Israel Active

The WomenTech Network, a global movement to promote gender diversity in the technology sector, has set up an Israel chapter. It will officially launch at the organization’s 24-hour virtual conference themed “Women Taking Up Space” on 27th May. It features over 150 speakers.

Twin Arab Muslims Fares and Firas Muhammad spent much of their youth in courts for thefts and violence. Then two separate incidents persuaded them to make new starts. They enlisted in the IDF and are elite troopers in the Golani brigade. Fares is training to become a squad commander.

Israel and Ghana are the new heads of the United Nations Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Forum. Although the UN cancelled all forums due to the pandemic, Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, has initiated a digital conference on innovation to combat the coronavirus.

In Jerusalem, veterans of World War II, Jewish leaders and diplomats marked the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day. They laid wreaths at the Memorial Candle Monument in Jerusalem to commemorate the Allies’ victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

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.