Israel Active

50:50 Startups is an initiative that creates startup partnerships between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs. After two years of preparation, its first group has brought together budding entrepreneurs at Azrieli College of Engineering to build joint platforms of equal ownership.

Israeli Arab Yasmeen from Nof Hagalil and Israeli Jew Natalie from Netanya work together as paramedics for Israel’s Magen David Adom. They are great friends, enjoy singing together and (of course) saving lives.

A fund has been set up for Israelis to donate their Government Covid-19 grants to those most impacted by the pandemic. Several Israeli companies have promised to match donations made by their employees. Ex-IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot heads the fund’s advisory board.

Israelis and Palestinian Arabs are partnering to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. From early in the crisis, Israeli doctors have shared their expertise and given aid. Senior staff at Israel’s Sheba hospital brought equipment to PA hospitals and trained medics.

UK Television station ITV featured this amazing positive story of the Israeli army using a UAV (drone) to feed a griffon vulture chick. The baby chick’s mother died when she flew into overhead cables and the father could not rear the chick alone.

Delegations from Israeli businesses and the Government are in India testing four new Israeli technologies for rapid diagnosis of coronavirus. These include from Vocalis , and Tera Group . The names of the other companies are being verified.

Israel ranked 8th in a “quality of digital life” study conducted by VPN provider Surfshark. According to the index, Israel has the most affordable Internet in the world. The study measured the Internet in 85 countries as to its affordability, quality, infrastructure, government, and security.

Israel’s Watergen and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies have now donated three water generators to Gaza. The latest will produce (from humidity in the air) up to 5,000 liters of drinking water a day for the Nasser Medical Center in Khan Younis, Gaza’s second largest hospital.

Rabbi Matanya Yadid, teacher at Bar-Ilan University, and Sheikh Eyad Amer, imam of the central mosque in Kafr Kassem, held a Zoom session this week. The topic was “baseless love” in the context of the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av and the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Daniel Defour was born very premature and at the age of 15 he went blind. At 17 he met the Prime Minister and spoke of his desire to join the IDF. Last week, aged 21, Daniel’s wish came true.