Israel Active

On 4th May (“May the Fourth be with you”) in an Israeli capital city not so far away… Star Wars fans flocked to the Tower of David Museum. They met villains from the 501st legion of Star Wars fame who call themselves “Bad Guys Doing Good”, visiting children in hospitals, schools, and the periphery.

Israel’s Yad L’Olim has obtained permanent state funding for public hospitals to employ medical experts who speak the languages of Olim as their mother tongues to assist Olim patients with translations. They include English, French, Russian, and Amharic (Ethiopian).  

Researchers at Ben Gurion and Haifa Universities have reported that 1.2 million Israelis (over 20% of the adult population) provide free care for their relatives and others with disabilities. In the Haredi sector, this increases to 34%.

Israeli-founded Gigawatt Global (see previously) has installed a solar power plant in Burundi, Africa, that makes Gitega the only capital city powered 100% by solar energy during the daytime. Further solar fields will provide Burundi with 20% of its power requirements.

Israeli non-profit Start-Up Nation Central co-organized the “Women Connect to Innovate” conference in Morocco. It was attended by some 100 female business leaders from Israel, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, UAE, USA, and elsewhere.

When she was 6 years old and playing basketball in Isfiya, Noor dreamed she would lift the Israeli Female Basketball Premier League championship plate. 15 years later, the Israeli Druze girl’s dream came true.

The Israel Innovation Authority and Education Ministry have launched a health care startup incubator in the northern city of Sakhnin, the first in an Arab city. However, another Medical Incubator was launched in the area in 2022 – see .

Some 1,300 delegates from 176 countries participated in the International Bahá’í Convention. The event takes place every 5 years in Haifa - the administrative and spiritual center of the community. The Bahá’í have enjoyed freedom of worship in Israel from the beginning of the State.

Israel's first hydrogen fuel station opened in Sonol Yagur near Haifa Bay, putting Israel among the leading countries in the world seeking to replace combustion engines with hydrogen-based fuel cell technology. See also (Sonol) and (hydrogen).

Yehuda, a volunteer with the non-profit Israel Dog Unit (IDU), together with his search dog Cobra, located a 78-year-old woman, missing for 40 hours in a forest near Sderot. She was found suffering from heat exhaustion. 150+ volunteers, plus drones, took part in the search, including on Shabbat.