Israel Active

EMT volunteers at United Hatzalah exemplify Israel’s inclusiveness.

Captain “Y”, an F-15 navigator, has been appointed the first female deputy commander of an Israeli Air Force combat squadron. She will be promoted to Major in the summer. Meanwhile, two other female IAF officers were appointed as deputy commanders of a squadron of drones.

Israel’s Ministry of Labor has launched a joint venture with She Codes, an Israeli organization promoting the inclusion of women into the tech industry. The three-year plan will establish 40 centers to provide free computer programming training for 4,440 women to work in the tech sector.

It is already illegal in Israel to discriminate against the disabled in the workplace. A new extension order requires companies with over 100 workers to have 3% disabled employees. They must also have a person responsible for the employment of people with disabilities.

The IDF has helped establish a maternity hospital on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. Although staffed by Syrian doctors, the incubators, beds and ultrasound equipment come from Israel. Since its recent opening, 30 Syrian women have given birth at the hospital.

Israel marked International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3rd Dec. There are 1.6 million in Israel with disabilities. Israeli empowerment involves cochlear implants for the deaf, a theater for blind/deaf actors, the ReWalk exoskeleton for paraplegics, OrCam, EyeControl and more.

The Knesset (Israel’s Parliament) has unveiled a variety of assistive devices to make it easier for the disabled to find their way around the Knesset building. They include a tactile map, smart glasses to identify faces and read text via an earpiece, wheelchairs and magnifying glasses.

Being born blind didn’t stop Ori from enlisting in the IDF. She visited her base many times before beginning her service, to get to know her way around it.

In 1999, 75% of Ethiopian-Israelis could not read or write Hebrew. In 2016, a higher percentage of 12th graders in the Ethiopian National Project (ENP) SPACE Program matriculated than average Israelis. The ENP program is now being rolled out to non-Ethiopian Israelis.

I reported previously that Palestinian Arab eye doctors had been trained in Israel.  Now, Palestinian Arab doctors have been receiving training at Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva to give ultrasound-guided local anesthetic for patients who cannot risk having general anesthesia.