Broader View

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July 2021

• Israel begins administering third COVID-19 vaccine to over-60’s
• Three Israeli filmmakers released after 20 days in Nigeria prison
• Ben & Jerry’s will end ice cream sales in the “Occupied Palestinian Territories”; anti-Israel resolutions adopted by United Church of Christ, defeated at National Education Association (NEA)
• New Israeli “unicorns” include advertising tech firm ironSource (raised $2.1 billion at $11B valuation!), cybersecurity firms SentinelOne ($1.2B at valuation of nearly $9B) and Cybereason ($275M), Alpha Tau Medical ($367M), facial-recognition startup AnyVision ($235M), and content discovery firm Outbrain ($160M); HP buys Israeli data-protection company Zerto for $374 million
• Israel rejoins the African Union as observer
• Israelis killed at 1972 Munich Olympics honored at Tokyo Olympics
• Israelis win international awards and honors in computer science, high-school informatics and Mathematics Olympiad, artificial intelligence; gymnastics, acrobatics, and teen acrobatic gymnastics; taekwondo, tennis (and another), judo, surfing, softball, equestrian sports, jiu-jitsu, global cyber powers and smart hospitals.
• Recent visitors to Israel include the President of Germany, Czech Defense Minister, Greek Foreign Minister, 38 members of the French parliament; 25 social-media stars from the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco; troops, jets, drones, and crews from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, British Royal Air Force, and 3 other countries; 12 Iranian expats and dissidents, and many others.

June 2021

• Israel’s 36^th government sworn in, a coalition of two left-wing parties (Labor, Meretz), two centrist parties (Yesh Atid, Blue & White), three right-wing parties (New Hope, Yamina, and Israel Our Home), and one Islamist party (Ra’am); Naftali Bennet is 13^th Israeli prime minister.
• Isaac “Bougie” Herzog elected Israel’s 11^th president
• Israeli President Reuven Rivlin meets with President Biden; Foreign Minister Yair Lapid meets Sec. of State Tony Blinken in Rome, visits UAE
• 100,000 attend Tel Aviv Pride Parade, largest gathering since COVID
• Israel condemned by the Seattle teachers’ union and Canada’s largest labor union; student governments at Yale, Univ. of Oregon, and three northern California colleges; faculty members at the City University of New York (CUNY) and Franklin & Marshall, and many others; condemnation rejected by social-work schools group; hundreds of journalists demand that media coverage stop “obfuscating Israel’s oppression of Palestinians”; Philadelphia food festival canceled after excluding Israeli vendor; new adoptions of IHRA definition of antisemitism include the governments of Switzerland, Texas, and Quebec, and the Graduate & Professional Student Association of the Univ. of California San Diego.
• Israel becomes first country to ban fur
• Israeli startups raised $8.6 billion in the first five months of 2021; new Israeli “unicorns” (companies valued at $1 billion or more) include workplace-collaboration platform Monday.com (raised $574 million at $6.8 billion valuation!), cybersecurity companies Transmit Security (raised $543M at $2.2B valuation), Exabeam ($200M/2.4B), and Claroty ($140M/$1B); software companies WalkMe ($287M/$2.5B), Gong ($250M/7.2B), and Verbit ($157M/$1B); chipmakers NextSilicon ($120M/$1.5B) and Hailo ($110M/$1.1B), logistics platform Bringg ($100M/$1B), and music education startup JoyTunes ($50M/$1B).
• Israelis win international awards and honors in architecture, artificial intelligence, food technology, pain-management technology, gymnastics (and another), tennis, judo, archery, pandemic resilience, World Economic Forum “Technology Pioneers,” and National Geographic Society “Emerging Explorer”
• Recent visitors to Israel include the President of Honduras, foreign minister of Greece, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, an Emirati student, British Royal Navy frigate HMS Richmond, and many others.

