Israel Active

The IDF’s new 5-year plan includes groundbreaking advances in AI, robotics, and space defense, to revolutionize Israel’s military capabilities. The plan has been dubbed “Hoshen” in reference to the biblical breastplate that the Jewish High Priest consulted to interpret messages from above.

Nefesh B’Nefesh held its largest Israel Fair, “Here Next Year” with 600 gap-year participants, all interested in exploring pathways to Aliyah and long-term life in Israel. Some 32 booths focused on Aliyah, Israeli universities, Sherut Leumi national service and more.

Maj. (ret.) Andrew Fox served for 16 years in the British Army. He writes that the 2023-25 war in Gaza provides timely lessons for NATO forces, their governments and their allies for intense combat in densely populated cities. IDF medical experience can keep UK troops alive.

Israel’s newest public hospital, Assuta Ashdod, was never meant to be a primary destination for emergency helicopter evacuations from Gaza. But being only 16 miles from Gaza, it treated 60% of soldiers injured in the war’s most severe phases, with a 96% survival rate.

Over 65,000 people now live in Israel’s Gaza border region, surpassing pre-Oct 7 2023 figures, as communities rebuild and new residents arrive. 62,000 residents were evacuated from the region after the Hamas invasion.

US Ambassador Mike Huckabee was touring caves with his daughter, Sarah, and grandchildren, near Na’ale in Binyamin. The children had a metal detector and unearthed five ancient coins, possibly dating to the Bar Kokhba Revolt, or the Late Roman period.

A new survey by the Jewish People Policy Institute found 33% of Jewish Israelis ages 25 and under report observing more religious traditions since the war began. Among young Jews who identify as “traditional, somewhat religious,” 51% said they’ve increased religious practices.

A new survey by the Jewish People Policy Institute found 33% of Jewish Israelis ages 25 and under report observing more religious traditions since the war began. Among young Jews who identify as “traditional, somewhat religious,” 51% said they’ve increased religious practices.

Rabbi Gershon Litt received the 2025 Jeffrey R. Solomon Prize. It recognizes an exceptional Jewish communal professional who has made a profound and lasting impact on the Jewish journeys of young adults on Birthright Israel trips and through his professional work.

Many news outlets are saying that immigration to Israel has fallen. True, the flood of Russians and Ukrainians has slowed, but Aliya from North America is up 12% to a 4-year high of 4,150. Chief reasons are heightened feelings of Zionism and solidarity since the outbreak of the war. z