Israel Active

For the past three months, Tal, a convoy driver in the IDF Paratroopers Brigade has been raising Chiquita, a friendly rottweiler dog he rescued from Gaza. Tal paid for Chiquita to be vaccinated, neutered and kept in kennels for eight months until he finished reserve duty.

Good news can be extracted from this Israel Hayom summary of 2024. Aliya surge, Argentine hostages rescued, swimming medal in Doha, top Pizza restaurants, 1st response to Iran, Eurovision, 4 hostages rescued, Haniyeh, Olympic gold, pagers, Nasrallah, Sinwar, 2nd response to Iran, ceasefire & Syria.

Israel21c summarized the positive side of last year. Volunteering, humanitarian aid, rebuilding the south, recovery in the north, air defense, Air Haifa, Olympic medals, Eurovision, medical research, science awards, cybertech, AI, emergency response, wave energy, quantum computing, and more.

In the last week, Israel facilitated the transfer of 127 Gazan patients, mostly children, to the United Arab Emirates. In recent months, Israel has allowed 1,055 patients and caregivers, to pass through the Kerem Shalom Crossing for treatment in 13 countries.

Three new bullet-proof ambulances have been donated to Magen David Adom (MDA) for deployment in Samaria communities. Two were donated by the Akiva Fund in Switzerland while the third was donated by the Samaritans Purse organization in memory of Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

El Al is honoring IDF reservists who have served 100 days or more since Oct. 7, 2023 with 100 frequent flyer points for each day of their reserve duty. El Al has already distributed more than 20,000 free flight tickets to reserve IDF soldiers.

The IDF is forming the David Brigades - a reserve division for troops aged 38-58. It will comprise five brigades totalling 15,000 soldiers that will strengthen border defenses. Most of the reservists are volunteers with extensive experience gained during both their military service and civilian lives.

IDF figures show high motivation among recruits, with a high Nov-Dec enlistment rate for combat roles. The number of women joining combat roles rose 28%, attributed in part to a gender-specific unit in field intelligence and a new female infantry mobility training track.

Israeli researchers have analyzed the contents of “cave pearls” discovered in the millennia-old Joweizeh spring tunnel in the Jerusalem hills. The pearls, formed from mineral deposits, encased plaster from a building constructed around the time of the Hasmonean kings.

96-year-old Pearl Kronenberg Sapir has just made Aliya from New York. She was greeted at Ben Gurion airport by many of her 84 descendants from five generations - some of whom she met for the first time.  (see video at link)