May 2021

• Over 11 days, Hamas and other Gaza terrorist groups fired 4,340 rockets toward Israel; IDF “Operation Guardian of the Walls” struck terrorist infrastructure, weapons, tunnels, and leaders; 13 killed in Israel including Ido Avigal (5), Arab-Israeli father and daughter in Lod, Staff Sgt. Omer Tabib, (21), and three foreign workers
• A property dispute between Jewish owners and Palestinian tenants in Sheikh Jarrah, fueled by religious and nationalist tensions, escalates to riots in Jerusalem and elsewhere
• Proposed coalition led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid will unseat Prime Minster Netanyahu
• Israel ends most COVID-19 restrictions as new cases continue to drop and 59% of population fully vaccinated; pandemic deaths to date total 6,411
• UN Human Rights Council to investigate Israel over alleged war crimes
• Gaza conflict prompts anti-Israel statements and condemnations from TV hosts John Oliver (see also rebuttals) and Trevor Noah, academic communities (Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Brown, Jewish and Israel Studies), student organizations (Univ. of Michigan, McGill), British actors’ union, Seattle City Councilmembers, the UN Human Rights Council, rabbinical students (others disagree), teachers’ unions in Los Angeles and San Francisco; Jewish Google employees, Biden campaign staffers, over 600 musicians, and many others; Israelis and Jews face physical assaults in New York, Los Angeles, London, and elsewhere.
• Cambridge (MA) City Council rejects BDS resolution; Univ. of Minnesota students adopt IHRA definition of antisemitism; federal court invalidates Georgia anti-BDS law
• Israeli fintech startup Global-e Online valued at $3.55 billion in NASDAQ debut; payroll company Deel raises $156 million at $1.25B valuation; cybersecurity company Wandera acquired for $400M and ag-tech company Prospera acquired for $300M, Cisco buys communications technology startup Sedona Systems for a reported $100M; other Israeli companies raising funds include cybersecurity companies Forter ($300M, $3B valuation), Wiz ($120 million), and Deep Instinct ($100M); and fintech startups HoneyBook ($155M at $1.1B valuation) and Sunbit ($130M at $1.1B valuation).
• Israelis win international awards and honors in literature, basketball, gymnastics, swimming (also Para), F2 car racing, “edge AI,” Gartner “Cool Vendors,” disruptive companies, and pandemic technology innovation.
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. Secretary of State, UK Foreign Secretary, the Foreign Ministers of Germany, Czech Republic, and Slovakia; Indiana Governor, Egypt’s intelligence chief, and more.

April 2021

• 45 dead, over 150 injured from stand collapse and stampede at Lag B’Omer festival at Mount Meron.
• Prime Minister Netanyahu tasked with forming a new government, but coalition negotiations
• After 6,346 COVID-19 deaths and 80% of over-16 population (over 5 million people) fully vaccinated, Israel appears to have achieved herd immunity, drops outdoors mask requirement and reopens schools.
• Israel implicated in explosion at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility.
• Sudan rescinds Israel-boycott law.
• NASA names two asteroids after Arab-Israeli Technion student Aseel Nama who found them.
• Israel responds to International Criminal Court that it does not recognize the Court’s jurisdiction.
• Idaho and West Virgina pass anti-boycott laws, bringing total to 33 U.S. states; recent adoptions of the IHRA definition of antisemitism include the student governments of the Univ. of Notre Dame, Univ. of Iowa, Penn State, Cal Poly, Long Beach City College, the Univ. of Manitoba (but failed or withdrawn at UPenn and Michigan State); the municipalities of Hamilton (Ontario), Neuilly (France), and Sharon (Massachusetts); and the Global Imams Council. Pomona student government passes BDS bill; New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund divested from 5 Israeli banks over West Bank operations.
• Israeli companies raised record $2.8 billion in March; companies raising funds include retail data company Trax ($640 million), database software developer Redis Labs ($110M), medical device company Memic ($96M); Yum! Brands acquires online ordering platform Tictuk Technologies, Qualitest buys pharma software testing company Comply, Cofense acquires anti-phishing company Cyberfish for estimated $100M; Innoviz, maker of sensors for self-driving cars, debuts on Nasdaq.
• Israelis win international awards and honors in high-school girls’ math, judo, Paralympic rowing, tennis, women leaders in artificial intelligence (AI), ecologically friendly and AI startups, sustainability, movie acting, Bible knowledge, kidney donations, oldest journalist, per-capita GDP, and longest megillah scroll.
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin; UK minister for pandemic response, Michael Gove; aviation, business, tourism, hospitality and arts leaders from the UAE; hundreds of American teenagers to study in Israel; Kurdish and Yazidi babies from Iraq and two young men from Gambia for life-saving medical treatments, and dozens of sharks off Israel’s Mediterranean coast.

March 2021

• Elections to 24^th Knesset, Israel’s fourth in two years, produce inconclusive results, with a majority for right-wing parties split between pro- and anti-Netanyahu factions, and an anti-Netanyahu majority widely spread ideologically
• COVID-19 cases drop (total death toll is 6,201) as most Israelis fully vaccinated, along with Palestinians, Jordanians, and Filipinos who work in Israel; Israel closes vaccination sites and reopens to international travel
• Iran blamed for explosion and missile hit on Israeli-owned cargo ships, bombing at Israeli embassy in Delhi, and last month’s Mediterranean oil spill attributed to Iran
• Israel’s supreme court recognizes non-Orthodox converts as Jews for citizenship purposes
• Israeli scientists grow mouse embryos in artificial wombs
• Embassy of Kosovo and Czech diplomatic office open in Jerusalem
• 2,000-year-old biblical scrolls and other ancient artifacts found in Dead Sea cave
• Utah outlaws BDS for state contractors, while UCLA student government adopts “stealth” anti-Israel resolution. Biden administration “enthusiastically embraces” IHRA definition of antisemitism. Other recent adoptions include the state of Kentucky, Global Student Forum, representing students’ federations of 118 countries; the student governments at the Univ. of Texas, UC San Diego, Michigan State, Univ. of Georgia, Syracuse Univ., and Kennesaw State Univ. (Georgia) and students at the Univ. of Minnesota; Middlesex University (London) Board of Governors, and the Town of North Hempstead, NY, but rejected by the city of Strasbourg (France).
• Boston Scientific acquires surgical business of Israel’s Lumenis for $1.07 billion; PayPal acquires Israeli crypto security firm Curv for nearly $200 million; Japan’s Olympus buys medical-device company Medi-Tate for $300M.
• Companies raising funds include e-commerce marketing startup Yotpo ($230 million at $1.4 billion valuation), cybersecurity firms Snyk ($300 million at $4.7 billion valuation!), Wiz ($130M at $1.7B valuation), Orca Security ($210M, $1.2B valuation), Aqua Security ($135M, $1B valuation), Fireblocks ($133M), and Axonius ($100M); software-development platform Incredibuild ($140M), bus-schedule planner Optibus ($107M), construction technology firm Veev ($100M IPO), and workforce management company Papaya Global ($100M).
• Israelis win international awards and honors in top universities and hospitals, mathematics, basketball, gymnastics, sailing, tennis, jazz, innovative companies, national happiness and resilience, telecommuting, culinary destinations, COVID vaccination, largest matzah and highest matzah tower.
• Recent visitors to Israel include the Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, Brazil’s Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo, incoming UAE ambassador Mohammad Mahmoud Al Khajah, new UN Middle East Peace Coordinator Tor Wennesland, Denmark’s national soccer team, American guided missile cruiser USS Monterey holding joint exercises with the Israeli navy in the eastern Mediterranean, a German air force transport plane en route to Afghanistan, Nigerian international basketball player Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, and more. The Pope and two American B-52 bombers overflew Israel but did not stop.

