Israel Coordinates Transfer of Lion Cubs from Gaza
Image by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images
Israel coordinated the transfer of a pair of lion cubs from Gaza to a wildlife sanctuary in Jordan.
The cubs, Max and Mona, were transferred to Israel from Gaza on Sunday through the Erez crossing and then taken to a sanctuary near Amman, where they arrived on Sunday evening.
They first arrived at Erez on Friday after the Israeli side of the crossing had closed, and without any prior coordination. Hours later they were allowed back into Gaza and stayed until Sunday morning in a Gaza hotel.
The cubs had been purchased when they were a month old last summer from a zoo in the border town of Rafah, that was seriously damaged during the Israel-Gaza war and was concerned it would not be able to feed them as they grew, the Associated Press reported. They were raised as family pets at a private home in Rafah.
The British charity Four Paws International convinced the al-Jamal family to give up the animals and arranged for their new home.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
