Israel Active

Nkosi Zwelakhe Mthethwa, a Zulu king from South Africa’s Mthethwa tribe, has returned from a visit to Israel with a pledge to mobilize Christians all over the world to support the Jewish state. “because this place [Israel] is our tangible and intangible heritage site”.

Israeli officers from the IDF's Home Front Command have just returned from Dallas, Texas where they conducted their fifth session training local civilians in Israeli emergency response techniques. Meanwhile in Israel, Israeli NGO ZAKA and the IDF trained 40 rescue leaders from 5 countries.

Who can forget the devastation hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, José and Nate did to the USA and Caribbean? Israeli aid organizations IsraAID and the Israel Trauma Coalition haven’t. They have stayed in the region to continue healing wounds and preparing residents for the next big storm.

Tel Aviv’s new Democracy Pavilion, on Rothschild Boulevard, is an exciting and rich multimedia experience which brings awareness to Israel’s core values of equality, freedom, and diversity. The exhibition is a part of the Independence Trail which can be followed using an interactive mobile app.

Israel has approved the construction of several new towns in the Negev and Galilee geared to serve the Bedouin and disabled populations. Shibolet, in the southern Galilee, will have a total of 350 units. 500 units will be built at Daniel in the south. 20% are for people with disabilities.

Israeli NGO Unistream runs a multi-year program and an annual competition to give entrepreneurship and leadership skills to 4,000 underprivileged teens. This year’s winners developed an allergen detector, an app to recommend charities and a clothing line for special needs children.

Israeli charity Ezer Mizion runs a summer camp at Moshav Nechalim for 300 special needs children and young adults. Each camper has a personal counselor, a yeshiva student who decided to volunteer in this summer camp instead of spending vacation time with his friends.

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, Israel has treated about 5000 patients from Syria -both adults and children. The army coordinates their transport, usually at night, to Israeli hospitals mostly in northern Israel.

In the 2018 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Israel’s Technion was ranked at number 77, up from 93 last year.  The Hebrew University of Jerusalem moved into the top 100 at number 95 after being in the 101 – 150 section last year.

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and Israel’s Ministry of the Economy are working together to alleviate poverty among Africa’s smallholder farmers. They will leverage Israeli agricultural technology as part of JDC’s new Tikkun Olam Ventures (TOV) program.