Israel Active

Israeli nonprofit Fair Planet, is giving smallholder Ethiopian farmers access to cutting-edge seed technology and showing them how to get the most from these seeds with minimal changes to their traditional practices. The farmers can increase their productivity five times and income up to eight times.

The Art Club, organized by the Machol Shalem Dance House and funded by the Jerusalem Foundation, brings together East and West Jerusalem teens (aged 13-15), to create art and break down barriers.

A merchant from Gaza suffered a heart attack at the Erez crossing into Israel. An Israeli customs officer, who had paramedic training previously, began resuscitation using a defibrillator. Magen David Adom paramedics transported the Gazan to hospital where he underwent catheterization and regained consciousness.

4.500 Israeli Arabs volunteered for National Service in 2015 – an increase of 13% on 2014. Israeli Arabs are not drafted, but can volunteer for the IDF, or can serve the State by doing National Service. By doing so, they receive rights and benefits similar to those of IDF soldiers.

There are close to 350 businesses and factories in the Mishur Adumim Industrial Park near Maale Adumim. Some are Jewish owned and some of them are Arab owned. Most of these factories have Jews and Arabs working side by side.

Israeli accelerator A3i is developing ‘ability’ technology to help millions with disabilities. Setup by Israel’s PresenTense, Beit Issie Shapira, the Ruderman Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, A3i focuses on ideas to improve the lives of challenged individuals.

Education Minister and Jewish Home Chairperson Naftali Bennett announced, "For the first time in the annals of the state of Israel we are establishing a general academic college in an Arab town," said Bennett. "This is history for the Arab sector and this is history for the state of Israel."

Israel is to open a diplomatic-level mission to the International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi, its first openly established representative office in the United Arab Emirates. Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold visited Abu Dhabi earlier in December, the first time an Israeli government official of his diplomatic rank has publicly made the trip.

An Israeli resolution on utilizing agricultural technology for sustainable development passed at the United Nations with 124 countries voting in favor and 37 (Arab block) abstentions. Ambassador Danny Danon called it a “victory for Israeli innovation.”

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is sponsoring a project by two Ghanaian students who have been setting up snail farms in rural Ghana. The project provides employment for Ghanaian women as well as vital protein for local families.