Israel Active

Israel’s annual Wolf Foundation prize encourages achievers from outside of Israel in the sciences and arts.  This year “Israeli Nobel Prizes” were awarded to eight individuals from the US, UK and Switzerland. They include for anti-tumor immunotherapy and for the discovery of an exoplanet.

Israel’s Shmuel Bar writes how his IntuView system is used by the Saudi Arabian government, to identify security threats on social media and the dark web.

Noor Dahri has been appointed as an editor of Pakistan’s US-based Rabwah Times - the first Salafi and Muslim Zionist to be an editor of the newspaper. He says he will use his position to continue his peaceful mission to promote better understanding between Israel and Pakistan.

In their recent London meeting, UK Prime Minister Theresa May and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the steps to prepare the ground for a post-Brexit trade agreement. They also committed to deepen co-operation on intelligence-sharing and cyber-security to keep their people safe. Mrs May also invited Mr Netanyahu to London in November to celebrate the centenary of the Balfour Declaration.

Israel’s Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin met with his Turkish counterpart, Nabi Avci, at the International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) conference in Tel Aviv.  Avci is the first Turkish government minister to visit Israel since the two countries normalized their relations.

This article contains some interesting statistics.  Between 2005 and 2011, inflation-adjusted Arab net family income increased by 7.4%. Arabs “very satisfied” with their economic conditions rose from 40% in 2005 to 60% in 2011. 4000 work in hi-tech – up from 400 in 2009.

I’ve reported on Israel’s world champion blind golfer Zohar Sharon previously several times .  But I was very surprised to hear him being interviewed on the BBC World Service’s Outlook program. Listen after 26 minutes.

Another group of 160 innovators came together for a TOM (Tikkun Olam Makers) 72-hour session at Israel’s Technion. They developed solutions for the disabled including an umbrella for wheelchairs, a coffee-making conveyer belt for people with tremor and a special portable toilet seat.

American humanitarian assistance organization Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Israel (JDC-Israel) teamed up with Microsoft and HP for a first JDC Social Impact Hackathon. It resulted in 21 practical solutions to help vulnerable Israelis, e.g. the elderly and people with disabilities.

The Director General of British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) praised the “strong partnership with our Israeli counterparts in signals intelligence”. He said the relationship “is protecting people from terrorism... not only in the UK and Israel but in many other countries.”