Israel Active

1,200 students from across Africa and Asia have just completed the 13th running of Israel’s unique post-graduate AgroStudies agriculture apprentice training program. Its aim is to transfer theoretical knowledge to modern applied agriculture.

I reported previously about Israel’s Arava International Center for Agriculture Training (AICAT) which has trained more than 16,000 students from Africa and Asia. Here three Kenyan graduates of AICAT describe how the center has changed their lives.

Some 70 delegates from Nigeria, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho, Tanzania and Kenya attended a 4-day “Africa Celebrates Jerusalem” summit. They held meetings with Israeli start-ups, politicians and businesses, focusing on agriculture, finance and technology.

A team of eight volunteers from Israel’s ZAKA Search and Rescue organization is in Houston to help with clean up in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.  Four more will join them shortly. The volunteers are currently clearing debris and delivering food.

The Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs is to give $1 million in emergency aid, in the wake of Hurricane Harvey to rebuild Houston schools, synagogues and Jewish community buildings which are not funded by the state. It has also shipped several tons of aid to storm victims.

Israelis have donated at least $32 million on goods for Syrian civilians this year, including $26 million from donations and $6 million from the IDF’s Operation Good Neighbor. It has paid for medical equipment, food, and medicine. Millions more have been spent by Israeli hospitals treating some 3,500 Syrian wounded.

An optimistic article that describes how local Palestinian Arab community leaders worked with Jerusalem mayor Barkat to improve security.

Matav, Israel's nursing care non-profit, and Tech for Good, which supports social impact investment, are setting up an incubator for startups developing products and services for senior citizens. The incubator will focus on solutions that extend the time that senior citizens can live at home.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was flown by an ultra-Orthodox female pilot to Thessaloniki, Greece for a trilateral summit with Greek and Cypriot leaders. Nechama Spiegel Novak was the first ultra-Orthodox female to co-pilot a trip for an Israeli prime minister.

Nonprofit social startup ITWorks promotes diversity in the workplace by helping adults living in Israel’s social and geographic periphery to realize their professional potential. ITWorks sets up courses, boot camps and hackathons for women, Arabs, Druze, Circassians, Haredi and the disabled.