Israel's Good Deeds around the World
by Israel HighWay Staff

Many Americans know that Israel receives millions of dollars in aid each year from the United States government and from private Jewish organizations. Do they know, however, that Israel military personnel and rescue specialists were on the scene at the U.S. Embassy in Kenya after it was attacked by terrorists and rescued numerous people from the rubble? Do they know that Israel sent tons of medical supplies, food, clothing and medical teams to victims of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean and to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina? While Israel does receive financial support from outside sources, the country is also a proud donor of money, expertise and equipment around the world.

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Israel's Gaza Front-Line Under Fire by Andrew Lee Butters

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday promised a "severe and harsh" reaction to the recent rocket attacks. But despite the tough talk, it's likely that Israel's response will be restricted to air strikes targeting militant leaders, cells, and rocket launch sites - and such tactics have done little to halt attacks in the past. But a large-scale incursion into Gaza to stop the missile attacks would involve too much manpower and too much risk.

Nor is there much that Sderot can do to protect itself. Advanced anti-rocket laser systems are both prohibitively expensive and hardly fool-proof against Qassams, which cost next to nothing to build. So, the town makes due with a basic early warning system involving a surveillance balloon moored on its outskirts providing a view over Gaza, and alarms that sound when there is a rocket launch.

Eli Moyal, the town mayor, said that militants time their attacks in the morning in order to catch students on their way to school. "They know our schedule," he said. "My biggest nightmare is that a rocket would hit a yellow bus." The government has made a mistake by showing restraint against in order to avoid killing innocent Palestinians, he said. "There only two options: Do you want innocent people killed on this side, or do you want innocent people killed on that side." Unfortunately, that's just the kind of moral quandary Hamas wants Israel to be in. (Time)

A Shavuot Harvest by Yael Ivri

On the eve of Shavuot, thousands of volunteers spread out across Israel to pick fruit and vegetables for those in need. The harvest event, "Leket 24," took place in many farms throughout Israel, from Nitzanim in the south, through farms in Hod Hasharon and Rehovot, to Kibbutz Lavi in the north.

The efforts are led by the "Table to Table" organization.

Who hasn’t seen the enormous quantities of food thrown out by banquet halls, farmers, or IDF bases? Consider the following: every year some 1.2 million tons of food, valued at some NIS 8 billion ($2 billion) is thrown away in Israel. "Table to Table" transports surplus food to soup kitchens and organizations that help people in need, food rescue is an all-out war, waged every day.

"A large portion of the unused food is fruits and vegetables that were not picked at all because there is no demand for them in the market or because of slight blemishes," says Table to Table founder Joseph Gitler (pictured). "This year we decided to hold a day of awareness in which thousands of participants will pick over 30 tons of fruits and vegetables and through them we’ll also save the hard work of the farmers, which is going to waste."

For Gitler, a lawyer who made aliyah from the United States seven years ago, Table to Table is the fulfillment of a dream. Reports of widespread poverty in Israel caused him to leave his job in high tech four years ago and to set up Table to Table, and to this day he refuses to accept payment for his work there. (Ynet News)

A Shabbat in Sderot by Yonatan Hirschhorn

We saw Kassams fall today. One fell right near where we were. I saw it fall in the street. A few also fell in the wheat field near us and we watched it burn during the day.

I live in Gush Etzion outside of Jerusalem and spent this Shabbat with 200 fellow Israelis in Sderot through an Israeli non-profit organization call Lev Echad. Lev Echad (One Heart) was founded to help the citizens of Gush Katif when they were forced to leave in the summer of 2005. Last summer, as bombs were falling throughout the North, we spent the war going from bomb shelter to bomb shelter helping entertain the kids and doing whatever was needed during the war with Lebanon. Now, we are needed in Sderot and so we came here. The situation is really bad in Sderot. People are very frightened. Everyone knows someone who has been hurt or has died. A family member, a friend...someone.

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Yonatan Hirschhorn, 19, lives in Neve Daniel with his family and studies in the mechina (army preparatory) program in Otniel. (Special to Israel HighWay)

Life-Saving Surgery for Children Exposes Big Heart of Israeli Organization by Patricia Golan

On a day in late March six small children - two from Ethiopia, one from Nigeria, and three from Gaza - are recovering in a special intensive care unit at the Wolfson Medical Center in the Tel Aviv suburb of Holon. Two of the patients are such tiny infants that it is hard to imagine where there was room to conduct the intricate heart surgeries they've just undergone.

The children are the latest beneficiaries of the Save a Child's Heart organization , the largest such program in the world providing urgent free pediatric heart surgery and follow up care for children from Third World and developing countries. More than 1,600 children from 26 different countries have been brought to Israel for life-saving surgery under the program since it was founded in 1992, and more arrive every week. (Israel 21c)

Israeli Eye Surgeons Restore Sight to Patients in Developing World by Laura Wiessen

Emmanuel Schwalb and Dr. Dan Sachs, head of Tel Hashomer Medical Center's Cataract Department in Tel Aviv, have traveled together three times under the MASHAV umbrella: twice to Uzbekistan and once to Palau, Micronesia. While overseas, each doctor performs seven to nine cataract surgeries per day totaling more than 100 operations in two weeks overseas. They work in local settings ranging from basic to advanced. The two surgeons undertook their missions as part of MASHAV, a program operated by Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Center for International Cooperation. Founded in 1960, MASHAV brings Israeli expertise in medicine, agriculture and other fields to countries in the developing world.

