Welcome to our first News Round-Up of news from Israel, about Israel and how it will affect the rest of us. We value your opinions and questions, so feel free to comment and let us know what you think.
Trip leader Shuka Revak (center), 86, fulfills a life-long dream as he reaches Avdat in Israel from Jordan’s Petra, February 2018. (courtesy of The Times of Israel)
Yehoshua “Shuka” Ravek, an octogenarian and well-known hiking guide in Israel, trekked some 100 kilometers (62 miles) by foot, walking from Petra, Jordan, to Avdat in the Israeli Negev. From February 18-23, Ravek walked along with a group of some 40 Israelis and, at one point, a handful of Jordanians and two camels.
He wanted the camels to accurately retrace the steps of the ancient Incense Route from the 3rd century BCE and credited to Nabatean traders. It was a long-held dream of his to retrace this ancient route and hopefully find the “lost” section. The camels helped to determine if the path really could support this means of transportation.
Roman milestones found along newly discovered section of the Incense Route-Feb 2018 (Times Of Israel)
So when his group came across a long-lost section of the Incense Route marked by the ancient Roman milestones, it was “pure joy”. Having done some research and educated guessing prior to the hike, which took them in a different direction than scholars had previously tried, it was incredible to realize that their trek had paid off in a big way.
Negev tourism consultant Yoni Shtern, who helped with organizing this hike, was also hopeful that this would help in getting a new border crossing opened in the Arava Desert, something that is possible with the 1994 peace agreement.
“For these two states, joint tourism efforts can build peace,” said Shtern. “The Incense Route is stronger than a border. It can be the link between the two nations.”
Check Point co-founder Marius Nacht set up a nonprofit called 8400 to promote Israel’s healthcare technologies (wealthX.com)
Billionaire Marius Nacht, the co-founder of $17 billion cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., has set his sights on Israel’s healthcare technology. Having set up aMoon, a life sciences venture capital fund that invests in innovative health technologies, he has now founded a nonprofit organization that aims to make Israel a global leader on the healthcare map. His own father’s battle with cancer was a catalyst in opening this non-profit and Nacht is confident that they can see huge leaps forward in healthcare technologies.
The 8400 Health Network run by Nacht and co-founder Yair Schindel is focused on marrying the fields of healthcare and technology to help Israel become a life science powerhouse. “Technology is meeting healthcare and science in a big way,” Schindel said in an interview with The Times of Israel at aMoon’s offices in Raanana, in central Israel.
The idea is to create a network of 400 people over eight years, said Schindel; hence the NGO’s name, 8400. Hope for all nations could be only a few years away.
Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu at the AIPAC conference in Washington DC. (courtesy of MFA.gov.il)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC this past week as he has done for several years and received a warm, boisterous welcome. AIPAC is a non for profit organization based in Washington, DC whose mission is to strengthen, protect and promote the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of the United States and Israel.
A key point the Prime Minister made was the increase in diplomatic relations between Israel and other countries. Today the count is at 160 which is a significant increase from the days when Netanyahu served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. back in the early 1980’s and the count was approximately 80 to 90 countries.
Following is an excerpt from his remarks: “The bad things are getting worse, and they’re very bad. The force behind so much of what is bad is this radical tyranny in Tehran. We must stop Iran.”
And further on he stated, “As we counter Iran’s aggression, we should always remember, we should always remember the brave people of Iran: their suffering, their hopes, their courage. Women are jailed for removing their hijabs. Students are tortured, tortured and shot for advocating freedom. We stand with those in Iran who stand for freedom. Now I believe that a day will come when this horrible tyranny will disappear, will perish from the earth and at that point, the historic friendship between the people of Israel and the people of Persia will be reestablished. Today we have Haman. Tomorrow we’ll have Cyrus and friendship and peace.”
Michael Pompeo, Present Director of the CIA and soon to be named Secretary of State. (wikipedia)
This week the American Secretary of State was dismissed and a new successor named by President Donald Trump. The President appointed the present CIA Director, Mike Pompeo, as Rex Tillerson’s replacement.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu welcomed the appointment of Mike Pompeo and made the following statement:
“During my meetings with Pompeo I was very impressed with his abilities and experience. I believe that in his role as Secretary of State we will also work very well together,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Tillerson’s dismissal was due largely to his support of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and the opposing view that Trump held. Netanyahu’s own views on Iran are no secret and since Pompeo is also a harsh critic of the nuclear deal with Iran it is easy to see that Trump, Pompeo and Netanyahu will most likely be meeting together in short order.
The Czech media reported on Thursday that President Milos Zeman is interested in expediting the transfer
of his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The President was quoted as saying,“It makes me truly happy because, as I said during my visit to Israel four years ago, I would appreciate the transfer of the Czech Embassy to Jerusalem, and had it happened, we would have been the first to do so,” said Zeman, “Now we may sooner or later follow the United States. In any case, it is still better than nothing.”
The Czech newspaper, Lidové Noviny reported that an interministerial working group met in Israel in late February to promote the move of the Czech embassy to Jerusalem. There is some opposition with one roadblock being the Czech government does not own any property in Jerusalem that would be suitable for an embassy.
If President Zeman’s enthusiasm for this move is any indication, it doesn’t appear that the lack of a building will stop the Czech’s.
Former Miss Israel Yityish “Titi” Aynaw, the first Ethiopian to achieve the title.
Aynaw, who was crowned Miss Israel in 2013, was invited to visit South Africa by the South African Friends of Israel. Her visit included speaking engagements to diverse SA communities to share her inspiring story and to join in different community projects.
When asked what she would offer as advice to other South Africans who could relate to her upbringing and wanted to achieve their own success, she quickly corrected an implied thought. “First of all, my success did not come from being Miss Israel. My success came from school, from me successfully integrating as an immigrant, to the point that I was a First Officer of more than 300 soldiers in the army, being in charge, a leader. It is one thing to be beautiful, you need to be educated, and you need to be smart. Your mind is your best weapon. Beauty can fade, and many other things can fade, but what you have in your mind will stay with you forever.”
Beautifully said Miss Aynaw. We hope to see you soon back in South Africa!
