These stamps will be issued February 6. From Israel Post:

Yotvata Hai-Bar – 50 Years
[A larger version of the minisheet is at the bottom of this page]

A public association called Hai-Bar was founded in the 1960’s under the patronage of the Nature Parks Authority and managed by Avraham Yaffe and Uri Tson. The association’s objective was to restore wildlife species which had become extinct in Israel and repopulate endangered species. In the early 1970’s, an area of approximately 12,000 dunams (2965 acres) was fenced in within the Yotvata Nature Reserve, which preserves one of the salt flats in the Southern Arava. Large herbivores which had become extinct in Israel were brought in, as well as a number of species that did not exist in Israel but were endangered in the world, such as the wild ass, the white antelope, the Sahara oryx, the Arabian oryx , the African wild ass and the ostrich. It is a diverse habitat, rich in species and large acacia trees which grow in the western part of the reserve.

In the beginning of the 21st century a few thousand additional dunams were fenced in to the west of highway 90 in order to protect the world’s last population of Acacia Gazelle, which is endangered worldwide. This species is monitored carefully to preserve its existence.

Some of the wildlife species in Yotvata Hai-Bar are not being repopulated in Israel but are raised as part of an international preservation effort to prevent their extinction. The Hai-Bar also serves as an emergency veterinary facility as well as a rehabilitation and way station for animals injured in the wild, with the intention of releasing them back into nature once they’ve healed.

Some of the Hai-Bar’s most prominent species:

The Arabian Oryx (Oryx leucoryx)
The Arabian oryx is suited to extreme desert conditions. It can survive for many days without water, making do with only the liquids derived from its food. It lives in small herds with a hierarchy for males and for females. The size of the herd varies depending on the food supply. Acacia seed pods are the Arabian oryx’s main source of food and passage through the oryx’s digestive system improves the seeds’ germination success. In the late 1970’s a breeding core with four pairs of oryx was established at the Hai-Bar, and today there are more than 100 of these animals in the reserve. An estimated 100 others live in the wild in the Arava and in the Negev mountain area.

Wild Ass (Equus hemionus)
The Wild Ass lives in herds of females that move between the territories of the dominant males, while the young males live in bachelor herds. It feeds on desert vegetation but does need water. The number of male territories is determined by the available water sources. The Asian wild ass, a sub-species of the Middle-eastern wild ass is extinct, thus the breeding core established in Yotvata Hai-Bar in the 1960’s was based on a population made up of two other sub-species: the Persian wild ass and the Turkmenian wild ass. The re-introduction program began in 1982 in the Machtesh Ramon area and is considered to be a success. Today there are some 300 of these animals living in the wild.

Acacia Gazelle (G. gazella acacia)
The Acacia Gazelle was discovered in the Arava in the 1960’s by zoologist Giora Ilani. This is the rarest gazelle species in Israel and the population is only about 20 animals, which currently live in a fenced area of the Yotvata Reserve. Most of its food comes from the acacia trees, mainly the foliage and the fruit, which it can reach by standing on its hind legs. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority makes great efforts to preserve and nurture the Acacia Gazelle population in the hope that in the future it will grow and be able to return to the wild.

—Tal Polak, PhD
Ecologist, Arava region
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority

This stamp will be issued February 6. From Israel Post:

Israel Television — 50 Years

The Six Day War not only added territory to the State of Israel, but also hundreds of thousands of Arab residents who had been exposed until then to television broadcasts from neighboring Arab countries. That was one of the motivations behind the Israeli government’s decision, after many years of indecision surrounding the establishment of a national public television station that would also broadcast in Arabic to the residents of the territories. The objective was to counter the propaganda which was being broadcasted from across the border.

The process was carried out quickly because the IDF parade in Jerusalem on May 1968, Israel’s 20th Independence Day, was selected to be the first broadcast. It was a race against the clock to recruit professional manpower and equipment, for broadcasting and recording that had not existed until then in Israel. That was a one-time broadcast, and regular broadcasting did not commence until three months later, in August 1968. Initially, broadcasts were provided three times a week, centered on the Mabat La’Hadashot news broadcast — the only program that was broadcasted continuously until the Israel Broadcasting Authority closed down.

For the first 25 years, Israel Television, which was also called the “General Television” and eventually “Channel One”, was the only channel and had viewer ratings that seem impossible today: the most popular shows were watched by 70%-90% of the viewers. The central news broadcast Mabat La’Hadashot was an element of social cohesiveness in those years, oftentimes determining the political, economic, social and cultural agenda.

Other shows that were cornerstones of the channel were: Kolbotek — a consumer magazine that uncovered bureaucratic and consumer wrongs and also had very high viewer rating; Amud Ha’Esh — a program that showed the history of Zionism from its inception to the establishment of the State of Israel and aroused large-scale response and public debate; Nikui Rosh — a satirical program that took on the government every week anew.

The national channel was required to reflect all aspects of the population in its broadcasts in the realms of news, sports, religion, children, documentaries, entertainment and drama. The television archive houses hundreds of thousands of articles, films, series, programs and broadcasts documenting the life of the State of Israel over the past 50 years. During those years, some Channel One employees were awarded the Israel Prize.

With the establishment of cable, satellite and commercial networks, came the first competition for the heart of the viewer and most viewers abandoned Channel One, until it was eventually shut down in May 2017 following the closure of the Israel Broadcast Authority by virtue of a law passed by the Knesset.

—Benny Ohry,
director, reporter, editor and producer,
Channel One

from Israel Post; click on the issue names for more details and larger pictures:

Israeli folk music, animals, trains and history are just a few of the popular topics that are included in the first stamp issues of 2018. Two bands which represent the Israel folk music are: “Ha’ Chizbatron” which was the Palmach and the IDF’s music and entertainment band at the beginning of its establishment, and it existed from January 1948 to 1950. It is considered the first military band established in Israel.”

The band consisted of a group of young actors and singers accompanied by an accordionist.

The Gevatron Chorus, the second band, was founded in 1948 by a group of young people from Kibbutz Geva in the Jezreel Valley to perform at the dedication ceremony for a new basketball court.

The Gevatron has a rich repertoire, comprised of songs written especially for the troupe as well as its own versions of familiar Israeli songs.

The Yotvata Hai- Bar was founded in the 1960’s under the patronage of the nature parks authority, the association’s objective was to restore wildlife species which had become extinct in Israel and repopulate endangered species.

When World War I broke out in August 1914, the Ottoman Empire formed an alliance with the Central powers (Germany and Austria) against the Allies (Brittan, France and Russia).

The Great War, as it was known at the time, went on for more than four years and fundamentally changed world history in general and the situation in Eretz Israel in particular.

Israel Television – 50 Years, the objective of the establishment of a national public television station which also broadcast in Arabic to the residents of the territories was to counter the propaganda which was broadcasted across the border.

[These stamps will be issued February 6th. —VSC]

This year we decided to issue beautiful new series of Trains ATM labels, on January and February we issued two sets: Trains in Israel and the Valley Railway, trains as we know is a very popular theme among collectors all over the world.