February 2021

• Israel’s COVID-19 death toll reaches 5,738; highly effective vaccine prevents 98%+ of hospitalizations and deaths, now available to Israelis over age 16 and some younger teens, foreign workers, and Palestinians who work in Israel; new drug cures 100% of moderate/serious cases at Ichilov Hospital
• 39 parties register to run in March 23 elections
• International Criminal Court claims jurisdiction over Palestinian Territories, a claim rejected by Israel, U.S., American Jewish organizations, and many other countries because “Palestine” is not a state and Israel (like the U.S.) is not a party to the Rome Statute
• Israel and Muslim-majority Kosovo establish diplomatic ties
• Major oil spill dumps tons of tar along Israel’s Mediterranean coast, closing beaches, sickening cleanup volunteers, and killing a 17m (55 ft.) whale
• Tel Aviv University nanosatellite launched into Earth’s orbit
• In Russia-mediated deal, an Israeli civilian who entered Syria exchanged for two Syrian Druze shepherds who crossed into Israel—and, reportedly, Israel buying Russian COVID-19 vaccines for Syria
• U.S. State Department affirms support for IHRA definition of antisemitism; definition officially adopted by the U.S. state of Kentucky and the City Councils of Paris and Nice, France, and the student senate of the Univ. of California at Santa Barbara
• U.S. federal court overturns overly broad Arkansas anti-BDS law; University of Toronto tells graduate students’ union it cannot use student fees for discriminatory anti-Israel BDS campaign; BDS resolutions passed student governments at UC Irvine (disavowed by the administration), failed at Florida State Univ.
• U.S. Senate votes 97-3 to keep its embassy in Jerusalem
• Israeli startups raise record 1.44 billion in January; U.S. equity firm acquires Israeli online genealogy platform MyHeritage for $600 million; Palo Alto Networks acquires cybersecurity startup Bridgecrew for $156M; cybersecurity company CYE raises $120 million; financial AI developer Earnix raises $75M at $1 billion valuation
• Israelis win international awards and honors in film and film technology, TV acting, pediatric endocrinology, innovative economies, film and film technology, TV acting, tennis, judo, sustainability, FDA breakthrough medical device, TIME magazine’s most influential people, craft whisky, and (again) COVID-19 vaccination rates.
• Recent visitors to Israel include Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, Egypt’s energy minister Tarek el-Molla, 600 athletes (including exiled Iranian champion Saeid Mollaei) for international judo tournament, and a 6-year-old boy from Ethiopia for cardiac treatment.

January 2021

• Israel has had 643,006 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4,786 deaths from the beginning of the pandemic through January 31; it has administered over 4.7 million vaccine doses, the highest per-capita rate in the world, slowing new infections; vaccines show very promising early results
• Greece and Israel agree to 20-year, $1.68 billion defense deal
• Georgia Tech Univ. and the student government at the University of Georgia adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism
• New York City mayor candidate (and former presidential candidate) Andrew Yang denounces BDS as “rooted in antisemitic thought and history”
• Israeli companies raising capital at billion-dollar-plus valuations include Playtika (raised $1.9 billion at NASDAQ debut, at $11B valuation), Rapyd ($400 million at $2.5B valuation), Nano Dimension ($332M, $1.4B), DriveNets ($208M, $1.3B), OwnBackup ($167M, $1.4B), TripActions ($155M, $5B), K Health ($132M, $1.4B), and Melio ($110M, $1.3B)
• Israelis win international awards and honors in research scientists and young scientists, innovation in energy, vision technology, speech recognition, and consumer electronics; video technology, judo, soccer, healthiest cities, and Michelin-star restaurant
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and head of the military’s Central Command Kenneth McKenzie

December 2020

• 800,000 Israelis, starting with Prime Minster Netanyahu, receive COVID-19 vaccines; to date, Israel has had 419,312 confirmed cases and 3,314 deaths, and is in its third nationwide lockdown
• Failing to pass a budget, Israel’s government coalition unravels; elections set for March 23; parties in flux as MKs Gideon Sa’ar and Ze’ev Elkin quit Likud
• Morocco and Bhutan will normalize ties with Israel
• Esther Horgan (52), mother of six, murdered in an apparent terrorist attack
• Israel accepted to International Energy Agency
• Tufts Univ. students pass anti-Israel resolution (rejected by the administration); new adoptions of IHRA definition of antisemitism include the student governments of Northeastern University and the of Manitoba, and British soccer’s Premier League
• Lidar (light detection and ranging) startup Innoviz goes public via $1.4B special purpose acquisition company (SPAC); Entrée Capital raises $125M to invest in Israeli startups; Israeli tech exits hit record $15M in 2020, including 27 IPOs on Tel Aviv exchange; Cloud security company Wiz raises $100M; 15 Israeli “unicorns” reach $1B market valuation
• Israelis win international awards and honors in COVID-19 vaccination rate, electrical engineering, surgical devices, synthetic biology, food technology, chess, taekwondo, artistic gymnastics, sailing, NASCAR racing, film star, Forbes’ Under 30, “most beautiful face,” and tunneling
• Recent visitors to Israel include Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, Portugal’s Foreign Minister Santos Silva, an advisor to Pakistan’s Prime Minister; U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and UN Ambassador Kelly Craft; Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, Moroccan diplomats, Bahraini women’s rights activist Mashael Al-Shemeri, and 11 young Emirati and Bahraini social-media “influencers”.
• Also arriving (as immigrants/olim, not visitors) were hundreds of Jews from the Falash Mura community of Ethiopia and the Bnai Menashe community of India and Jewish-American convicted spy Jonathan Pollard.

