Israel Active

Good articles about the continuing immigration of thousands of the Bnei Menashe community who were exiled from the Kingdom of Israel some 27 centuries ago.

Non-profit “American Friends of Unit 669” supports the Search and Rescue Unit of the Israeli Air Force. Its virtual gala event on 31st Jan is hosted by Israeli actress Rona-Lee Shim'on (Fauda) and features Israeli mentalist Lior Suchard and amazing IDF veteran Ziv Shilon, rescued by Unit 669 in 2012.

Israeli non-profit NeVer Again VR is crowdfunding its project to record the testimony of survivors of the Shoah (Holocaust). They are using volumetric video by Israel’s Tetavi (reported previously) to produce lifelike holograms and keep the message of the survivors “alive” forever.

Last week’s cover story on BBC World news featured Shira, a United Hatzalah volunteer EMT, vaccinating an elderly Israeli. The headline was titled, “Israel leads virus vaccine race with 12% given jab”. This article highlights five UH volunteer medics who typify what lifesaving is all about.

Israel is described in the Torah as a land where the people look to Heaven for its rain. In modern times, the scarcity of this valuable resource inspired the Jewish State to develop the infrastructure and technology to be a “water superpower” and export this knowledge to the rest of the world.

Naftali Bennett, leader of Israel’s Yamina (to the right) party, stopped to help a man who had fallen (breaking his leg) while crossing the street. He helped carry him back onto the sidewalk and gave him water and first aid. He then waited until a Magen David Adom ambulance arrived.

Israel has delivered to the UAE its first shipment of products from Samaria – the Biblical region recaptured by Israel during the 1967 Six-day War. They included olive oil from the Tura Winery in Rechelim, and honey from Paradise Honey in Hermesh.

Avraham – a United Hatzalah volunteer EMT - managed to persuade a young man from committing suicide in the mixed Jewish-Arab Israeli city of Ramle. The story is worth reading for the amazing sequence of coincidences in this real-life drama.

Israel’s bobsled teams of Jewish AJ Edelman and his Israeli Druze teammates do not expect a medal in the 2022 Winter Olympics. “We have no relevance other than the fact that we wear the Israeli flag…and so because of that, it’s an honor unparalleled that you can never repay.”

This article highlights the relief felt by many of the 1.2 million Israelis that have been recently inoculated against Covid-19 with the Pfizer vaccine. They are now looking forward to their second doses after 3 weeks.