Israel

==Events==
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*July 2020: Solar cooking resource - Daniel Feuermann has created an online resource for Israeli citizens to be able to learn about solar cooking and affordably purchase solar cookers. See: Sun & Cook
*January 2019: UNDP solar cooker program offered in Gaza - As part of the efforts made by UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People to mitigate the harsh socio-economic conditions in the Gaza Strip, 47 vulnerable families received solar cooking ovens to improve their livelihoods. Families were selected based on their vulnerability status, family size, persons with disability within the family and the viability of their house to absorb energy. Read more...
*July 2017: In Gaza, 160 families are using sunlight for cooking, reducing their dependency on fuel and electricity
*January 2017: Israel experiments with off-grid Kibbutz - Israel’s off-grid demonstration village at the Ketura Kibbutz in the Negev Desert, north of the Red Sea, is an attempt to show what is possible with renewable energy sources. Demonstration homes are to include evacuated tube solar cookers. Read more... - Decentralized Energy
==Research==
The National Physical Laboratory of Israel (NPLI) in 1996 experimented with the building of a solar
concentrating type cooker. The design and materials used created an efficient cooker.
The promoting group was initially operating on the assumption that any solar cooker
should lend itself to construction in local villages, largely around cost issues - that is, the intent was to serve the poor of the nation. That goal put considerable constraint on the venture, leading Harry Tabor, author of an article in the proceedings of the Varese Conference (1999), to suggest that while the appliance could be made or assembled locally, the critical elements could only be made in central shops (or even overseas). The NPLI research was limited to parabolic cookers, but the article argues that the principle pertains to box cookers as well. As example, glass cut to appropriate size(s), reliable and weather resistant hinges, bright aluminum in sheets, etc. could be prepared in regional workshops, while the insulation materials, wood, paint could be purchased locally.
Several companies and universities are continuing research on improving the solar oven, notably among them are the famed Weizmann Institute and Schatz Laboratories for Solar Energy Development.
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Israel has a history of developing solar heating, with a law requiring solar heat collectors for hot water on every building. In fact, more than 83% of houses have solar water heating installed on the roofs. Luz, one of the largest solar heating companies in the world in the late 80's until 1999, and today two of the largest solar heating energy companies in the world are both located near the city of Beit Shemesh (meaning in Hebrew: The House of the Sun): Sollel and Luz II. Also, a large portion of the Weitzman institute consists of one of the largest solar collector tower and basin in the world.
solar cooking has continued to be prevalent, and in almost all Hebrew and English forums that deal with sustainable systems, there have been requests and sharing of information, with new blogs and websites dedicated to the subject. Climatic circumstances for solar cooking are close to ideal, and various initiatives including government sponsored advertising call for Israeli citizens to use solar ovens, and NGOs have been advancing the technology. Rachel Andres, recipient of the Bronfman Prize, and originator of the solar cooking initiative in Darfur, was closely followed by Israeli media, with a project involving many Jewish communities worldwide. The images in the Israeli media, as well as the article content, left the impression that this was an Israeli project...
It seems that the invention of using a car sunscreen as a solar cooker was originally posted on the Internet on an Israel Hebrew solar cooking website, and it is possible that the writers were actually the inventors of this idea. (It should be noted that it may be that that website was translated and not the original source. No names are listed on the site.)
Public festivals on national holidays typically have included public solar cooking as a standard activity. Also, summer camp solar cooking activities are prevalent. News about these events and activities frequently reached the media. 
Solar cooking was mentioned in the Jewish holy scripts of the Mishna (compiled approx. 200 BC to 100 AD) written in Hebrew. The texts refer to the Mishnaic and Talmudic discussions on whether solar cooking was allowed on the Sabbath day (Saturday), when cooking or creating a fire is not permitted, stating that cooking done by the sun would be permitted on the Sabbath.
They state that solar cooking is the "produce of the Sun, not produce of man-made fire".
In orthodox Jewish "Rabbinic" writings on Jewish rituals, this topic is discussed at length, especially due to the mandatory solar water heaters on every roof in Israel. Several orthodox Ashkenazi Jews have often used the sun as a solution for warming lunch at noon, which otherwise would be prohibited according to their customs. This applies only to dry foods, and only if the heat is received directly from the sun rays, and not by passing the heat and warmth via any other material (such as warm sand).