November 2020

• Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Saudi Arabia, meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
• COVID-19 has claimed 2,864 lives in Israel since the pandemic began
• IDF strikes Syrian and Iranian military targets in response to explosives found on Israeli side of border
• Iron Dome intercepts rockets from Gaza (apparently launched in error) over central Israel; IDF responds against Hamas targets
• Palestinian Authority restores ties, security cooperation with Israel; resumes accepting tax revenues; returns ambassadors to UAE & Bahrain; considering changes to “pay-to-slay” policy
• Israel issues tenders for 1,257 new homes in Jerusalem neighborhood/settlement of Givat Hamatos
• Microsoft opens new campus in Herzliya, with offices for 2,000 employees
• New adoptions of IHRA definition of antisemitism include Cambridge University (U.K.), the student governments of Brooklyn College and St. Lawrence Univ. (New York), and the Orillia (Ontario, Canada) City Council; San Francisco State student government endorses BDS and calls for divestment; Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign issues a statement opposing antisemitism and supporting Jewish and pro-Israel students who express their Zionism
• Salesforce invests in app-tracking software startup AppsFlyer at valuation of $2 billion; two additional “unicorns” valued at over $1B are SentinelOne (raised $267 million at valuation of over $3B!), Cato Networks (raised $130M) and Forter ($125M); Snapchat snaps up call-center technology Voca.ai for $70 million; Intel buys Israeli data science startup Cnvrg.io for $60M; Ibex Investors raises $100M venture fund to invest in Israel; other Israeli companies raising capital include Hippo ($350 million), ION Acquisition Group ($225M), SimilarWeb ($120M), Kape ($115M), and Inuitive ($106M). Overall, Israeli tech companies raised over $8.8B in the first 10 months of 2020, including nearly $800M in October and $1.1B in September.
• Israelis win international awards and honors in judo (x2), basketball (x2), rhythmic gymnastics, windsurfing, R&D spending, research universities, personalized medicine, cardiology, insurance and real-estate technologies, cloud-technology companies, “technology challengers,” TIME magazine’s “Best Inventions,” New York Times’ “Notable Books,” best country for female entrepreneurs, smart-city innovation, wheelchair-friendly cities, and beach cleanup
• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits West Bank settlement and Golan Heights; calls BDS campaign antisemitic ‘cancer’; U.S. will label settlement goods “Made in Israel”
• Other recent visitors to Israel include Bahrain’s Foreign Minister, Minister of Industry, and royal family member; Malawi foreign minister, diplomats from 13 EU states, cargo flights from Azerbaijan, 100,000 migrating cranes, and many others.

