Mayor Bevilacqua Leads Vaughan (Ontario, #Canada) Business Mission to Israel

Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua and DJ Schneeweiss, Consul General of Israel in Toronto, at the launch of the City of Vaughan’s Israel International Business Development Program at City Hall earlier this year.

The City of Vaughan is leading an innovative business mission to Israel that includes 23 participants representing 21 different companies. The mission, which will run from Sept. 28 to Oct. 6, is part of the City’s International Business Development program.

“Israel is an economy that is transforming itself and pursuing excellence in the same way that the City of Vaughan is pursuing excellence by creating opportunities for growth and expansion. The ultimate goal is economic growth which will improve our standard of living and quality of life,” said Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua. “This business mission to Israel shows our commitment to developing foreign markets and will allow us to build strategic relationships with leading Israeli companies. By building and enhancing the City’s international reputation and profile, we will demonstrate that Vaughan is a location for significant business success.”

The mission is being led by Mayor Bevilacqua and includes Ward 2 Councillor Tony Carella and Ward 5 Councillor Alan Shefman, as well as business representatives from the Greater Toronto Area. The City has partnered with the United Jewish Appeal Federation (UJA), the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the Government of Israel Economic Mission to Canada, Canada Israel Chamber of Commerce and ColdSpring Commerce to organize a series of activities designed to achieve a high return on investment for all the business mission participants.

The mission will include high-level meetings with government officials including the Mayor of the Eilot Regional Council, the Mayor of Eilat and the Charge D’affaires of the Canadian Embassy. The mission has also secured more than 150 one-on-one meetings with Israeli companies that are directly related to the high-tech, industrial, financial and academic sectors. The delegation will participate in an event hosted by the Jerusalem Business Networking Forum that is expected to attract a business audience of more than 100.

Israel is recognized as one of the most dynamic and innovative economies in the world and the program is designed to help businesses engage and collaborate with this thriving economy.

Centred in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem, the mission will focus on a number of innovative industry sectors including advanced manufacturing, environmental and green products, security, information technology, and scientific and technical products.

Some of the confirmed delegates have already made connections with Israeli businesses to network and prepare for their future international expansion. A business-to-business match-making process is a key component of the mission.

Participating organizations include Groundheat Systems Inc., SLG Consulting, Renewables and Energy Savings, Centennial College, York University, Elias Custom Metal Fabrication Ltd., Mircom Group of Companies, Canadian Gift Concepts/ABA Science Play, Gulf & Pacific Equities Corp., CompuOffice Software Inc., ColdSpring Commerce, Bond Street Mercantile, Domir Blinds Manufacturing Inc., Gulf and Pacific Equities Corp., and Hughes Decorr.

For more information on the City of Vaughan Business Mission to Israel please visit www.vaughan.ca/israel.

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2013 Vaughan Business Mission to Israel

Israel’s jobless rate declining

Central Bureau of Statistics figures reveal number of unemployed down to 226,000 in August from 232,000 in July – from 6.2% to 6.1%

Israel’s jobless rate dropped to 6.1% in August from 6.2% in July, according to figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The number of unemployed totaled 226,000 in August compared to 232,000 in July.

The number of participants in the labor force of those 15 years old and above stood at 3.705 million in August. The total participation rate in the labor force of those 15 years old and above climbed to 64% from 63.9% in July.

The figures further reveal that the number of unemployed men has gone up to 6.4% (from 6.3% in July 2013), while the number of unemployed women has dropped to 5.8% (from 6% in July 2013).

The total participation rate in the labor force in the 25-64 age group fell to 78.8% in August from 78.9% in July. The number of unemployed in this age group rose to 5.4% from 5.2% in July.

The number of employed working full time (more than 35 hours a week) went up 3.8% from July – an addition of 83,000 workers. The number of employed working part time (less than 35 hours a week) went up 0.5% from July – an addition of 5,000 workers.

The total jobless rate (calculated as the percentage of employed in the entire population) among those 15 years old and above went up to 60.1% in August (from 59.9% in July). The unemployment rate among men increased to 65.4% (from 64.9% in July), while the unemployment rate among women reached 55.1% (similar to July).

The jobless rate in the 25-64 age group dropped to 74.5% (from 74.8% in July). The unemployment rate among men aged 25-64 went down to 79.9% (from 80% in July), and the unemployment rate among women aged 25-64 went down to 69.2% (from 69.8% in July).

