Israel Active

Ronn Torossian writes that Israeli start-ups create, build, innovate, create jobs, spark the economy and help make the world better. They exemplify something great about the Jewish State and the Jewish people.? Innovation, guts, brains, hard work – it’s wonderful to see. Zionism 2014.

Israeli archeologists have finished uncovering a massive Canaanite fortress dating back to the time of Kings David and Solomon. The 3,800-year-old “Spring Citadel” was excavated in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem.

The disappearance of Malaysian flight MH370 has led to the emergence of another story. In 1970, El Al pilot Uri Bar-Lev used bravery, trained skills (plus something that cannot be defined) to disarm two armed PFLP terrorists who threatened to blow up his plane at 29,000 feet.

Seven Aliya fairs took place simultaneously in major cities across North America. Some 1,500 showed up to the Nefesh B'Nefesh Aliyah Mega Event in Times Square. Other fairs took place in Toronto, Montreal, Florida, Baltimore, Chicago and Los Angeles.

On the recent Jewish festival of Purim, two window cleaners dressed as the superhero Spiderman cheered up young patients at Israel’s Schneider Children’s Medical Center.

The UK’s Zionist Federation has launched its re-branded image. It has also released a new film that publicizes Israel’s technological achievements, thriving economy and culture.

Naale Elite Academy enables students to complete their last three years of high school in Israel while learning to be independent, self-sufficient and resilient. The program, co-funded by the State of Israel and the Jewish Agency, provides a full scholarship with all expenses paid until graduation.

United With Israel has just featured my hometown. The Marmaluke ruins, the Yemenite museum and the Iris reserve enhance the beautiful beaches, exciting shuk and splendid eateries.

Israelis contributed NIS 5.7 billion (approx £1 billon or $1.6 billion) to nonprofit organizations in Israel in 2011 - up from NIS 4.1 billion in 2009. It is the first comparison ever performed by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics.

The Azrieli family has donated $21 million to Israel’s Technion, to help build a Tel Aviv campus. David Azrieli, 91, studied at the Technion in the 1940s and fought in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence.