Israel Active

The network of parliamentary Israel Allies Caucuses has expanded with the addition of Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Congo Brazzaville. Each caucus is chaired by a leading parliamentarian who is passionate about strengthening legislative support for Israel.

Watch Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfield and Charlie Ben-Naim - the NYPD representative in Israel - update each other on the activities of their agencies. Charlie said the NYPD was learning from the Israeli police’s handling of the crisis.

Qatar Airways is offering free flights to medical workers in every country. The airline’s CEO Mr. Akbar Al Baker said that “every single country in the world, including our neighboring countries, including the State of Israel, will be allocated numbers of tickets.”

Top representatives from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have been in regular contact with Israel’s Sheba Medical Center even before the current health crisis. Now a third (said to be Kuwait) has requested help installing telemedicine solutions to treat COVID-19 patients remotely.

Yoseph Haddad, a Christian Arab from Nazareth, served as an IDF combat soldier and was severely wounded in the 2006 Lebanon war. He has founded a non-profit “Together Vouch For Each Other” for Israeli-Arabs, which encourages the involvement of young Israeli-Arabs in Israeli society.

Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, celebrated Lag B'Omer and Iftar with local Arab and Muslim leaders. They included Sheikh Abu Khalil Tamimi of Ramallah, Mohammed Massad of Jenin and other leaders who hid their identities. Some interesting issues were discussed.

Omer Yankelevich is the first Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) woman to become an Israeli government minister - of diaspora affairs. She was educated in Haredi schools in both Gateshead (UK) and Bnei Brak. She has a BA degree from Cambridge (UK) and a Masters, in law, from Bar Ilan University.

Pnina Tamanu-Shata is the first Israeli woman of Ethiopian origin to become an Israeli government minister - of immigration absorption. She came to Israel in Operation Moses in 1984 when she was three years old. Benny Gantz was one of the commanders of the operation.

Israeli humanitarian aid nonprofits SmartAID and IsraAID work with local partners to supply Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to health centers in Puerto Rico and Haiti and to five hospitals in Sydney, Australia. They also sent aid to Iraq, Vanuatu, Guatemala, Mozambique, Germany and the Bahamas.

In the Jewish State, Muslims celebrate Ramadan freely. The initiative “Ramadan Nights from Jerusalem.” includes virtual events in Arabic, Hebrew and English. There is a Holy City virtual tour on the Tower of David Museum website and virtual lectures at Israel’s National Library and Museum of Islamic Art.