30 years of trade ties under cloud of grief

■ THE PLANNED celebration of the 30th anniversary of trade ties between Taiwan and Israel will be held under a cloud of grief over the vast loss of life, serious injuries, and substantial damage to property. The anniversary event by way of a conference held in conjunction with Zulat, the Movement for Equality and Human Rights, which will take place on Monday, April 8 at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, will also include a Taiwanese film, Who’ll Stop the Rain?
Conference participants will include head of the Taiwanese mission in Israel Yaping Abby Lee, Zulat President and former head of Meretz Zehava Galon, former MK Nira Shpak, who is a member of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Dr. Manal Totry Jubran of the Bar-Ilan University Law Faculty, and Pnina Tamano-Shata, who chairs the Knesset Committee on the Advancement of the Status of Women, with Zulat CEO Einat Ovadia as moderator.

Helping evacuees and families of hostages 

■ FAMILIES OF the hostages and evacuees from the North and South of the country are highly appreciative of all the things that are being done to ease their plight, but many are frustrated because the government is not remaining true to its promise to help farmers and other reservists or employers of reservists who have been called to fight.
In Israel’s convoluted bureaucratic system, there are always people who fall between the cracks and miss out on whatever benefits the government or other official agencies are supposedly making available. They trek from office to office in the attempt to find solutions to their various problems – and no one seems to have a solution. Meanwhile, the problems are exacerbating.

But it’s not just a matter of finance or extra hands on the job. Many of the evacuees are not working due to the situation, and they feel worthless because they are not doing anything. This could have a long-term effect on their mental health.

CLASSROOM FOR evacuees from Gaza border communities (credit: RASHI FOUNDATION)
CLASSROOM FOR evacuees from Gaza border communities (credit: RASHI FOUNDATION)

JNF-UK came up with a partial solution to that particular problem and initiated a project for the building of garden furniture for dozens of families who were evacuated from Kibbutz Nirim to apartment complexes in Beersheba. The “do it yourself” project was carried out in cooperation with the Nirim community.

“This activity was intended not only in response to a practical need, but also to symbolize the resilience and unity of the community in the face of the ongoing plight of the kibbutz members,” said Yonatan Galon, director of JNF-UK in Israel. “ As we know, Yagav Buchstab and Nadav Popplewell are still hostages in Gaza.

“Through the process of creating the furniture, the participants found comfort and purpose in the act of creation,” Galon continued. “When the community worked side by side, sawing, sanding, and assembling, they were able to discover their resilience and strength. Basically, each piece of furniture becomes a tangible symbol of their resilience and determination to rebuild their lives.”

Emergency war relief fund has raised millions

■ ALSO EAGER to help people overcome the traumatic effects of the war is Ogen (Anchor), an Emergency War Relief Fund that aims to significantly broaden low-interest loans for families, small businesses, and nonprofits.
So far in response to appeals from vulnerable communities, Ogen has raised $55 million and has already provided $21m. in critical loans, with more than half going to small business proprietors in peripheral areas.
Reserve soldiers and farmers have received targeted assistance, but there are still many people in both categories who say they have received nothing. The success of Ogen’s fundraising campaign was in no small measure due to the generosity of Trudy and Bob Gottesman, Shari Arison, Jonathan Bendheim, Jewish Federations of North America, and SparkIL, which is jointly owned by the Jewish Agency for Israel, UJA-New York, and others.
Many Israelis, diplomats, and visitors to Israel have volunteered to work on farms, but inexperience sometimes overrides goodwill.

