Israel Active

Mike Pompeo was the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem.  Accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Secretary Pompeo placed a note in between the ancient stones.

On 20th March, Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft blasted into its maximum orbit around the Earth. It coincided with the Spring Equinox, a Supermoon (full Moon close to the Earth) and of course, Purim!

I reported previously on excavations that have revealed a 3000-year-old Biblical city from King David’s Kingdom, near the modern Israeli city of Beit Shemesh.  This article gives more details of the discoveries and how the site will be preserved alongside a new highway.

Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry has organized #DigiTell, bringing 100 global pro-Israel bloggers and social network managers to Jerusalem. Senior director Ido Daniel said “We are opening our doors to the influencers and social media activists for Israel who are fighting our fight every day.

Israel’s National Cleanup Day promotes the importance of protecting Israel’s environment. This year, the Ministries of Education and Environmental Protection are providing NIS 13 million to fund activities and trips for around 1,200 schools that will participate on 2nd April.

Israel’s First Lady, Nechama Rivlin, has had a single lung transplant at Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah. Mrs. Rivlin has suffered from pulmonary fibrosis for several years. The lung was donated by the family of Yair Halbali, 19 (z”l), who recently drowned in Eilat.

Ex-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee gets a personal guided tour of the City of David in Jerusalem. He describes it as validation that the Jewish people have their capital here and is their ancestral homeland.  It is not just stories – it’s things that are physical, that you can point to.

Please watch this great response to a BDS supporter. “We (Israel) built an amazing and remarkable country. You won’t be able to wake up in the morning because the chip is built in Intel in Israel. And on the way to work you will get lost because of Waze…. What’s your invention?”

Thousands of Israeli Jews on Ezer Mizion’s database cannot believe their good fortune to find they are a match for someone needing a stem cell transplant.  Although they are not allowed to know who the patient is, they often write their good wishes anonymously to the stem cell recipient.

I reported previously that the International Young Israel Movement repairs Torah scrolls and donates them to IDF bases. Another organization Oz Ve’Hadar also does this valuable work – some of the scrolls were originally read in communities destroyed in the Shoah.