Israel Active

Wagde Zabit describes growing up in the Israeli Muslim Galilee town of Kafr Mand. As a five-year-old he received a present of his first computer. Much later he graduated from Israel’s Technion to co-found Israeli cybersecurity startup Orca Security, now worth over $1 billion.

Israeli airline Israir will launch direct flights between Israel and Morocco's Marrakesh on July 19. Israir expects that the route will attract hundreds of thousands of Israelis and are scheduling five services a week.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has opened its new embassy in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange building. Israel opened its own embassy in Abu Dhabi in January (see previously).

Israel has come top of the Global Pandemic Resilience Index, published by global consumer advocacy group Consumer Choice Center. 40 countries were compared as to vaccination approval, vaccination drive, time lags that put breaks on giving vaccines, critical care bed capacity and mass testing.

Israeli-Jews, Israeli-Arabs and Palestinian Arabs have been attending a two-week tech seminar organized by Tech2Peace at Moshav Hatseva, in the Arava desert. The aim is to promote peace and personal relations through tech – e.g. 3D design, app development and web building.

60 Israeli Arabs, Palestinian Arabs and UAE Arabs presented their startup ideas at a JVP “tech-pitch” event in Jerusalem. They included an eco-friendly hotel run by Jews and Arabs, music training for young Arabs and Jews, and an app to learn Hebrew and Arabic. (See for previous hackathon).

Arab and Jewish medical staff at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer and at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, joined together in solidarity events last week. Rambam used social media to showcase Jews and Arabs working together, displaying messages of peace in Hebrew and in Arabic.

Arab mobs wrecked the Arabesque Hotel, owned by Evan Fallenberg, and the Effendi Hotel and Uri Buri restaurant, owned by Uri Jeremias, in the Israeli city of Acre. But most of the Arab community was appalled by the events and has rallied round to help repair the damage.

Israel’s Ramat Gan Safari saved a black macaque injured when shrapnel from a Hamas rocket lodged in its spine. It is also treating animals wounded by the missiles that were brought in by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. And watch the elephants when they hear the rocket sirens.

Many Israeli organizations aim to help promote opportunities for women to join the Israeli hi-tech industry (see previously). Now Jerusalem-based Fem JLM has launched a program – FemForward, offering lectures, mentors and networking to help women in tech progress into management.