Israel Active

Judges from 71 countries came to Tel Aviv for the 64th conference of the International Association of Judges. It gave the Israeli representatives the opportunity to emphasize that the State of Israel is a unique beacon of democracy in the Middle East.

A delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) NGO came to Israel on a business mission, hosted by Tel Aviv University (TAU). The CII represents over 300,000 Indian enterprises. TAU will also host the 15th India-Israel Forum in December.

For the first time in history, Inspector General of the Moroccan Armed Forces, Lt.-Gen. Belkhir El Farouk arrived in Israel, to participate in the IDF’s International Operational Innovation Conference. He joined the commanders of some 25 armies around the world.

Recent visitors to Israel included officials from Indonesia and Pakistan – two countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel. The arrival of a top official from Indonesia was being kept relatively secret. Annual bi-lateral trade with Indonesia totals some $500 million.

The Swiss Air Force is to counter threats using its new fleet of Hermes Starliner unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) manufactured by Israel’s Elbit Systems. The systems will be mainly used for intelligence gathering, including dealing with illegal infiltrations into the country.

Lt. Col Michal Frenkel is the Head of Innovation at the IDF’s Innovation & Combat Methods Division. Her background is in anthropology, organizational sociology, and behavioral sciences. After her mandatory service, she worked at tech giant Intel Corp, before rejoining the IDF.

Arab Israeli Tareq Nassar and Jewish Israeli Liel Maghen have founded the Sinsila Center for Urban Sustainability. It has empowered 115 Arab women to each maintain two beehives on Eastern Jerusalem roofs. An additional 200 Arab women have joined the program for 2023.

Jaffa was the venue for the largest ever Arab Israeli scout march. The Israel Arab Scouts Association was founded in 1956 and is based on values of community service and volunteering. It also promotes coexistence and integration into Israeli society.

Over a dozen Bedouin Muslim Arab teens competed a 5-week training camp, dubbed “Digital Tent,” designed to integrate members of the community into Israel’s high-tech sector. The camp was established thanks to MIT, Ben-Gurion University, and the non-profit Siraj.

Last year, Israel rose from 8th place to 4th in SurfShark’s annual Digital Quality of Life Index. This year, Israel is top of the 117 countries, mainly due to its fast, affordable mobile Internet. As an Israeli, I can confirm that my digital quality of life has certainly improved this past year!