Israel Active

29-year-old French-born, UK-raised lone soldier Isaac Moyal is Israel’s oldest recruit to the paratroop regiment. He has already shown that he can more than keep up with teenagers. It helps that he has a brown belt in kickboxing and does Krav Maga (self-defense), freerunning, and rollerblading.

A flash mob cheers up travelers on the Jerusalem light railway. After all, it’s the Hebrew month of Adar Sheni and the Jewish festival of Purim is approaching.

The Israel Tech Challenge, a new initiative by The Jewish Agency, will offer young gifted Jewish students in computer science from around the world - among them Ivy League students and employees of companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google - an insider's look at the Startup Nation.

Just over a year ago I reported on IDF Captain Ziv Shilon who lost an arm in a Hamas attack but returned to duty shortly afterwards. I’m pleased to write that he proposed to his girlfriend at a “Friends of the Israel Defense Forces” event in Florida, and she said, “Yes”.

11th March sees the launch of “Good Deeds Day – Kulanana” with its aim to get one million Israeli citizens to take part. The goal is to strengthen the fabric of Israeli society by encouraging cooperation between Israel’s different communities.

The long-eared owl, a nocturnal bird of prey, was once a rare sight in Israel, but in recent years it has proliferated. Like a number of other species of birds, the long-eared owl has become more common in the North and similar areas, having become accustomed to the expanded, JNF-KKL forests.

The best entrepreneurial incubator in the world might actually be created via conscription … the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). A crop of successful new entrepreneurs is coming out of Israel and they credit military schooling for their success.

(Thanks to Yoram Ettinger) According to the latest Gallup poll, Israel was rated favorably by 72% of Americans. This compares to 66% at this time last year and is the highest level since 1991.

Israel's Ambassador to the UK, Daniel Taub gave an enthralling talk at the UK Limmud Conference. It is a personal, funny and surprisingly moving portrait of contemporary Israel.

A recent IBA broadcast featuring some of the 1 billion feathered visitors to Israel.