Israeli Society

Israeli Society

SAVE A CHILD’S HEART PERFORMS ITS 5,000TH LIFE-SAVING SURGERY

Twenty years ago, a baby girl, Balkis, was taken to Israel to undergo critical surgery. Balkis had been born with a severe congenital heart defect, and in her native Zanzibar she could not receive the proper treatment.

However, only a couple of years before, in 1995, an Israeli non-profit organization, Save a Child’s Heart, had been established…

Israeli Society

The top 12 ways Israel is feeding the world

As the global population expands and natural resources dwindle, food security is a critical concern. Smart solutions for more efficient farming, hardier crops, alternative sources of nutrition and safer food packaging and storage are essential.

No other single country—certainly not one as young and as tiny as Israel—has contributed more…

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Israelis rush to aid Venezuelan refugees in Colombia

Israeli humanitarian aid agency IsraAID reports that it has dispatched an emergency response team to the city of Cúcuta, on Colombia’s border with Venezuela, which is a flashpoint in the ongoing Venezuelan displacement crisis.

Thousands cross the Simon Bolivar Bridge from Venezuela into Cúcuta every day seeking relief from the continued economic…

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Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer wins truth award

(May 22, 2019 / JNS) Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer will be recognized for his public statements in defense of Israel by the American non-profit organization Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) at a gala dinner next month.

The Emet Award celebration will take place in New York City on June 2….

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Earthquake in Israel rocks Haifa

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale was felt throughout Israel.

The temblor at about 8 p.m. Wednesday was centered about 125 miles off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the northern Israeli cities of Haifa and Hadera, according to Israel’s Geophysical Institute.

No injuries or damage have been reported.

Israeli Society

Israelis light up their grills, hit the beach to celebrate 71st Independence Day

Israel celebrates its Independence Day according to the Jewish calendar date of its founding on May 14, 1948
Tens of thousands of Israelis were expected to light up their grills and swarm the country’s beaches and national parks in celebration of Israel’s 71st Independence Day on Thursday.
Independence Day festivities began Wednesday evening after…

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Somber Memorial Day events begin with siren and ceremony at Western Wall

Israelis paid tribute Tuesday evening to the country’s fallen soldiers and terror victims, bowing their heads at 8 p.m. for a minute of silence as sirens sounded nationwide, marking Memorial Day.

In all, 95 new names were added over the past year to the roster of 23,741 soldiers who died defending the country. They include 40 disabled veterans…

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Israeli population to soar to 15.2 million by 100th anniversary

Israel’s population is expected to soar to 15.2 million by the time the state celebrates its centenary in 2048, according to data published by the Central Bureau of Statistics ahead of the country’s 71st Independence Day.

A mere 806,000 citizens resided in the State of Israel when David Ben-Gurion declared independence on May 14, 1948.

Today,…

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Israeli President Tasks Netanyahu With Forming New Government

Israel‘s president on Wednesday nominated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to head the next government, after he won the backing of a majority of members of parliament following an April 9 election.

In office for the past decade, Netanyahu won a fifth term despite an announcement by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in February that he intends…

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With almost all votes in, Netanyahu-led right wins decisively

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clinched a clear victory early Wednesday morning in Israel’s general elections.

With some 97 percent of votes in Tuesday’s contest counted, his Likud party was tied with Blue and White, but his right-wing/ultra-Orthodox bloc held a decisive lead and Netanyahu was thus safely en route to forming a majority…

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Israelis head out into the sunshine in celebration of democracy – comment

After the seamy campaign we just witnessed, it would be understandable to expect most of the eligible voters in Israel to stay in bed, hide under the covers and wait for Election Day to pass.

And nobody would throw blame for that. To say that the 40-odd parties running for the Knesset ran underwhelming campaigns – which avoided the issues as much…

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First lady Nechama Rivlin in stable condition after ‘quiet night’ in hospital

The wife of President Reuven Rivlin was in stable condition Wednesday morning, but still under sedation and on a respirator, after a sudden deterioration in her condition the prior evening prompted her hospitalization.

Nechama Rivlin was rushed to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva with difficulty breathing almost three weeks after receiving a…

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Israel Inaugurates Embassy in Rwanda

Israel opened an embassy in the central African country of Rwanda in its capital Kigali, on Monday. This is Israel’s 11th embassy in Africa.

The embassy “symbolizes the policy of Israel’s return to Africa, as was announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu three years ago and in light of which he visited the continent four times and…

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Over a thousand Israelis attend funeral for American lone soldier

Over 1,000 people attended the funeral of an American lone soldier in the Israel Defense Forces on Thursday, hours after a call went out on social media urging those who could to make it.

Alex Sasaki, 27, of Laguna Beach, California, was found dead earlier this week from a drug overdose, an official from the Keep Olim NGO who knew him told The…

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Netanyahu: Israel’s preparing for a broad campaign in Gaza

Israel is preparing for a broad campaign in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday after he visited southern Israel.

“I have ordered the strengthening of our troop so we can be prepared for a broad campaign. The citizens of Israel should know, that if we must embark on a broad campaign, we will hit them very hard, but only…

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Fearing further Gaza rockets, Tel Aviv, Netanya, other cities open bomb shelters

The cities of Tel Aviv, Rishon Lezion and Netanya were among a number of major Israeli population centers to open their bomb shelters on Monday evening in anticipation of possible rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

The directive to open the shelters came hours after an early morning rocket strike on a house in central Israel that wounded seven…

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‘My husband pulled our son from the window and the glass smashed a second later’

Residents of a central Israel community hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip recalled Monday that they weren’t sure they had heard a real air raid siren because an attack was so unexpected.

The attack triggered air raid sirens at approximately 5:20 a.m. throughout the Sharon and Emek Hefer regions north of Tel Aviv, the army said. Some…

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Netanyahu: Israel is in contact with six ‘important Arab, Islamic countries’

Addressing the state memorial ceremony for former Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is in contact with “half a dozen important Arab and Islamic countries.”

The ceremony was held at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, the very same site, Netanyahu pointed out, where Eshkol brought the remains of…