Israel Active

I reported on the child-friendly Wheelchairs of Hope previously .  The first shipment of 250 plastic wheelchairs for children in institutions in Israel and the Palestinian Authority is to be sent this month, with a batch for residents of the refugee camps in Syria soon to follow.

A rockslide on the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal buried Japanese solo trekker Akiho Sugiyama. Luckily a group of ex-army Israeli backpackers, including a medic, heard her cries, treated her and used their Chabad-supplied satellite phone to organize her rescue via Chabad in Katmandu.

The Japanese government has awarded the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun decoration to two Israelis. Professor Meron Medzini of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and architect Arie Kutz from Tel Aviv University. Both awards were for fostering good relations with Japan.

Ministers of Israel, Greece and Cyprus met in Jerusalem and agreed to push for a pipeline to Europe, which wants to reduce dependence on Russian gas. They also agreed to establish a new regional rescue and emergency services force.

Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed their countries’ increasing security cooperation and called to deepen their economic relationship. President Rivlin spent a week visiting India, to mark 25 years of diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and New Delhi.

Israel has participated in its first NATO field exercise for six years during the wide-scale drill held in Montenegro to evaluate the readiness and capabilities of NATO to face natural disasters. The Israelis included IDF, Fire and rescue and Zaka rescue teams.

I have reported previously on Israel’s humanitarian organization Engineers without Borders (EwB).  Now the Tel Aviv University chapter of EwB has installed a solar electricity generator and storage batteries for the Nkaiti village medical center in Minjingu, Tanzania.

10% of public servants in Israel and 12% of police officers are immigrants who arrived in Israel less than ten years ago.  7,496 out of some 75,000 workers in Israel’s public health system have made Aliyah in the last decade (10%), and 4,191 in the last five years.

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.