Israel Active

1,200+ people attended a concert in Mexico to celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations between Israel and Mexico. The soloists were Israel’s Evgenia Epshtein and Mexico’s Adrián Justus, who has given two performances at Monday concerts in Netanya.

Morocco’s liaison office in Israel – soon to be expanded to a full-fledged embassy – marked the Moroccan Jewish tradition of ending Passover festival with a “Mimouna” gathering.

Israel’s SodaStream (now owned by PepsiCo) says it has prevented five billion single-use plastic bottles from being used last year. SodaStream systems use pressurized cylinders to add carbon dioxide to water and create soda at home, thereby not wasting single-use bottles.

36 participants in the Eurovision Song Contest in May have planted saplings in the KKL Eurovision Forest, halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. KKL-JNF’s Karine Bolton complimented the musicians, “Your music is like a seed of hope being planted for the future.”

When a camel got itself stuck in between rocks in the desert, soldiers from an IDF unit helped extricate the distressed animal.

Israeli charity Sayeret Hessed Yihudit - SAHI (see previously) has grown to 1,500 volunteers ages 13 to 19. Comprising 44 chapters with 80 leaders, they perform voluntary community service in depressed communities. SAHI’s Ofri Butbul lit a Yom Ha’Atzmaut torch in 2021.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen hosted Muslim diplomats from Turkeye (Turkey), Egypt, Morocco, Albania, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Tanzania, Azerbaijan, and Chad for the traditional Iftar break-fast meal. He spoke about expanding the 2020 Abraham Accords.

There’s not much international news about the cholera epidemic in Malawi that has been compounded by the aftermath of hurricane Freddy. Israeli NGO IsraAID has sent an 8-person team there to set up cholera prevention points, including water filtration systems and hygiene kits, in the city of Blantyre.

An ancient copper fishhook, found in 2018 excavations in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon, has been dated to at least 5,000 years old – one of the oldest in the world. It was exhibited for the first time at Israel’s 48th Archaeological Congress, along with rare Roman-era jewelry discovered in 1971.

On World Water Day (22 Mar) Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon donated and inaugurated a drip irrigation system at the New Delhi India Gate Children’s Park.