Source: Ynetnews.com

IAF's Hercules Squadrons United in a Ceremonial Sortie Over the Skies of Israel

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Watch the sortie over the skies of Israel celebrating the union of the Israel Air Force's Hercules squadrons, into one Hercules fleet.

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Israel sends ‘Bethlehem’ to Oscars

‘Bethlehem’ cast members on stage

Film focusing on relationship between Shin Bet agent, Palestinian informer takes home Ophir Award for Best Picture. Movie to represent Israel at Academy Awards in Best Foreign Language Film category

Two days after hitting cinema screens across Israel and after winning the feature film competition at the Haifa International Film Festival, Director Yuval Adler’s “Bethlehem” took home the Ophir Award for Best Picture on behalf of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television on Saturday evening.

The thriller, which takes place between Jerusalem and Bethlehem on the backdrop of a wave of terror attacks and the Shin Bet’s battle to thwart them, will represent Israel in February at the Oscars, where it will compete for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

“Bethlehem” was co-written by Adler and former Ynet reporter Ali Waked. The film focuses on Sanfur, a teenage Palestinian boy from Bethlehem whose brother is the commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in the city, who becomes a Shin Bet informant under the guidance and support of his Israeli operator, Razi. A suicide bombing in Jerusalem and the hunt for its masterminds threaten the close relationship between Razi and Sanfur – and their lives.

Adler’s debut film won a total of six prizes (out of 12 nominations) for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing (Ron Omer), Best Casting (Liron Zohar and Naama Zaltzman) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role, which was given to Tsahi Halevi for his portrayal of Razi.

Shhadi Maryee, 19, who plays Sanfur, lost the Best Actor in a Leading Role Award to veteran actor Makram Khoury who won for “Magic Men.” Adler comforted him on stage as he received the Best Director Award: “Shhadi, it’s a good thing you didn’t win. You’re too young.”

“It’s very exciting,” Tsahi Halevi told Ynet. “It’s surprising, just like the entire process I went through with ‘Bethlehem,’ starting with the casting, the rehearsals, the shooting period, up to the audience’s amazing reactions and the film industry’s support. It was a refreshing and challenging experience for me, and so is the film – surprising, refreshing, humane, and an experienced engraved deeply in one’s memory.”

Asked about his future plans, Halevi said: “Just like we did until now, taking one day at a time, one step at a time. The important thing is the way, and what leads us is the dreams.”

Continue reading via Ynetnews

Israeli innovators map future of indoor GPS

How do you get around unfamiliar maze of new shopping center, where location-pinpointing satellites don’t reach? As global race for next big app heats up, startup nation charges forward

A modern scenario: You check Facebook on your phone and see that a friend has posted about a one-hour-only, everything-half-off sale at a high-end electronics store in the new mall on the other side of town.

By clicking on the name of the store in your friend’s post, your phone automatically pulls up driving directions. You get in your car and, using the phone’s navigation system, arrive quickly at the shopping complex. But the sale is soon ending, and as soon as you enter the mall, your phone’s GPS no longer works.

Then you have a dilemma: When everything else in the world is just a few finger taps away, how do you get around the unfamiliar maze of a new shopping center, where location-pinpointing satellites don’t reach?

Upwards of 70 companies around the world are trying to solve this problem, and several Israeli startups are among the best – and latest – to enter the race.

Haifa-based GeinusMatcher recently released Mally, their indoor GPS app, at a shopping center in Toledo, Spain, with three more malls in that country signed up to begin using the service in the next couple months.

Mally is unique among its peers for its relative ease. A commercial complex wishing to utilize the program simply pays a monthly fee to GeniusMatcher, and shoppers can download the app for free to their mobile phones.

Other malls in Spain currently use technology wireless Internet-based technology from Google to provide in-store navigation for customers. With Mally, the Israeli developers wanted to prove: “It isn’t enough.”

The app, which is available in English, Hebrew, Spanish and Catalan, uses the phone’s internal camera to determine where you are standing and then provides a 3D map steering you toward a desired location.

“Our solution is hardware free. We don’t need to go and install anything in these places,” said Frida Issa, a 31-year-old engineer of computer science and management information systems, who is co-founder of GeniusMatcher.

It’s also light on battery use. Whereas a mobile map from Google, for example, might continue providing directions even when it’s in your pocket, Mally only navigates when you need it. Now, a two-hour trip to the neighborhood mega-mall won’t leave you with a dead phone.

“We don’t want that experience draining your battery,” Issa explained.

Lest you worry about entering a shopping center full of screen-bound strangers with no time to talk, by the end of 2013, Mally’s developers hope to have social functions fully integrated into the application, allowing users to meet old friends or make new acquaintances based on who else is in the mall and using the program.

Continue reading via Ynetnews

Jerusalem's Machane Yehuda Market - a feast to your senses

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Jerusalem's popular Machane Yehuda Market is a feast of colors and tastes, where Jerusalemites and tourists can find fresh produce along gourmet restaurants and designer boutiques.

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Children Help Clean Up the World in Ben Shemen Forest

Children Help Clean Up the World in Ben Shemen Forest Photo: kkl

Over 250 thousand volunteers from 250 localities took part in this year’s International Cleanup Day, an event that KKL-JNF has orchestrated in Israel for the past thirteen years.

Over 250 thousand volunteers from 250 localities took part in this year’s International Cleanup Day, an event that KKL-JNF has orchestrated in Israel for the past thirteen years. People of all ages, religions and walks of Israeli life took part in this year’s Cleanup Day, which was held with the support of KKL-JNF’s Friends in the USA. The main event, which took place in Ben Shemen Forest, opened with a grand cleanup campaign carried out with the help of some 350 youngsters from primary schools in the city of Modiin. Other major cleanup events were held in Nesher Park in the north and in Lahav Forest and Sderot in southern Israel.

“Litter is not a fate imposed upon us by the decree of a higher power,” KKL-JNF World Chairman Efi Stenzler informed schoolchildren at the ceremony held in Ben Shemen Forest. “Today is the day when we raise our awareness of the need to keep the environment clean. By respecting the environment we also show our respect for other people, and we all want our country to be clean and beautiful.”

The World Chairman’s words appeared to have the desired effect, and hundreds of children deployed themselves in every nook and cranny as they picked up litter and collected it in large garbage bags, leaving swathes of beautifully clean ground behind them.

“We’ve come to clean up the forest, so that it’ll be fun to walk around here,” explained eleven-year-old Alma Kalifa. Her classmate Uri Shohat was excited to be taking part in a project shared by other children all over the world. “It’s a really special feeling to know that children in so many different places are also setting out to clean up their environment, each in his own country,” he said.

Read more about Clean Up Day festivities in Ben Shemen Forest 

Source: Jpost.com

Israeli Parliament to Hold Historic Meet at Auschwitz

By Arsen Ostrovsky

On January 27, 2014, the largest-ever delegation of Knesset (Israeli Parliament) members will convene overseas — on the grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau, together with Holocaust survivors, for a historic gathering on combating anti-Semitism.

The symbolism could not be any more striking — mere metres away from the gas chambers where millions of Jews were once murdered, will meet the representatives of the Parliament of the Jewish State of Israel.

The event will be held on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a memorial day in honor of the 6 million Jews who perished during the Holocaust. The years 2014 will also mark the 69th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Soviet Army and Allied troops in 1945.

The event organizer and the person behind the project is Jonny Daniels, an Israeli, who is the Founder and Executive Director of ‘From the Depths’, a non-profit organization devoted to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and ‘connecting the Jewish past with the Jewish future.’

Asked why not wait another year for the 70th Anniversary to hold such a symbolic commemoration, Daniels says, “there is never the right time to hold an event like this,” adding “there is no shortage of symbolic events that happened over the years, that any given day is a special anniversary.”

According to the ‘Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel’, at least one survivor in Israel dies every hour. Daniels warns “there is no time to wait as we are getting very close to the point where there will be no more first-hand accounts left. The onus falling on us, not just as Jews and Israelis, but humanity as a whole, to learn, to be with the survivors and to really understand what happened and to ensure it never repeats again.”

The Israeli delegation will include over half the Knesset, with at least 60 members from all the major parties, and will be led by Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein. Each politician will be accompanying a Holocaust survivor, with a specially chartered plane flying the group from Israel.

