Israel Active

Religious Jews do not remain silent when they see what is happening to Syrian civilians.  Beit Hillel – a small, Modern-Orthodox spiritual leadership movement with 200 Rabbis – has just raised $10,000 for the Syrian refugee children.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Croatia’s Andrej Plenkovic, who was on his first visit to Israel as Prime Minister. They signed a cooperation agreement on disaster prevention and emergency response.

I reported previously on the 13th trip that the Anti-Defamation League arranged for US police to train in Israel.  Their 2016 trip included police, FBI and Homeland Security agents from Massachusetts. Many had memories of the 2013 Boston marathon bombing.

Some 20 rectors from leading Latin American universities signed agreements with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in a first-of-its-kind conference signaling growing academic cooperation. They also met with President Reuven Rivlin at his Jerusalem residence.

The Arava Valley Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura in the Negev brings together Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs, Palestinian Arabs and Jordanians to study the region’s environmental problems. Their solutions also work in similar conditions worldwide.

Foreign ministers from 12 Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) attended a major Jerusalem conference – the first ECOWAS meeting outside of Africa.  Pamela’s son Adam of MASHAV talks about the visit on IBA news (view from 9 mins 30 secs)

Member of Knesset Ayoub Kara is to become the first lawmaker from Israel’s Druze community to serve as cabinet minister. Kara will be minister without portfolio.

The Israeli government has announced a $325 million six-year program to boost the number of higher education students by 40%, and to encourage women, Arabs, and ultra-Orthodox to get hi-tech jobs.  The program aims to address the future likely shortage of hi-tech workers.

"Why did I decide to enlist?" asks Sergeant Yusef Salutta, a 20-year-old Arab from the north of Israel who serves with the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion. "Because I'm from this country and I love the country and I want to contribute," he said. "anybody who lives here should enlist."

After a six-year hiatus, Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials have signed an agreement to jointly advance water infrastructure and development. In the last 18 months, the two sides have signed agreements covering electricity, mail, 3G cellular infrastructure and now water.