Israel Active

Israel’s National Cyber Directorate and the Welfare and Social Services Ministry have opened a cybersecurity training course for students with disabilities. The first to benefit are 16 students on the autism spectrum. The two-month course includes mentoring and will lead to internships.

Israeli archaeologists don’t just focus on Jewish Biblical sites. They also have discovered (and are now excavating) a 7th to 8th century rural mosque, one of the earliest known in the world, in the town of Rahat in the Negev.

For the eighth consecutive year, Israel has won the US State Department's highest rating in the battle against human trafficking. The 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report ranked Israel as a Tier 1 state. Israel focuses on prevention, enforcement and protecting the victims.

A Tel Aviv University debating team won the European Round Robin (ERR), an exclusive university-level debate competition in Warsaw, Poland. The winning pair, Tom Manor and Noam Dahan beat 15 other teams – most of them previously European or World champions.

The University of Haifa has validated 800 stone statuettes from Puerto Rico as being carved in the 16th century and not modern forgeries.  It helps researchers on the Caribbean island with their investigations into pre-Colombian history.

Israeli and Palestinian Arab entrepreneurs toured the Dead Sea region to build upon Bahrain’s “Peace to Prosperity” economic workshop. They explored trade, agriculture, tourism and culture opportunities, visiting the Beit HaArava plant, the Kalia beach, an art Gallery and a Moroccan restaurant.

"Momentum," a program developed by non-profit Social Finance Israel, aims to boost the number of high school graduates from the Arab Bedouin city of Rahat. NIS 14.8 million worth of Impact Bonds have been sold, to help benefit 50% more students than the 1,200 in the current scheme.

The Jewish Samaria town of Elkana has the highest percentage of students receiving their high school diplomas – over 98%. In equal third place was the Arab town of Kaukab Abu al-Hija in the Lower Galilee with 96%.

The many events in Jerusalem last week included the Jerusalem Unity Prize awards.  They were given to three Israeli projects that promote unity and the Moishe House for the diaspora.

Arab-Israeli high-jump champion Hanin Nasser, 22, intends to represent Israel in the current 2019 European Athletics U23 Championships in Gävle, Sweden. Hanin won the recent Maccabi championship with a personal best of 1.79m - the ninth highest score in Israel's history.