Volunteers work a farm in Israel. (credit: MOSAIC UNITED)
Volunteers work a farm in Israel. (credit: MOSAIC UNITED)

Nonetheless, farmers are urging Israelis to buy only Israeli produce for Passover to ease the financial burdens of Israeli fruit and vegetable growers, and likewise, matza bakeries see no reason for Israelis to eat imported matzot – in particular, the matza bakery that was established some 18 months ago in Netivot, which employs some 50 people from Netivot, Sderot, Ofakim, and other communities in the area.
However, when war was declared, Yedidia Harush, one of the partners in the enterprise, was called up as a reservist, and the matza bakery did not operate for several weeks while he was in Gaza. As a result, the bakery lost a lot of potential income because orders were canceled. Large-scale orders for matzot start to come into all matza bakeries immediately after Rosh Hashanah. 
As no one knew when the bakery in Netivot would start to function again, many of the orders were transferred elsewhere and the bakery, which is now NIS 2 million, in deficit and facing bankruptcy, can be saved from closure if people come to buy for themselves, for a soldier, or for a needy family or individual. The bakery also supports soldiers in Gaza by delivering matzot directly to them.
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Keynote speaker at the Israel Dinner: John Bolton

■ ALTHOUGH no longer in office, John Bolton is regarded as a voice to which people should listen, regardless as to whether or not they agree with him. Bolton will be the keynote speaker at the Israel Dinner, which will kick off the conference of the Middle East Foreign Policy Forum in Washington, DC on May 13.

John Bolton. (credit: NOAM REVKIN FENTON/FLASH90)
John Bolton. (credit: NOAM REVKIN FENTON/FLASH90)

Among the high-ranking positions that Bolton has held are those of US national security advisor and ambassador to the United Nations. In the aftermath of October 7, Bolton is more convinced than ever of the critical need for the United States to confront the growing Iranian threat. He will share his perspectives on this issue at the dinner.

President's prize for hospitals and medical personnel

■ MEDICAL PERSONNEL, unless they happen to be researchers, work without any expectation of a reward for their labors. The reward for the dedicated service of doctors and nurses is when they save the life of a near-death patient.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev President Daniel Chamovitz believes that they are entitled to more appreciation, especially for the superhuman efforts that staff in Negev medical centers have displayed on a daily basis since October 7.
At the upcoming annual meeting of the BGU Board of Governors, Chamovitz will present the President’s Prize to the directors of Soroka, Barzilai, and Assuta Ashdod university medical centers in recognition of the high professional standards with which they have treated literally thousands of patients with a plethora of ailments and injuries.
Chamovitz firmly believes that the dedicated medical teams in the Negev deserve more recognition, as in many respects they are on a par or even more advanced than some of the internationally renowned hospitals in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa, at all levels of the medical profession.
The three medical center directors, Dr. Erez Barenboim, of Assuta Ashdod, Dr. Hezi Levi of Barzilai, and Dr. Shlomi Codish of Soroka, will receive the President’s Prize for the manner in which they and their staffs have risen to new challenges.

Reward for hasbara

■ AT THE end of last month, the Students Supporting Israel movement was honored with the Medal of Valor Award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center. This accolade is in recognition of a decade-long commitment to grassroots campus activism.
The award announcement video features SSI’s President and Founder Ilan Sinelnikov. Also present at the award announcement were the CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Jim Berk, and SWC activists Donald Soffer and Gabriel Erem.

The Hatikvah initiative

■ ANY GOOD idea is worth repeating, and so many ideas are indeed emulated, but the implementers don’t always do their homework. Too often, individuals and organizations believe they are the first or the only, when in fact the project on which they are engaged was initially launched years ago.
Case in point is the global Hatikvah initiative to inspire hope and promote peace through thousands of voices united in song, through the release of a new arrangement of “Hatikvah” by award-winning composer, violinist, producer, and songwriter Maxwell Karmazyn. It is hoped that the anthem celebrating nationhood and all that Israel means to Jews around the globe as a place of safety and strength will contribute to greater unity and cooperation.
The initiative proposes that individuals from all over the world sing alongside the recording of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, record themselves doing so, and then submit their recordings on their websites to be combined into a single virtual chorus in which thousands of voices will be raised in support of Israel, to be premiered online on Independence Day.
It’s a fine idea – except for one thing. It’s already been done before by Israeli philanthropist Galia Albin back in 2010, when she staged a highly publicized pro-Israel extravaganza – but not with the participation of the IPO.

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