Israel Active

5 heads of US universities in the Historically Black College and Universities (HBCU) group were so impressed from their recent trip to Israel that they will soon start student-exchange programs. They will also encourage the other 96 member institutions to do so.

15 New York Army National Guard engineers received hands-on training in Oriskany NY, from members of Israel’s Home Front Command. They learned Israeli techniques for locating and rescuing people from collapsed buildings.

Israel is helping edible fish farmers in the Palestinian Authority cities of Tulkarm and (yes) Jenin. They receive financing, equipment, fish food, water filters and training. The Israel helps with veterinary medicine, forestry, plant protection and agricultural imports.

Israel has launched a NIS 30 million plan to promote green energy in Israeli-Arab cities. It will finance energy production projects, such as replacing old, inefficient lighting and air conditioning systems, plus the implementation of solar projects in public buildings.

Israel is to extend and update its plan to integrate its 160,000 citizens of Ethiopian descent. Aims of the $66 million budget for 2023-24 include to integrate Ethiopian Israelis into military service, close the income gap and increase trust between the community and the government.

An everyday story of two EMTs from Israel’s United Hatzalah. Haredi Jew Moshe Rothschild and Moslem Arab Roshdi Hussein together saved a 20-year-old man who hit his head after jumping into the Jordan River. About the cooperation, Moshe said, it “happens in Israel all the time”.

Israeli humanitarian aid NGO SmartAID has sent a team of specialists to Maui after the devastating wildfires on the Hawaiian island. They will conduct search and rescue operations and install telecommunication systems to help coordinate first responders, plus solar energy systems and more.

University of Haifa researchers have been awarded a $100,000 National Geographic Wayfinder Grant to track the movement of sharks along the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Israel is the only country that protects all elasmobranch species (sharks and rays) within its maritime borders.

The D.DLAB (Disrupt.Design) team from Israel’s Technion Institute won the Design Educate Awards Gold Prize for 2023. Asst. Prof. Shany Barath also won the Emerging Designer award. Their WoodenWood project converts wood waste into a composite for printing wood products.

20 police and public safety executives from Georgia and Tennessee spent two weeks training in Israel. They learned about new policing and public safety technologies, and about making neighborhoods, including minority ones, safer through community policing.