Israel Active

Stuart Palmer’s blog included a little-known fact. For over a decade, at 6am each day, 1,500 Jordanians cross the border from Aqaba to Eilat to work in the hotels, returning in the evening. It is a very successful arrangement and the harmony amongst the staff is first class.

Haredi women are challenging exclusion from ultra-orthodox political parties. In 2015, their movement was officially registered as an organization under the name "No Voice, No Vote" (in Hebrew: “Lo Nivcharot Lo Bocharot,” and has now been renamed "Nivcharot" ("Chosen").

Interesting article about Maj. (res.) Yossi Levi (see previously) who believes he is the first Haredi battalion commander in the Israel Defense Forces, integrating ultra-Orthodox soldiers into the country’s military. See the link above which indicates he is not the first!

Thousands of Israelis participated in some 8,000 volunteer activities on the 18th annual Good Deeds Day - an international initiative started by Israel, promoting giving and community. They renovated damaged buildings, packaged food, worked with children and the sick, cleaned beaches and more.

A group of Judea and Samaria leaders made history by visiting Abu Dhabi on the first-ever organized trip by the Yesha Council to a Muslim country. They attended a traditional Iftar meal to break the Ramadan fast with Emirati committee chairman of defense, interior and foreign affairs.

Israeli medical experts are to travel to Macedonia to assist after a fire killed more than 50 people and injured dozens. The North Macedonian foreign affairs minister thanked his Israeli counterpart saying, "In these difficult moments, the solidarity of our partners and friends is truly invaluable to us."

Optimistic article by the director of corporate development at ICL (Israel Chemicals Ltd) Group which has recently launched its new Research and Development (R&D) lab.  She cites Israeli AI-driven crop monitoring systems, precision agriculture, and vertical farming to increase yields.

March 14th is Pi-day as the date can be written as 3.14. This year it also coincided with Purim so may be a Purim “spiel” (i.e. a joke). Israeli theoretical physicist Yehuda Ashkelon has memorized the value of Pi to 25,333 decimal places in Spanish - a new Israeli record (9th globally) and a world record for Spanish.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has offered Argentina assistance following deadly floods south of the nation’s capital of Buenos Aires. A storm hit Bahía Blanca, where 12 inches of rain fell in the city over several days; the historical monthly average is about 5 inches.

Another article (see previously) about the recent Athens conference to discuss expanding the use of barn owls for pest control.  Then 60 Palestinian Arab, Jordanian and Israeli experts met to discuss solutions to the Middle East’s water, energy, food-security and overall environmental problems.