I wanted to do something without being paid for it," explains the Egyptian-born Sachs. "Something only for the people of the world who can't go to the hospital or get medicine. It's something for the soul." (Israel21c)

Flag Football: National Teams to Play on Patriots' Turf

Ever dream about playing football on an actual NFL field? The national flag football teams will be living out their dreams this weekend when they play top US competition at the New England Patriots' home, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The teams' visit follows an invitation from Myra Kraft, chairperson of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, to take part in their Israel Independence Day event, "New England Celebrates Israel," which will be held at Gillette Stadium. Robert Kraft, who owns the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, is a co-sponsor of the celebration. The delegation includes 25 players and American Football in Israel president Steve Leibowitz. (Jerusalem Post)

From Rhoda to Golda by Nathan Burstein

Actress Valerie Harper, best known for playing the brassy Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda, arrived in Israel earlier this month for the world premiere screening of the new film, a one-woman piece based on the Tony-winning Broadway drama Golda's Balcony .

A featured selection at the Eilat International Film Festival, the movie debuted on what would have been Meir's 109th birthday, and was introduced with the help of Aharon Yadlin, a minister in Meir's famed "kitchen cabinet" and the secretary-general of the Labor Party during Meir's years at the head of the government. The movie's producers are currently concentrating on efforts to market it to American distributors - they hope for a limited theatrical run in major U.S. cities, and TV broadcasts later on HBO or PBS. (Jerusalem Post)

Donna Karan Sets Her Designs on Israel by Simona Kogan

The head of the DKNY label, Donna Karan (pictured), was visiting Israel's Shenkar College of Engineering and Design last week to accept an Honorary Fellow award, teach a Master Class, set up a scholarship through the school's American Committee, and open her exhibit, 'Journey of a Woman' showcasing her work and design philosophy. Dressed impeccably in an army-inspired green and black camouflage wrap draped over a black halter-top and leggings, Karan promoted the significance of fabric at the opening of the exhibit at Shenkar. Aside from fabric and culture, Karan told ISRAEL21c that she counts bathing suits, the Dead Sea, children, and history, as inspirations for her in Israel. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate these young designers," she said. "There's too much strife in the world. If we become united in our creativity, not only in what we wear, but what we do, we will change the world. It's truly an honor to be around such inspiration." (Israel 21c)

Heart in Israel, Home (Court) in New York by Lynn Zinser

When the WNBA Liberty opens its season Sunday at Madison Square Garden against Chicago, Doron, a 5-foot-9 guard, will become the first Israeli to play in the W.N.B.A.

Shay wants to show Americans an Israeli success story, and she wants to show Israelis what can be accomplished if they dream big. In the United States, Doron serves as a walking tourism video for her native country. She describes Israel to everyone she meets. "I want Americans to know Israel, how beautiful it is," Doron said. "You have to get there and see that it isn’t as scary as you see on the news." (New York Times)

Punish Hamas

Hamas is to blame for both of the wars it insists on fighting, against Fatah and against Israel. If Hamas had decided, after its election victory and the complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, to focus on ending corruption and improving the Palestinian standard of life, the situation in Gaza would by now have been relatively peaceful and much improved. Instead, Hamas has chosen the path of endless war. Hamas must be punished for this. (Jerusalem Post)

Rocket from Gaza Editorial

The growing willingness of Arab and European states to tolerate and even aid the Hamas movement has been based on the notion that Hamas could be coaxed toward more civilized behavior and tacit recognition of Israel; that is why many supported the creation of a "unity" government of Hamas with the secular and more moderate Fatah. But Hamas leader Khaled Meshal and his sponsors in Syria and Iran have a very different agenda: to use force to intimidate and eventually dominate Fatah, and to wage an unending war of attrition against Israel. (Washington Post)

Expanding the Israeli Prism by Sean Gannon

The international media continues to refract every Israeli issue through the prism of the Palestinian question but the occasion of Israel's fifty-ninth birthday last month presented an opportunity to step back from the ongoing conflict and take stock of its many accomplishments. For since its foundation in 1948 Israel has established itself as a highly-developed, modern democratic state and a major player on the international stage.

For example, Israel is today a global force in the field of in science and technology. Medicine is another field in which Israel has excelled. Israeli pharmaceutical companies such as Teva and Abic produce some of the world's leading therapeutic drugs while the medical device industry is considered the most sophisticated in the world with Israel ranking first in the world in patents per capita. But Israel's scientific and technological pre-eminence has not been achieved at the expense of its cultural life. As a melting pot of European, Middle Eastern and African cultural traditions, it has also made a rich contribution to the world of the arts. Israeli authors such as Amos Oz, A.B. Yehoshua and David Grossman are feted throughout the literary world (Israel has the second highest publication of new books per capita in the world) while the poetry of Yehuda Amichai ranks among the greatest of the 20th century.

Even though the Palestinian issue looms large within the context of Israel and the world, the international media should occasionally take time to look beyond the conflict and acknowledge six decades of these impressive Israeli achievements.

Sean Gannon works as a freelance writer and researcher on Irish and Israeli affairs. (Israel21c)