October 2020

• Sudan agrees to normalize relations with Israel, a move applauded by Egypt and U.S. Jewish groups (but not Hamas)
• Rate of COVID-19 infections slows; as of Oct. 30, Israel has 738 patients hospitalized and 2,511 deaths to date; Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat in critical condition at Hadassah Hospital
• IDF detects new Hamas infiltration tunnel from Gaza into Israel
• U.S. passports will list “Jerusalem, Israel” as birthplace of citizens; first such passport issued to Menachem Zivotofsky
• Muslim-majority Albania adopts IHRA definition of antisemitism, as do the parliament of Ontario, Canada; the Global Imams Council; New York University; student governments at Pace Univ., Foothill College, and the Univ. of Buenos Aires; top Uruguay foreign ministry official fired for anti-Israel UN vote
• U.S.-Israel scientific cooperation extended to West Bank insitutions
• Israeli startups raised $1.1 billion in September; Cisco buys Israeli cybersecurity firm Portshift for $100 million; AbbVie buys Luminera skin-care company; Israeli and Israeli-founded companies raising capital include Next Insurance ($250 million, led by Google), urban farming network Infarm ($170M), BioCatch ($168M), Tipalti ($150M), SimilarWeb ($120M), and Papaya Global ($40M).
• Israelis win international awards and honors in artificial intelligence, artistic cities, digital readiness, fighting corruption, startup hubs, wildlife photography, “Engineering Emmys,” women leaders in cybersecurity, and highly-paid actresses.
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. Secretaries of Defense and Treasury, UAE ministers of economy and finance, U.S. Air Force F-35 jets and crews, and migrating flamingos.

September 2020

• Israel signs peace agreements with UAE and Bahrain under the umbrella Abraham Accords
• Accelerating second wave brings Israel’s COVID-19 deaths to 1,547 to date, with new lockdown, political turmoil
• Israel’s population reaches 9.2 million, 74% Jewish
• Kosovo announces diplomatic relations with Israel; Serbia, Malawi, and Chad will move embassies to Jerusalem; Israel signs defense deals with Italy and Czech Republic
• Israeli kibbutz temporarily changes its name to honor Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Israel and Hamas agree to de-escalate border violence
• Arizona State Univ. student government, the nation of Kosovo, and the city of Barrie (Ontario) adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism; students at Columbia Univ. and the Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign pass BDS resolutions
• Israeli startups raised $650 million in August; Israeli companies raising capital include cybersecurity startup Snyk ($200 million, at total valuation of $2.6 billion), database-software developer Redis Labs ($100M, at valuation of over $1 billion), Melio ($144M); CheckPoint Software acquires Odo Security; Singapore’s government holding company acquires Rivulis Irrigation
• Israelis win international awards and honors in bird photography; innovation in Germany, healthcare, climate technology, and storage solutions; literacy programs, Fortune “40 under 40” influential businesspeople, entrepreneur-producing universities, Fast Company “Most Creative People in Business,” great countries for vegans, contributions to Catalan culture, and senior membership in the U.S. National Academy of Inventors.
• Recent visitors to Israel include Bonnie Glick, deputy administrator for the US Agency for International Development; a diplomatic delegation from Chad, a giant manta ray fish, and (unfortunately) destructive Formosan termites.

August 2020

• Israel and the United Arab Emirates agree to normalize diplomatic and trade relations; first commercial TLV-DXB flight overflies Saudi airspace
• Israel has had 922 COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the Pandemic
• Rabbi Shai Ohayon (39) fatally stabbed in terror attack near Petah Tikva
• Israel offers medical and humanitarian aid, solidarity with Lebanese people following Beirut blast
• Hamas arson balloons cause dozens of fires along Gaza border; in response, Israel strikes Hamas targets
• Israel delivers Iron Dome batteries to U.S. military using world’s largest plane
• Undergraduate Student Government VP at of Southern California resigns due to antisemitic and anti-Israel harassment; Florida State University adopts IHRA definition of antisemitism; Democratic Socialists ask NYC Council candidates not to travel to Israel
• Israeli tech companies raised nearly $700 million in July; Israeli and Israeli-founded companies raising capital include medical-imaging startup Nanox ($615 million), sales-intelligence platforms Gong ($200M) and ai ($45M), e-commerce marketing platform Yotpo ($75M), blood-testing startup Sight Diagnostics ($71M), cybersecurity companies Perimeter 81 ($40M), Silverfort ($30M) and CyCognito ($30M), corporate morale platform Thriver ($33M), data-automation startup Explorium ($31M), and weather-forecasting startup ClimaCell($23M).
• Israelis win international awards and honors in mathematics, high-school chemistry, rhythmic gymnastics, startups, quantum computing, game-changing companies, foodtech innovation, European Women in Tech, affordable Internet access, and “the world’s most expensive coronavirus mask”
• Recent visitors to Israel include S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, and U.S. Air Force F-35A crews and planes from the 421st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron for joint exercises with the Israeli Air Force

