Israel Active

Israel’s OrCam provided its MyEye2 device to enable many visually impaired to vote in Israel’s general election. Escorts helped others to vote. 22,000 of Israel’s 6.3 million voters are legally blind plus another 100,000 have visual impairments.

The IDF has promoted Colonel Ala Abu Rukan to Brigadier General. The Druze officer will be the new Military Secretary to the Israeli President Reuben Rivlin and take responsibility for liaison between the President and the IDF, intelligence services, police and prison services.

A Kurdish delegation from Iraq and Syria visited Israel as guests of the Safadi Center and the Kurdistan-Israel Friendship Association. They visited Jerusalem, the Golan, Judea and Samaria and Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, which is treating over 15 children from Kurdistan.

This video highlights the work of the IsraAID NGO following the fires that destroyed the California town of Paradise. The Israelis helped many of the children of the community recover from the trauma of that tragic event.

The Israeli Council for Higher Education has approved 7 undergraduate courses and 19 master’s degrees in the English language. They aim to double, by 2022, the current 12,000 international students studying in English at Israeli Universities and Colleges.

A resolution introduced by three Republican senators states that “the Israeli-American community has contributed immensely to the society and culture of the United States; and condemns all forms of discrimination that aim to marginalize or disenfranchise members …..”.

Israel marked International Sports and Peace Day on 7th April. Hundreds of children from all across Israeli society participated in a special event in the city of Ramla. They took part in the martial arts karate, taekwondo and capoeira. They also played soccer, table tennis and tennis.

On 7th April, Israel joined the world in marking World Health Day.  Israeli is working to provide better universal health around the world by helping developing countries, technologies (e.g. water), field hospitals after natural disasters, battling epidemics and training health professionals.

Sigal Kanotopsky, head of the charity Olim Beyahad, recalls her family’s extraordinary exodus from Ethiopia to Israel in a secret operation called Shiur Moledet. Olim Beyahad has integrated about 900 Ethiopian Israeli university graduates into suitable jobs through its programs.

I reported last week on the inaugural Forbes 2019 Under 30 Global Women’s Summit that took place in Tel Aviv.  Here is a video by ILTV of the event.