Cinema ticket sales up 30% in Rehovot

Cinema ticket sales up 30%

Gali Berger, Calcalist Published: 04.08.09, 14:00 / Israel Money, Ynet

Data relate to months of January, February compared to same period last year. 'When there are economic problems and pressure mounts, people look for ways to emerge from this circle. A couple can spend an entire evening for NIS 100,' says owner of Cinema City compound

In recent years, the prevailing trend in Israeli shopping malls is to evacuate the cinemas in favor of fashion stores. But the recession, it seems, is causing more and more people to visit the cinemas, which provide a cheap way to pass one's time and escape from reality.

"January and February saw a 30% rise in the sales of cinema tickets in Cinema City and in the Park and Raanan cinemas in Raanana," said Yaakov Cohen, co-chairman of the New Lineo Cinemas company, which owns the Cinema City compound.

"There are two reasons for this. The first is that many good films arrived, and the second is that when there are psychological and economic problems and the pressure mounts, people are looking for ways to emerge from this circle. A couple can spend an entire evening for NIS 100 (about $24.3).

The fact that recent years saw an investment in improved cinema compounds which strengthen the viewing experience also contributed to the rise. Some 240,000 tickets have been sold in the past two months in the Cinemall shopping center, which includes 23 modern cinemas.

"This figure cannot be compared to last year, as the cinemas have yet to open, but the sales are beyond expectations," said CEO Benny Halif.

Moshe Rosenblum, chairman of the Israel Mall Association, said that Petah Tikva's Avnat Mall and the Rehovot Mall have seen a 38% rise in cinema ticket sales.

Ramat Gan's Ayalon Mall, where the Theater Israel company operates the Yes Planet cinema, reported of a 47% rise in January and a 29% rise in February. Ofer Shechter, CEO of the Promall management company reported of a 25% rise in January and February in the sales of the 12 cinemas in the Yachin Center compound in Netanya.

The highest rise was recorded by Herzliya Shivat Hakochavim mall. "The shutdown of the cinemas at the Arena Mall, and the fact that people have had enough of Cinema City, brings many people back to the neighborhood cinemas," explained CEO Ziv Shchori.

Two drivers held in hit-and-run crashes near Rehovot

Two drivers, one of whom was driving without a license, were arrested yesterday on suspicion of involvement in two separate hit-and-run accidents.

One of the suspects is a 19-year-old Ramle resident who pulled over near the spot in Rehovot where he is accused of having hit and killed a 50-year-old man.

Police found him crying in a construction site on the side of the road.

He said the victim had run into the road and he was unable to brake in time, adding that he fled the scene of the accident because he had panicked.

Police are checking whether the victim, whose identity is unknown, was homeless. He apparently did not cross the street at a crosswalk.

The second driver, a 27-year-old man from Kiryat Bialik who does not have a driver's license, was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run accident at a major intersection that killed a 49-year-old woman from Kiryat Motzkin on Saturday.

The Haifa Magistrate's Court extended his remand by five days yesterday.

The woman, Emma Ladvitz, was jaywalking when she was hit by a car.

The car took off immediately after impact, witnesses said.

They told police the vehicle was a Mercedes.

The suspect, who said he needs friends to drive him around because he has an eye problem, said the car was his, but that he was not driving it at the time of the accident.

He told police he did not know who was driving at the time.

Yuval Goren and Fadi Eyadat. Two drivers held in hit-and-run crashes. Haartez.com (19 April 2009)

3 men escape with contents of safe in Rehovot robbery

Three men made away with the contents of a safe after robbing a Rehovot couple on Friday.

The robbers entered a home in the city, tied up the husband and demanded the code for the safe before stealing the valuables inside.

The wife was hospitalized at the city's Kaplan Medical Center with light-to-moderate wounds.

Source: jpost.com

A Rehovot resident arrested on suspicions of neglecting his blind brother

A Rehovot resident was arrested yesterday on suspicions of neglecting his blind, handicapped brother, police said. Police were called after passersby heard calls for help from a storeroom, where they found a blind, incapacitated 60-year-old man with a catheter lying on the floor. "He was in very bad condition, couldn't communicate with us at all," a police officer said. "There was nothing there but a bottle of water." One of the man's brothers was arrested. He told interrogators he took his brother to the shed "to get some air" several days ago.

Yuval Goren. haaretz.com News in Brief (16 April 2009)

Yad2 used to sell stollen goods

A resident of Mazkeret Batya discovered that his bicycle, stolen a week earlier, was being offered for sale on the internet at a quarter its original price.

Last Tuesday the man discovered that two bicycles had been stolen from his home - one of which carried a price tag of NIS 12,000.

Two day later, one of his friends told him that Yad2, an internet site specializing in second-hand items from private sellers, had his bicycle on sale for only NIS 3,500

The man called the Rehovot police and with their help he contacted the person selling the bicycle, arranging a place to meet in central Rehovot.

At the exchange, the man gave the "seller" the money, at which time the police appeared and made an arrest.

The suspect, a 17-year old from Rehovot, was taken for questioning, and claimed he had bought the bicycle a year earlier, which was refuted.

Yad2 is one of the most popular in Israel for buying and selling used items. However, police suspect that some of the items on it are stolen, and are offered by thieves at low prices.

Yuval Goren. Thief nabbed selling stolen bike on Web. Haaretz.com (14 April 2009)

Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court judge told Shuki Forer to free Mayor Office

By illegally hiring a contractor for a public works project, the mayor of Rehovot committed crimes of moral turpitude and must resign, a Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court judge ruled yesterday. Yehoshua "Shuky" Forer was convicted in January of breach of trust, for awarding a contract without a tender in exchange for campaign donations from the contractor. The conviction was reached in a plea bargain. Forer had maintained that he could remain in office, but as a result of yesterday's ruling he was formally replaced as mayor by his deputy. Forer's lawyer said he will appeal the ruling.

Tomer Zarchin. News in Brief. haartez.com (2 April 2009)

Hareidi Mayor Takes Over in Rehovot

by Hillel Fendel, IsraelNN.com

Yet another city in Israel has a hareidi-religious mayor, following a court decision to force Rehovot Mayor Shuki Forer to step down from office and make way for his successor.

The successor will be Deputy Mayor Rachamim Maloul, a Knesset Member from 1999-2003 on behalf of the Sephardic-hareidi Shas party. Maloul, a longtime resident and city council member of Rehovot, served on the municipal council on behalf of the Likud.

Maloul has also served in the past as the appointed mayor of the Bedouin town of Kseifeh, between Be’er Sheva and Arad in the northern Negev.

His tenure as Mayor will be a brief one, until municipal elections can be held, but the Interior Minister is authorized to extend his term in office for up to a year and a half. It is expected that because elections were held just five months ago, incoming Interior Minister Eli Yishai, head of the Shas Party, will authorize the extension in the coming days – even though Maloul has left Shas.

Mayor Forer was convicted in the past of breach of trust, and a Petach Tikvah Magistrates Court ruled that such a crime is accompanied by disrepute and ignominy, preventing Forer from serving in capacities such as mayor for the coming years.