Israel Active

Professor Tamar Peretz began her career as a medical student at Hadassah Medical Center.  She advanced to head of oncology and is now the hospital’s director general. Her personal story is a microcosm of Jewish endeavor.

Dr. Salmaan Zarka is the first doctor from the Druze community to be appointed as head of an Israeli hospital.  Zarka will be heading up Ziv Medical Center in Tzfat (Safed).  Ziv is frequently in the Israeli news because of the injured Syrian civilians that it treats.

Israeli surgeons managed to remove a bullet, just millimeters from the main blood vessels of a Syrian child's neck, in a delicate operation lasting several hours.  The report even reached the UK media.

The majority Shiite nation of Azerbaijan is the biggest supplier of oil to Israel.  Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon visited the Azeri President recently. It was the first Defense Ministry visit since diplomatic relations were established 22 years ago.

Kristen Dalton, one of 11 US beauty queens on a five-day tour of Israel, said that Israelis “have created an exquisite, highly innovative country that provides job security, democracy, health insurance, and top quality education to people of all religions and races. Most importantly, they value life over death”.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Mashav department is sending three Israel-manufactured mobile emergency clinics to West Africa to help try to prevent the Ebola virus from spreading.  Medical experts will accompany each clinic to train local staff in the operation of its equipment.

Israel has approved a budget increase of NIS 1.7 billion for the implementation of the recommendations of the Elalouf Committee to Reduce Poverty in Israel.  Increased support includes for education, daycare, employment integration, needy pensioners and social services.

Regarding Israel’s treatment of its Palestinian Arab workers, the Arab media only has praise.  Al-Hayat Al-Jadida commended Israeli employers for much higher wages, job security and other benefits.  In Judea and Samaria 15,000 Palestinian Arabs work side by side with Israelis.

Beit Issie Shapira has won Microsoft Israel’s “Innovate for Good” competition for its “IssiePlay” app for computer tablets.  IssiePlay is an imaginative game with accessibility features for children with disabilities.  Beit Issie benefits 30,000 Israeli disabled children and adults.

(Thanks to 12Tribe Films) This is a beautiful video of Erez, an Israeli boy with special needs, who is introduced to a horse on a farm in Israel.  Erez is one of 150 Israelis with “Williams syndrome” – a disorder in which sufferers have problems connecting with others. ?