Israel Notes

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In Israel there are very few police. The police cars do not have sirens, and their roof lights are always on. You can see them coming from a mile away. Without cops, people drive however they want. It is a freeing feeling...but there are accidents and a lot of bad driving.

There are armed soldiers all over the place, and there are armed security guards for some tour groups. The soldiers carry M-4s or Tavors, some with grenade launcher attachments. The private security personnel dress as civilians and carry M1s or pistols. If I was Israeli, I would have worked in private security after my mandatory armed forces stint.

At no time in Israel did I ever feel remotely unsafe. It is fair to say that from a crime perspective, Oakland is far more dangerous than the entire country of Israel. In fact, Oakland is an insane nightmare in comparison.

I am told that every house in Israel has a bomb shelter. The private homes I stayed in were more secure than stateside homes, with 3-bolt locks on the front doors and steel window shutters on all windows and sliding glass doors.

Above, high quality windows with outer steel shutters, a pull-down screen, and locking inner steel-framed window. Many windows have steel security shutters that are electrically raised and lowered.

Israeli plumbing: Cheap and innovative. Typical plastic, bendable S-bend and pipe. Why don't we do that in the US? It's effective and no plumber is needed to unclog the S-bend.

Above and below, mandatory solar water heaters on the roofs of houses. Very simple setups with small water tanks and small black solar heating units, no electricity required, no expensive photovoltaics needed.

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