Abraham, the first Jew, was told to journey
from Ur of the Chaldees to the Promised Land where he would become a blessing
to the world. Some 4000 years later his
descendants in the Jewish State are traversing the planet with innovative
products, technology and aid to benefit humanity.
An Israeli delegation is currently in Rwanda,
as part of a program helping the poor east African nation save millions of
dollars a year through recycling and green technology. At the International Water Association’s
annual conference in Lisbon, Israelis presented creative solutions to global
water problems. At the same event, Israel’s Miya received the IWA’s Project
Innovation Award, Asia Pacific Region, for significantly improving urban water
system efficiency in Manila,
Philippines.
Israel’s G-Med, the world’s first and only
global social-professional network exclusively for physicians, allows doctors
anywhere to consult with colleagues, and manage multinational research
projects. Since its 2013 launch, G-Med
has linked up 20,000 medical professionals in
over 50 countries. One project,
initiated by
Israeli biotech Pharmaseed brings Israeli,
Jordanian and Swiss researchers together to search for a cure for
cutaneous leishmaniasis. The parasitic
disease is common in the Middle East and can cause death in patients with weak
immune systems.
Doctors at Hadassah Medical Center not only
perform complex cardiac surgeries on Palestinian Arab children, they also train
Arab physicians so that they can treat Palestinian Arabs closer
to home. However, the major humanitarian story
this week concerns the Israeli NGO IsraAid, which has been distributing beds,
blankets, basic supplies and food to over 1,000 Yazidis and Christians fleeing
the Islamic State (IS or ISIS) terror organization in
the Kurdish regions of Iraq.
Israeli technology has certainly gone
global. The Olympic Committee and the
agencies managing the 2016 Rio
de Janeiro Olympiad have selected Israel’s ISDS to integrate systems
security for the world's
biggest sporting event. Amazon
Web Services is partnering with Israel’s CTERA Networks for its technology to
secure storage in
the cloud. Meanwhile, Israel’s
Dr. Eli Harari just received the U.S.
National Medal of Technology and Innovation for his invention that led
to Flash Memory. And in 2013 alone, one billion products
were sold globally with microprocessor chips developed by Israel’s CEVA Inc. The latest Asus
PadFone X hybrid smartphone-tablet contains a CEVA digital signals
processor.
The next generation of Israeli scientists
is already receiving the global treatment.
Eight Israeli high school students from the Ilan Ramon Youth Physics
Center at Ben-Gurion University earned the top
prizes in the latest “First Step to Nobel Prize in Physics”
international competition. Some 80
nations participate in the annual competition, which is held in Warsaw. Ten major Israeli and multinational
high-tech companies are encouraging Israeli children to achieve the same
success in Math. Intel, Sandisk,
Marvell Israel, Microsoft, IBM, Qualcomm, Red Hat, Amdocs, eBay, and Philips
have combined efforts in order to double the number of Israeli high school
pupils matriculating in the five units of Math.
Keeping track of world shipping isn’t as
straightforward as you might think. The
Automatic Identification System that supposedly tracks the global
position of maritime freight is being manipulated to conceal criminal
activities and worse. Secure technology
from Israel’s Windward provides reliable data for both economic and security
purposes. No secrets about the growing
attraction of global
travel to the Jewish State. Due
to increased demand, British Airways is adding six more weekly flights this
coming summer, raising the seat capacity on the London-Tel Aviv route by about
50%. Also schedule changes will give passengers more convenient connections
to/from North American destinations.
We can certainly expect an increase in
business travel between
Israel and California following the first annual California Israel
International Business Summit at Microsoft’s Mountain View Campus last
week. And the Canada-Israel Industrial
Research Development Foundation announced a new program to encourage research
and development between Saskatchewan
and Israel, and strengthen innovation and economic ties. Hi-tech trade links continues to develop
with China,
where Israel’s SCR Engineers are installing dairy cow monitoring
technology. Finally, Japanese Culture
Week in Jerusalem showed that Japan
has definitely found the Israeli market. Under the guidance of the
Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Japanese food manufacturers are even
obtaining kosher certification.
Those lucky employees of Google Israel that
get a chance to spend some quality time in the Jewish State will be able to
appreciate working in one of the World’s
Coolest Offices – as can be seen on pages 5 – 8 of Inc. Magazine’s 4th
annual list. Even millions
of migrating birds use Israel’s Hula valley as a global hub, enjoying
some Israeli hospitality on their way to their winter retreat in Africa.
Finally, as millions of Jews worldwide
finish celebrating the first global
Shabbat (Sabbath) Project together, a new world-class film is about to
have its international premiere. “Body
and Soul: The state of the Jewish Nation” tells of the remarkable journeys
made by the Jewish people. It
culminates with the establishment of the modern Jewish State – a global
powerhouse - in the land where it all began.
Israel – a nation of trailblazers.
Michael Ordman writes a free weekly
newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.
For a free subscription, email a request to
michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
