Israel Active

The latest World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap survey ranked Israel the best country in the Middle East for women's rights and freedoms. Israel also received the “Reducing the Gender Gap” prize in 2013 from the European Parliament for championing women's rights.

The traditional torch-lighting ceremony for Israel’s Independence Day will be conducted solely by 14 women who represent a unique mosaic of Israeli society. They include Hindiya Suliman from Bu'eine Nujeidat, who works to empower Israeli Arab women.

Leading chefs from European Michelin-starred restaurants have come to Israel to raise funds for Ezrat Avot. Together with Israeli chefs they will cook a gourmet dinner - the proceeds going to the construction of a health and life enrichment center for Jerusalem's elderly population.

Eight Israelis including Muslims, Druze and Bedouin have been visiting Canadian universities to dispel the myths by Israeli Apartheid Week organizers. Some students were shocked to learn that Arabs study at Israeli universities and that some even serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

Tel Aviv-based TabTable offers more than 250 different games and apps for children, including lullabies, digital books and educational experiences. It has reached 300 million downloads in 4 years and has 25 million monthly active users – including many in Saudi Arabia.

20 percent of students at Israel’s Technion are Arab, which shames anyone claming Israel is an apartheid state. 100 have graduated from Technion’s NAM (Outstanding Arab Youth) program since 2006 and are now embarking on successful careers in hi-tech and engineering.

This video shows how some Palestinian Arab children react to Israeli soldiers.

Mendi Safadi is Chairman of “Druze for Israel”. Born in the Golan Heights, Mendi tells that Arabs, Christians, Druze and Jews are all equal in Israel. He also highlights Israel’s help for Syrians.

More Japanese companies are looking at the Israeli startup market in search of innovative technologies and investments to beef up their businesses. Takeda, Rakuten, Samurai Incubate and now the Japan External Trade Organization are investing heavily in the Jewish state.

Ornit Avidar, formerly a diplomat for Israel’s Ministry of Industry and Trade founded Waterways, in 2010 in order to provide small-scale, locally beneficial water solutions to rural African villages. They install easily maintainable solutions that do not require huge start-up costs.