relationship between Israel and Honduras to the traditional lines of friendship, but we want to also seize the future. I welcome you in Jerusalem. It’s an ancient city, but it’s also a city that looks forward to innovation and to cooperation, with you and the people of Honduras. I look forward to working with your government, both in economic fields and agriculture and technology in any of the areas that I think are laid before us. You should know that as far as Israel is concerned, the sky is the limit.”

Honduran President-elect Nasry Asfura:

“Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. I am convinced that we will be able to implement everything you said and also lead toward the peace, brotherhood and future of our countries.”

Video credit: Roi Avraham (GPO).

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the management of the Ministry of Finance, and the Director of the Tax Authority visited Kiryat Shmona today (Thursday) and met at the City Hall with Mayor Avichai Stern and residents. 
During the visit, the Minister and the Ministry’s management received a comprehensive overview of the city’s and residents’ situation, visited areas that sustained indirect damage due to the war, and then proceeded to visit a technological center in the city.
During the meeting, the Minister announced a unique plan for the city that will be brought as part of the developing government decision.
The plan will include steps to boost businesses in Kiryat Shmona and encourage demographic absorption of new residents, alongside strengthening long-time residents, students, and reservists.

As part of the plan:
– A unique credit card will be distributed to residents and students, which will include a monthly grant ranging between NIS 1,000 and NIS 2,500 for use in Kiryat Shmona businesses only. 
– Reservists will be able to utilize their “Fighter” card with affordable subsidies for purchases in Kiryat Shmona.
– A dedicated administration for Kiryat Shmona will be established, the project for establishing a university in the location will be funded, and assistance will be provided to the municipality for ongoing needs, with the aim of improving services provided to residents, along with a series of programs and incentives to encourage demographic growth and significant relocation of residents to the city.
The visit and the decisions made emphasize the great importance the Ministry of Finance places on strengthening Kiryat Shmona and its residents, especially during this period against the backdrop of post-war challenges. 

Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich:
“Israel will be tested in Kiryat Shmona. The security situation here is incomparably better than it was before October 7th. The true victory is to see a flourishing region here. This is a national mission, and we are committed to it. God willing, we will bring good tidings to the residents, focusing on growth-encouraging steps, and within two years, we will see ten thousand new residents here.”

Director General of the Ministry of Finance, Ilan Rom:
“The Ministry of Finance is committed to closely accompanying Kiryat Shmona in the short and long term. The approved steps are intended to provide a real response to the needs that arose from the field, strengthen the local economy, and assist residents in dealing with the consequences of the war, while building a foundation for future growth.”

Mayor of Kiryat Shmona, Avichai Stern: “I am pleased about the working meeting, the tour, and the opportunity to present the true situation of Kiryat Shmona to the Finance Minister and government representatives. We emphasized the need for an immediate response alongside broad solutions that will strengthen the city, the residents, and the businesses. The road is still long, but we will do everything to ensure that Kiryat Shmona flourishes on the ground and not just on paper.”
 

The government today, Sunday (18/01), approved the proposal of the Minister of Environmental Protection, Idit Silman, to authorize the Lower Galilee Economic Company and the Rehovot Development Company to prepare a national infrastructure plan for waste treatment facilities. This is another significant step in a series of moves led by the Ministry of Environmental Protection in recent years to regulate the waste sector and establish new national infrastructure, after a long period in which the field suffered from a lack of orderly national planning, planning uncertainty, and a shortage of advanced infrastructure.

Idit Silman, Minister of Environmental Protection: “We are leading a revolution by establishing advanced end-of-life facilities for waste treatment – a move that creates growth engines for local and regional government and turns waste from a nuisance into a resource. This is an environmental and economic revolution that reduces landfilling, expands source separation, and promotes recycling and waste-to-energy as part of a transition to a circular economy. The government decision approved today adds an important layer to the series of moves we are promoting – it creates long-term planning infrastructure and certainty for the economy to establish essential facilities throughout the country, and allows the State of Israel to treat waste in an advanced, responsible, and healthier way for the public, the environment, and future generations.”

The decision is a central component of the waste revolution led by the Ministry of Environmental Protection in recent years. In the past year, this move has translated into a series of actions in regulation, planning, and infrastructure development. The goal of the move is to significantly reduce the volume of waste landfilling in Israel, expand source separation, increase recycling volumes, and promote a gradual transition to a circular economy in which waste becomes a resource instead of a nuisance.

According to the decision, the economic companies have been authorized to act as planning bodies for the purpose of formulating a national infrastructure plan for waste treatment facilities. This plan will examine the future needs of the waste sector in Israel, map priority areas, and propose an optimal distribution of end-of-life facilities – including recycling, sorting, and waste-to-energy facilities, balancing environmental, planning, economic, and social considerations.

The plan will be developed with the professional guidance of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and in cooperation with relevant government ministries, planning institutions, and local authorities. The plan will serve as a long-term planning infrastructure for the establishment of essential facilities for the waste sector, as part of the implementation of national policy to reduce landfilling and meet Israel‘s recycling targets.

The regulation of the waste sector is intended to create certainty after years of regulatory ambiguity. Under the Ministry’s leadership, significant regulatory steps were promoted in 2025, including the publication of memoranda for amendments to the Deposit Law and the Packaging Law, an amendment to the Cleanliness Preservation Law to ensure continuity of waste services, and the completion of an agreed text for the Construction Waste Law for its second and third readings – which is expected to be promoted in the coming year as a central component in reducing landfilling and regulating the sector.

Concurrently, the Ministry is promoting complementary steps on the infrastructure level, including the promotion, establishment, and expansion of advanced end-of-life facilities for waste treatment, sorting, and recycling, and waste-to-energy throughout the country. All of these are part of a development sequence of national infrastructure following the promotion and establishment of the first end-of-life facility for waste treatment. In this context, last week the Ministry convened for the first time the inter-ministerial team for the regulation of the waste sector, with the participation of representatives from central and local government, to deepen cooperation among all parties responsible for implementing the reform in the field.