Israel Active

75 Canadians were among the participants of the 9th annual cross-Negev hike for the disabled, organized by OneFamily and Paratrek.  Hikers included those who had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and brain injuries, blind hikers and (for the first time) wheelchair users.

After five years, Israel and Turkey have resumed full diplomatic ties. Eitan Na’eh arrived in Ankara to take up the position of Israel’s new ambassador.

During Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales’ state visit to Israel he and Israeli Prime Minister signed agreements in agriculture, science, technology and security. He was honored at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University for Guatemala’s mobilizing of support for the 1947 UN partition plan that led to the establishment of Israel.

Germany is currently in charge of the UN peacekeeping intelligence unit in Mali and successfully completed its first mission using an Israeli-made Heron 1 drone. Germany has leased 3 Israeli Aerospace Industries Heron drones for $100 million.

Israel has just held its first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Experience Conference. The Maala CSR Index - set up to promote social and environmental innovation - comprises 98 Israeli companies that employ 310,000 with $94 billion sales – about one-third of Israel’s GDP.

Two decades after Ronit Budette became Israel’s first female parachuting instructor, 20 women have enrolled in the IDF Paratroop Brigade’s instructors course. Ronit was inspired by seeing the historic images of paratroopers reconquering the Western Wall from Jordan in 1967.

Israel’s Science, Technology and Space Ministry has announced that is marking the Ethiopian-Jewish holiday of Sigd by allocating scholarships totaling some NIS 1.8 million to Ethiopian students.

There are currently 141,200 citizens of Ethiopian origin in Israel. Of those graduating from high school, 89% took the matriculation tests compared with the national average of 94%.  The dropout rate of 1.21% was slightly lower than the 1.4% among all Jewish students.

Avraham Yitzhak will be the first colonel of Ethiopian descent in IDF history when he becomes chief medical officer of the IDF Southern Command. Yitzhak came to Israel in 1991, graduated in medicine at Ben Gurion University and was the first Ethiopian-Israeli combat doctor

Marcelo Crivella, winner of the election for mayor of Rio de Janeiro, expresses his love for Israel at every opportunity. He celebrated victory by flying to Israel with a delegation of family and friends, where he met mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat and discussed cooperation.