Israel and the world- weekly news from Israel

• It is no secret that the Israeli mind is something else. After growing a successful High-Tech industry, and winning ten Nobel prizes, I was not surprised to hear due to a strategic decision made by the U.S Government, Israeli students will receive scholarships to come and be a part of American higher education.  Hundreds of academic facilities and universities in the U.S, including very prestigious facilities such as University of Michigan, Berkley, and NYU, will offer yearly scholarships to Israelis, starting next year.

• Israel is building temporary residencies in Turkey for people whose houses were wrecked during the earthquake that took place a year ago, and took the lives of many. After sending a special delegation to Turkey last year, as a part of a humanitarian project, the Israeli Defense Office sponsored a temporary neighborhood. This allows people who lost their houses to have a temporary place to live until getting back on their feet.

• In the beginning of March, President Obama announced, during his speech before the AIPAC policy conference, that he would award Israeli President Shimon Peres, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Peres is very respected both in Israel and in the United States, and this announcement didn’t leave a dry eye here in Israel. A couple of days after the announcement, a group fighting for the release of Jonathan Pollard created a petition, calling on Peres to condition his acceptance of the medal on the release of Pollard. It was signed by more than 15,000 people from all over the world. The word spread amongst Israelis, and caused many discussions and arguments regarding this request. Peres responded to the petition, saying: “We are all united in the call to release him immediately. In all my meetings with president Obama and top American government leaders I raised the request to release Pollard and I will continue to do so when I meet with Obama in June. My office is in touch with the campaign for Pollard’s release and we will work hand in hand in any way possible to bring Jonathan Pollard home.”

• Israel has highly developed agriculture. Israeli minds are behind some of the most advanced agricultural innovations and developments. It is no wonder, then, that a group of Nepalese farmers, who were foreign workers here in Israel, used their acquired knowledge to build a farm in Katmandu. This farm, which is based on Israeli technology and accompanied by the Israeli Embassy, celebrated a year of success this past weekend. The prime minister of Nepal even ordered duplicates of the farm in 50 other locations scattered all over Nepal.