Israel Active

The Israel-Finland Pilot Program has been launched by the Israel Innovation Authority and the Helsinki Business Hub. It will help Israeli and Helsinki-area companies to co-develop technologies, products and services including digital health, smart mobility and communications.

Ziv Medical Center’s Dr. Salman Zarka was head of “Operation Good Neighbor” in which, for six years, Israel provided critical care to thousands of Syrian victims of its civil war. Dr. Zarka was given the honor of lighting a torch on Israel’s Independence Day (see below).

I reported previously on the wound care system from Israel’s Nanomedic Technologies. Nanomedic CEO and mother of three, Chen Barak, advises female entrepreneurs to get support from their family and not to give up or compromise on their career.

Gadeer Mreeh of the Blue and White party is the first woman of Druze ethnicity to become a Member of Israel’s Parliament. The 34-year-old mother of two from the Israeli Druze town of Daliyat al-Karmel was a former news anchor. Likud’s Ayoob Kara was the 3rd Druze male MK.

On 14th Apr, 11 Israeli experts landed in Ethiopia to assist local firefighters fighting a complex forest fire in Simien Mountains National Park for the past two weeks. The UNESCO World Heritage site is home to several rare animal species. By Apr 17 the fire was under control.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had previously promised that the first international trip in office would be to the State of Israel. He has just announced that will lead his first delegation to Israel in May, bringing business, academic and political leaders to strengthen Florida-Israel bonds.

In its 2019 list, US News & World Report has ranked Israel as the world’s eighth-most influential country. The report describes Israel as “the only Jewish nation in the world... a small country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea” that has had a large influence on global affairs.

22nd April 2019 was Earth Day. This video illustrates Israel’s work to increase the numbers of some of the world’s most endangered species. They include the griffon vulture and the Persian (Iranian) fallow deer. The deer have grown into two of the very few herds left in the wild.

I reported previously that Israeli emergency rescue organization United Hatzalah trained Sri Lankan first responders in mass casualty incidents and disaster management.  It was just in time.

Israel’s Bar-Ilan University runs a Jewish-Arab interreligious dialogue course, bringing together 30 students of all backgrounds to learn about each other’s religion. Well over 1,000 of Bar-Ilan’s students are Arab - mostly undergraduates studying fields such as economics, English and accounting.