A Canadian visitor to Israel, Randy Shulman, lived in a southern remote kibbutz for some
months, where she attempted to introduce solar cooking to her hosts. 
The turning point for the spread of knowledge about solar cooking in Israel may have been the widespread advertising in all newspapers about a family in Netanya, who learned solar cooking from Swiss friends around the year 2003. 
It is now quite common to see solar cooking at many settings in Israel. 
Several joint initiatives have taken place in Israel, for learning about and practicing solar cooking. Especially notable, was the northern Israeli religious Jewish Kaditha village solar cooking outing held for Arab teachers from Galilee and Palestinian teachers from the Palestinian National Authority. The goal being, to successfully take their new solar cooking skills back to their own communities.
An initiative to bring solar cooking to Bedouins (nomad Arab tribes in southern Israel), was started by Devora Brous, Founder of Bustan NGO, angry at Israeli government attitude and actions towards the Bedouins. These Bedouin tribes have been in a dispute with the Israeli government regarding Jewish establishment on land ownership in the Negev desert area. Bustan a grass-roots NGO is still working with the Bedouin people and solar cooking is used as an alternative to the traditional small fire cooking. Solar cooking is also a solution for villages not connected to the electrical grid.
Israelis have also participated in teaching Palestinians in the Palestinian Authority about solar ovens, and solar cooking activity. This is usually part of Anti-Israeli establishment activities.
In Bet Shemesh (Literally: Home of the Sun) the local Sustainability Center holds regular workshops showing various types of solar cookers and holds workshops teaching baking and cooking with solar cookers.
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In the south and eastern desert areas, including cities such as Eilat and villages such as Ein Gedi, temperatures typically reach in the summer days. Solar cooking can be done in these regions on any dark (or sometimes even white) metal or sand. Soldiers and bedouin nomads are known to fry eggs or warm up cans of food directly in the sand, and residents of the cities in these locations, especially in the Arava area, may cook a meal, simply by placing it in the sun, without any solar oven.
In all of Israel, cloudy days account for only 40% of the year at most. In recent years there has been a haze caused mainly by dust from construction covering many of the buildings, and by pollution primarily from transportation. Even so, conditions in Israel are ideal for solar cooking most of the year.
See also
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*Solar cooker dissemination and cultural variables
==Resources==
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====English reports====
*January 2018: - Hezi Yizhaq & Daniel Feuermann
*January 2017:  - Hezi Yizhaq and Daniel Feuermann
* Angry founder of Bustan, at Israeli government attitude and actions towards the Bedouins, she founded this grass-roots organization
* Jewish worldwide support for Darfur Solar Oven project: Synagogues, temples (synagogues of the Jewish-Reform movement) and other Jewish organizations in the US, and world-wide supporting the project.
* Boy invents solar oven at camp
====Hebrew reports====
* 
* Israeli government Ministry of Ecology calls for Israeli citizens to use solar ovens, and to teach about them at schools. Also included is information about the Weizman institute solar heating project, which reached 10,000 times the radiance of the sun at ground level.
===Articles in the media===
====English media====
* November 2008: Solar Cooking Ovens: Another Eco-Solution from the Gaza Strip - Green Prophet
* Rachel Andres, Israeli woman who had solar oven intiative for Darfur women
* Solar cooking lecture at Kibbutz Lotan among other news from solar cooking world.
====Hebrew media====
* Using a car window cover as a solar oven panel Great invention!
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*September 2024:
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*July 2023: Using a black or shiny stainless steel cooking pot
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===External links===
* Frequently-Asked Questions "Hebrew"
===NGOs based in or working in the ===
* City Tree NGO making the city greener
* Porter School of Environmental Studies
* Environmental Open Schools
* Weizmann Institute
* Children and Education NGO site
* Haredim Laseviva (Lit: Worried about Environment, play on word Haredi which means worried) Ultra orthodox Jewish eco NGO
* Shomera - An environmental Jewish ethics field school
* Adam Teva Vadin (Man Nature and Law) the prevailing Israeli environmental NGO
====Hebrew pages====
* Snunit Childrens Education NGO - article on solar ovens
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