Israel Active

Mashable’s 100 all-time best iPhone apps includes three from Israel. Waze ranks 22 (“So good that Google bought it”); Meerkat (video streaming) is at 86 and Yo (the best dumb app) at 91.

At the 2016 World University Debating Championship in Thessaloniki, Greece, Israel’s Ayal Hayut-man won Best Speaker at English as a Second Language with partner Dan Lahav as runner-up. The two reached the semi-final stage of the Open Finals – an Israeli record. Three Israeli teams reached the Open Finals.

This is the message of the latest ad in the New York Times from “Israel is on it”. It highlights Israel’s dominance of the cybersecurity market and particularly the innovative software from Israel’s Illusive Networks.

IsraAID has launched a project in Nepal by opening a beekeeping school near Kathmandu. 64 women have learned how to become beekeepers, form a cooperative to sell honey to local stores and tourists in Nepal. Each woman received one beehive stacked with a colony of local Himalayan bees to start her venture. For many of them, this beehive was one of the first things they completely owned.

A secret 2010 visit to Israel of a Bahraini princess has just been revealed. She received life-saving treatment at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center. She stayed 2 months in Israel, including time at a rehabilitation center in Nesher, near Haifa. She chose Israel, rather than an alternative in the USA.

Syrian refugee Aboud Dandachi has set-up a website “Thank You Am Israel” and writes “I am morally obligated to ensure that the goodwill that Israelis and Jews have displayed towards my people will not be overlooked nor forgotten.” “...it is imperative that Syrians reciprocate the enormous goodwill shown towards us by Israelis and the Jewish people.”

Israel’s Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan has announced the setting up of an executive administration to enforce law within the Arab sector. The executive head will be Muslim Arab Jamal Hakroush, who will be promoted to the rank of Deputy Commissioner.

4-year-old Tommy Traitel from Tel Aviv has set-up a facebook page to set-up play dates with normal kids and improve his communication skills. It has also generated interest from Israelis in the US and celebrities who have arranged to meet Tommy.

Doctors at Rambam Medical Center, Haifa saved the life of Jummana, a 17-year-old girl from Nablus suffering from a serious and rare endocrine problem. With help from the US National Institutes of Health, the doctors traced the source to a tiny tumor, which they removed.

Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj came to Israel, seeking new areas where the two countries can cooperate. Speaking from Jerusalem, she stressed the importance of Israeli-Indian ties and said the “potential of our relations are much much more.” Meanwhile the number of visitors to Israel from India during 2015 increased by 13.5% compared to 2014 - to around 40,000.