The book is designated for those how are interested in geology and are eager to understand the meaning of landscapes and views, especially in desert areas where rock formations are well exposed, such as the Negev. The Negev lays at the south of Israel and is part of the sub tropical deserts strip. The Northern Negev is characterized by a series of elongated mountain chains, trending north-east. This mountain chains are asymmetric anticlines and are part of the Syrian Arc- a long geological structure that extends from the western Sinai Peninsula at the south, to the Syrian Palmira Mountains at the north. Five east- west long shear zones cross the central part of the Negev. A series of typical strike-slip related structures evolved along those dextral faults, such as domes, half domes, and pull- aparts . The Dead Sea Transform Fault bounds the Negev at the east; The international border with Egypt is the western border; The Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba golf) delineates the Negev at the south, and the Be'er Sheva Vvalley lays at its northern border. The Igneous rocks of the Precambrian Arabo - Nubian shield build the basement of the stratigraphic column. The Arabo -Nubian shield is composed of three rock complexes: The complex of the archaic metamorphic rocks, the magmatic complex, and the volcanic conglomeratic complex. A relatively thin, up to 1,200 m sedimentary rock sequence covers the basement at the south of the Negev, near Eilat. The sedimentary formations consistently become thicker and reach up to 5,000 m in the northern part of the Negev- about 200 km from Eilat. Among the unique geological phenomena of the Negev, one can count the Dead Sea Rift Valley, the three huge erosion- circuses ("Machteshim"), and the transversal creeks, which cross the anticlines from one side to the other. The book describes systematically each of the rock formations, their composition, and the environmental conditions at the time, as well as explains the natural processes that led to the formation of the landscape that we see today.

This book presents the foreign plants which originate in other countries and have become invaders in Israel.

Four-hundred-thirteen Plant species are endangered in Israel, including 36 species that have been extinct since the 1960s. Many of these plants are very rare, some are endemic to Israel, and others have been declining due to habitat destruction. The Red Data Book presents all the information about these endangered species, including a detailed description, global and local distribution, biogeographical and systematic aspects, present conservation status, and recommedations for management. A distribution map and a photograph of the plant accompany the text. Each "red plant" is charecterized by the "Red Number", determined by six quantative criteria based on extensive field surveys: rarity, vulnerability, endemism, attractiveness, peripherality, and disjunctiveness. The Red Number grades the extinction risk of each plant, where 0 denotes no risk and 10 the highest. The data and the information included in the two volumes provide a scientific basis for determining management policy and setting priorities for conservation.

This book includes a list of 257 types of plants defined as worth protecting.

Despite its small size, only 22,000 km, Israel displays an impressive ecological diversity. This stems from its unique bio-geographic location; a bridge between the desert belt (Sahara-Arabia) and the Mediterranean region, with corridors to the dry topics via the rift valley and to the heights of central Asia through the northern mountain chain. The region has experienced a series of drastic climate changes in the last 20,000 years that have introduced, and eliminated, species from all these regions. Israel is also one of the major bird migration route between Europe and Africa. Topography varies sharply, from the mountain tops in the north (~ 2000 m) to the Dead Sea (~ -400 m). The precipitation gradient ranges from 900 mm in the upper northern region to about 10 mm at Eilat in the far south. Within this limited area, rock-soil diversity is also high, contributing to the richness of habitats and niches. However, nature conservation in modern Israel is not an easy task. High population density along with a high habitat fragmentation rate, intensive agriculture, allocation of most natural water sources for human use and designation of extensive sections of open space for army training, pose serious threats to the local fauna and flora. This Red Book of the endangered vertebrates of Israel is an important tool in the endless task of preserving the unique faunal diversity of the country. The authors are experts on the systematic group they cover and rely on field data gathered in the last 50 years. The book was prepared according to IUCN instructions. We hope that it will help to improve conservation of the biological assets of Israel.