Jerusalem, Israel - Nov. 7, 2019 - The Israeli Hula Valley attracts millions of migrating birds and hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. A new, eco-friendly and hi-tech visitor center was launched on Wednesday afternoon. After ten years of planning and construction, the visitor center is now active, offering guests various attractions - including state-of-the-art VR stations simulating a flight from the eyes of a migrating bird, a 194 sq. ft digital, gesture-controlled wall that projects a live feed of surrounding migrating birds, a 3D digital model of the Hula Valley, dynamically updated with terrain data, a 220 seat auditorium fitted with a 4K projector that will remain open to the public.
On Tuesday night, November 5, 2019, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara Netanyahu, attended at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Jerusalem, Israel, a gala event for the dedication of the new Hula visitor center named to honor former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen J. Harper, at KKL-JNF Hula Lake Park. The Prime Minister and KKL-JNF Chairman Daniel Atar awarded a citation to Harper for his contribution to KKL-JNF and the State of Israel.
In beginning his remarks Prime Minister Netanyahu said "Sara is having her birthday today, and you can see our friendship when we celebrate it here with these wonderful friends.
Israel has had the great fortune of having new friends from everywhere in the world. We have a great challenge from Iran and the radical Muslims, but we have new friends in the Arab world. We have new friends in Africa, in Asia, in Latin America. I believe that the best friendship is the one that is not only based on common interests, and there are definitely many of those. I believe that the best friendship is the one that is based on an alliance of values. This is what we have with Canada, and this is what we have with tonight’s guest. We have it in abundance. Stephen, you have stood up for those values time and again. You’re still doing that today. And we welcome you once again to Jerusalem. Welcome, friend."
As in recent public appearances, the Prime Minister included, "Iran expands its aggression. It seeks to envelop Israel. It seeks to threaten Israel. It seeks to destroy Israel. We fight back. And I also want to say, given Iran’s efforts to expand its nuclear weapons program, expand its enrichment of uranium for making atomic bombs, I repeat here once again: We will never let Iran develop nuclear weapons. This is not only for our security and our future; it’s for the future of the Middle East and the world."
KKL-JNF World Chairman Daniel Atar said: "The opening of this visitor center, like many other projects which we will be launching soon, fit in well with KKL-JNF's vision, as we enter our 120th year. My friend Stephen, you, just like our birds, have bridged the distance and temperature gaps, and we are forever grateful for that."
Included a portion of Stephen Harper's response to receiving the honor:
Lovely floral displays and virtual birds decorated the ballroom. A delegation from Canada, especially from Toronto, also visited Morocco on the KKL-JNF mission which came for the dedication.
Included in the photo essay of Israelis and Canadians at the gala, are Israeli actor Ayelet Zurer, who served as moderator of the evening, Canadian Ambassador to Israel Deborah A Lyons, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar, and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.
