Israel Active

Interesting article in Popular Science magazine explains that cross-pollination between military and civilian technologies fuels Israel’s fast-moving hi-tech industry.

Israel’s Ministerial Law Committee has approved a bill that grants up to 90 days sick leave annually for the parents of an ill child. Just as there is a responsibility to care for ill children, the state also has a responsibility to see to it that the child’s parents can do what the situation demands.

Israel’s Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation has launched the Mara'i Sheep Breeders Cooperative. Initially comprising 10 Bedouin shepherd families, the cooperative is expected to become a model for Arab livestock raisers and business owners.

(Thanks to Rodger) On Aug 6th, in a unique (mostly unreported) deployment operation, the Israel Electric Company transferred 10 generators with a total capacity of 4.3 megawatts via the cargo terminal at Kerem Shalom for the benefit of hospitals in Gaza.

Israel is one of the world’s most advanced countries for the management of water and renewable energy resources, and a leader in developing innovative and sustainable technologies. Haifa University’s new MBA program focuses on the subject of Sustainable Business Management.

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust is giving $1 million to SHALVA, The Association for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in Israel. Also, $750,000 to Beit Halochem-Tel Aviv, which provides services for disabled IDF veterans.

(Thanks to Hazel) For the third year in a row, Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari of Bar Ilan University has been elected as a member of the United Nation's Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

Israel has been awarded the highest ranking for its efforts to combat human trafficking in the U.S. State Department's 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report. It praises Israel's efforts to identify and rescue trafficking victims and take punitive steps against traffickers.

Ala Wahib is the operations officer at a key IDF ground forces training base and the highest-ranked Muslim officer in the Israeli army. He said, “I believe in the Muslim faith, and I will never abandon it, but I think that Zionism is more than a religion.” Please read his amazing story.

The IDF has set up a field hospital at the Erez border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, mainly for women and children from Gaza. It will include a delivery room.