Israel Active

Israel has sent a 14-person medical delegation to treat hundreds of victims of a fuel explosion at Nagorno-Karabach, Armenia. The team was led by Prof. Ofer Merin, director-general of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center and a leading cardiothoracic surgeon.

Israel has joined the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, allowing Israeli citizens to travel to America for 90 days without a visa, beginning sometime before Nov 30. A biometric passport will also be required, plus a digital form on the Electronic System for Travel Authorization site.

Tourism Minister Haim Katz attended the UN World Tourism Organization event in Saudi Arabia - the first Israeli minister to lead a delegation to the kingdom. Then Israeli Communications Minister Dr. Shlomo Karhi spoke in Arabic at Universal Postal Union’s Congress in Riyadh.

Israeli volunteers of United Hatzalah have opened medical clinics in remote villages of the Atlas Mountains to aid victims of the Moroccan earthquake. The Muslim and Jewish volunteers include two doctors, a dozen EMTs and paramedics, Arabic and French speakers.

Tiny Israel has the fourth highest number of AI startups in the world, according to infographic publishing company Visual Capitalist. Israel’s 402 AI-based startups have received a total of $11 billion of private investment over the past decade.

Israel’s president recently received the credentials of seven newly appointed ambassadors to the Jewish State. They were the envoys of the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Brazil, Cyprus, Peru and Côte d'Ivoire.

Israel’s Ben-Gurion University has won a tender from the Council for Higher Education and the Ministry of Education for the establishment of a campus for the ultra-Orthodox population. The campus is scheduled to open in October 2024.

The Israel Innovation Authority is investing NIS 30 million in 17 projects that advance the development of artificial intelligence applications in spoken Hebrew and Arabic. It is part of the National Artificial Intelligence Plan to encourage R&D in natural language processing (NLP).

Hundreds of people gathered recently at Israel’s College of Management-Academic Studies in Rishon LeZion, to hear 10 entrepreneurs show off their fledgling startups designed to make life easier for people with autism. They included and .

Staff-Sgt. Yossi Bluming, a Chabad Chassid who made Aliyah from Maryland three years ago, were recognized as an “Outstanding Soldier who continuously excels in the Israel Defense Forces’ 6,000-strong Paratroopers Brigade”. Yossi commands a unit of 18 combat soldiers.