In addition, the Israeli delegation will include senior representatives of the Israel Defense Forces, the Chief Rabbis of the State of Israel and representatives of various student groups, signifying the living link between the past and the future.

According to Edelstein, the dramatic rise of anti-Semitism in Europe is “very worrying”, saying it has reached a level “unprecedented since the end of the Holocaust.”

Edelstein notes “the Holocaust did not start with Auschwitz-Birkenau, but with boycotts, words and throwing stones at Jewish shop windows.” He is also particularly concerned about some of the “openly anti-Semitic” parties and politicians that exist around the world today, especially in Europe.

The primary objective of the mission according to Edelstein is to highlight the importance of remembering the Holocaust and to “have a conversation with elected officials from around the world about what needs to be done to make sure nothing of the kind ever happens again, anywhere in the world, especially as far as Jews are concerned.”

Edelstein warns that anti-Semitism “is not just a Jewish or Israeli problem alone” and that while “it starts with the Jews, it doesn’t end with the Jews.”

The Israeli delegation will be joined by a large number of elected officials and Parliamentarians from around the world, especially Europe, but also including North America. It will be a “symbolic show of strength” that the fight against anti-Semitism is a “global struggle,” says event organizer, Daniels.

According to Sam Nunberg, the Director of North American Outreach of ‘From the Depths’, the international delegation will also include a senior bi-partisan group of leaders from the U.S. Congress. They will be joined by a number of Holocaust survivors from North America, headed by Nobel Laureate and survivor, Elie Wiesel.

In addition to the Knesset hearing at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Yuli Edelstein, Rabbi Lau and Elie Wiesel will lead the delegation in a symbolic walk through the camp. A special memorial service will then be held to mark the 70th Anniversary of the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau, before symbolically ending with the singing of the Hatikva and afternoon ‘Mincha’ prayers.

Noting the “importance and urgency of combatting anti-Semitism”, Edelstein warns “we must not wait until the trains start going to Auschwitz-Birkenau once again.”

VIDEO BY JN1

Click To View Video - Historic Holocaust Memorial: Largest ever Knesset delegation to gather at Auschwitz in 2014

Idan Ofer gives London school £25M

Shortly after moving to British capital, Israeli billionaire announces largest single donation to UK business school where he studied in 1980s, in addition to contribution to development of special scholarship program for Israeli students

Shortly after leaving Israel for London, billionaire Idan Ofer has given £25 million (about $40 million) to the London Business School, where he studied in the 1980s. This is the largest single donation received by a UK business school.

The donation was made by the Idan and Batia Ofer Foundation, which also announced the development of a special scholarship program for Israeli students at London Business School.

About a month ago, the institution received a £10m donation from South African Jewish billionaire Nathan Kirsh.

The scholarship program, whose scope was not disclosed, will be launched soon. It is aimed at further exposing Israel’s future business leaders to the global economy, while helping them accumulate knowledge, understanding and connections.

Ofer said in a statement, “I have enjoyed a long association with the School and believe that it offers something uniquely valuable in the world of business education, combining strong fundamental business and management education with an emphasis on the business community being part of the solution for a better society.”

The project, he noted, “is an important step towards ensuring the School can continue to grow and prosper in the future, creating new generations of leaders who can address the challenges of business and wider society.

“My father Sammy enjoyed learning from others and throughout his career in shipping was known to spend many hours speaking with seamen and officers of vessels, rather than being tucked away in his office. This sense of curiosity resonates strongly with London Business School’s community where students are not just stretched intellectually; they become a part of an ever-expanding international community, learning as much from each other as from the faculty.”

He added that “one of the goals of The Idan and Batia Ofer Foundation is to ensure the next generation of Israeli entrepreneurs is equipped to cope with the challenges of globalization. London Business School is at the forefront of helping to meet these challenges. The Foundation hopes in this small way to contribute to economic growth in the region, ultimately improving the prospects for peace and stability.”

Idan Ofer, Israel Corporation’s controlling shareholder, moved to London recently after being criticized in the past few years for benefits received by the Israel Chemicals (ICL) company (which is controlled by Israel Corp) and the low royalties it paid the State. These royalties were raised in recent months. In addition, the government vetoed ICL’s talks for a merger with Canadian fertilizers giant Potash Corporation.

Source: Ynetnews.com