Where Behavior and Brain Intersect

Israeli Birdwatching
Celebrated by the
Knesset
The Knesset recently marked 30
years of birdwatching in Israel at a
ceremony organized by the Society
for the Protection of Nature in Israel in
partnership with TAU and sponsored
by Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin.
The event was initiated by Dr. Yossi
Polish WWII
Hero Honored
by TAU
A sculpture of Jan
Karski, the revered Polish
resistance fighter
and a Righteous Gentile
recognized by the State
of Israel, was unveiled
at TAU, together with a
bench commemorating
his name. An eyewitness
to the horrors of the Holocaust,
Karski was the
first man to report them to the West and its leaders, as early as 1943.
Said Poland’s ambassador to Israel, Agnieszka Magdziak-Miszweska (back,
seated): “This is only the third monument to Karski erected outside of Poland.
It serves to strengthen the ties between Israel and Poland.”
The ceremony was attended by Polish Parliament Speaker Bronislaw
Komorowski, now acting President of Poland (back row, third from right) ; TAU
Rector Dany Leviatan (back row, second from right); the late TAU Vice President
Yehiel Ben-Zvi (back row, right); and young Polish students studying at TAU.
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Leshem of the Department of Zoology
at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life
Sciences, who heads the TAU-affiliated
International Center for the Study
of Bird Migration at Latrun.
The event focused on the use of
poisons in agriculture and the subsequent
damage to the environment. Dr.
Leshem noted that there are over 120
reported cases of wildlife poisonings
each year.
Dr. Leshem also spoke about a
project he initiated that uses barn
owls and kestrels as biological pest
controllers – natural predators of
rodents. A pair of barn owls feeds
on 2,000 to 5,000 rodents per year.
So far, 1,800 nesting boxes have
been erected in agriculture fields. “In
this way, we successfully reduce the
use of pesticides for the benefit of
the environment, human beings and
wildlife,” he said.
Academic Business
Club hosts Defense
Minister Barak
Minister of Defense Ehud Barak
(pictured) joined TAU President
Joseph Klafter, President of the Israeli
Friends Amos Shapira and former
TAU President Itamar Rabinovich at
this year’s opening session of the
Academic Business
Club of the Israeli
Friends of TAU.
Barak took part in an
open dialogue with
his hosts on Israel’s
security agenda.
President of Panama
Honored
TAU President Joseph Klafter
(right) is pictured here presenting the
TAU President’s Award to President
of Panama Ricardo Martinelli during
a recent visit to TAU. Mr. Martinelli
was recognized for his loyal support
of Israel and his warm relationship
with the Jewish community in
Panama. During the visit he met with
senior university officials and heard
presentations on nanotechnology and
security research.