Israel Active

Watch this video of Palestinian Arabs, Jews and Druze working happily together at SodaStream’s factory in Judea. SodaStream’s CEO explains that he could have put his factory on the coast, but he wanted to build an enterprise that fostered peace between Jews and Arabs.

Samsung sent 10,000 Purim baskets to any Israeli whose friend signed them up for one on the Samsung Mobile Israel Facebook page. Samsung paid for the candy, and for two Israeli charities, Variety Israel and the Enosh Fund, to assemble the baskets.

A columnist in the Jerusalem Post stated that Israelis were self-centered and ignoring the poverty in Africa. So I wrote a letter to the editor mentioning just some of the recent work that Israelis have been doing in Africa. Please respond to unjustified criticism whenever possible.

The rhetoric has changed. Having found it impossible to pretend that Gaza is under siege, the latest upside-down anti-Israel argument is that Israel supplies too much! This week 42,898 tons of goods and gas entered Gaza from Israel in 1,445 truckloads.

Israel has authorized Turkey to build a Turkish-funded hospital in Gaza. Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that Israel gave permission to transport the construction materials to Gaza as a gesture of goodwill toward Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan will inaugurate the hospital.

The 19th Israeli parliament will have a record number of women lawmakers in Israel’s history. Women now comprise 23 per cent of the Knesset – a higher percentage than in the US Congress (18 per cent) and the UK House of Commons (22%).

The Dualis Fund is a venture capital fund with a difference. It provides profit-making opportunities for investors, helps businesses succeed, but also ensures a ‘social return’. Projects include a restaurant employing at-risk youth and a software company for people with disabilities.

Until recently, Tel Aviv’s illegal migrants received medical care only from volunteers. Now, Israel’s Ministry of Health has stepped in to provide emergency treatments via a staff of doctors, paid by the Ministry from rented offices at the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station.

Three Israeli surfers went to the aid of eight children aged between 12 and 14 that had been swept out to sea and were being pounded by the huge waves. Tzvika Elias, Yair Naftali and Gabi Liptz were hailed as heroes by the children’s parents.

An IDF medical team on Sunday saved the life of a 13-year-old Palestinian Authority dialysis patient whose life was in danger due pulmonary edema. He was transferred to the Meyer Children's Hospital in Haifa, which specializes in Pediatric Nephrology Dialysis.