July 2020

• Israel undergoing second wave of COVID-19 infections, with 70,036 total cases and 502 fatalities through July 31
• Tensions rise with Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border
• Israelis protest Netanyahu corruption, inept coronavirus handling
• U.S. Democratic Party 2020 platform supports two-state solution, security assistance to Israel, undivided Jerusalem, Palestinian people; opposes settlement expansion, unilateral annexation
• Archeologists uncover large Kingdom of Judah (7^th-8^th C. BCE) complex in Jerusalem
• Israel’s Ofek 16 reconnaissance satellite transmits first images
• Missouri becomes 32^nd U.S. state with anti-BDS law; British production company Boiler Room calls for Israel boycott, then backtracks after backlash, including a passionate plea from Israeli club owner Yaron Trax; Spain’s Balearic Islands pass anti-BDS law; Spanish court voids municipal boycotts; NYU condemns graduate student union call to boycott NYU’s Tel Aviv program; Florida State University Student Senate, whose president previously posted antisemitic comments online, adopts IHRA definition of antisemitism, as do government of Spain and Univ. of York (UK)
• Israeli startups raised nearly $700 million in June; Israeli tech firms raised $2.5 billion in Q2 in 170 deals. Recent funding rounds include travel system TripActions ($250M), corporate travel company Gett ($100M), biotech company Prilenia Therapeutics ($62M), e-commerce startup Global-e Online ($60M), Cloud backup startup OwnBackup ($50M), electric-vehicle charging platform ElectReon ($50M), and creative-content platform Artlist ($48M). Israeli-founded online insurers Lemonade (raised $319M in NYSE initial public offering) and Hippo Enterprises (raised $150M) are new “unicorns,” each valued at over $1 billion.
• Israelis win international awards and honors in startups, technology innovation, startup ecosystems, Apple design, iPhone photography, TV acting, and animated film
• Recent visitors to Israel include Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and a pod of 15 bottlenose dolphins.

June 2020

• COVID-19 continues to spread in Israel, with 24,688 total confirmed cases and 320 deaths (including a 19-year-old) through June 30
• Israeli phone company and ambulance service partner to convert phone booths into public defibrillator stations
• Israel’s High Court strikes down settlement law infringing on Palestinian property rights
• UC Davis student government passed BDS resolution, vetoed by student government president; European Court of Human Rights overturns conviction of French boycotters; National Lawyers Guild settles BDS lawsuit, agrees to reject anti-Jewish and anti-Israel discrimination
• 1920s sailboat anchors found in receding Dead Sea
• Tel Aviv will recognize same-sex couples for municipal benefits
• NetApp acquires Israeli cloud company Spot for reported $450 million; National Instruments buys data analytics software company OptimalPlus for $365M; Microsoft acquires IoT security company CyberX for $165M; Israeli venture capital funds Red Dot raises $200M, Team8 raises $104M; freelance services platform Fiverr raises $120M on NYSE; fintech startup Pagaya raises $102M; data-recovery startup Zerto raises $33; cancer therapy company Alpha Tau raises $26M; medical imaging company Nanox raises $20M from SK Telecom
• Israelis wins awards and honors in tennis, neuroscience, online cybersecurity course, disruptive companies, Europe’s outstanding startups, “cleantech,” World Economic Forum technology pioneers, startup ecosystems, and Mexican expats
• Recent visitors to Israel include Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, German foreign minister Heiko Maas; U.S. presidential adviser Avi Berkowitz, NSC official Scott Leith, and Iran point person Brian Hook; a Syrian baby for heart surgery, two sperm whales, and thousands of virtual attendees at OurCrowd pandemic investment conference.

May 2020

• With high court’s approval, Benjamin Netanyahu’s assigned to form new Israeli government; 35^th government sworn in, its first policy priority coronavirus and the resulting economic crisis
• Jewish terrorist convicted of murder in 2015 Duma arson
• Iran attempted a cyberattack on Israeli water and sewage facilities; Israel reportedly retaliated against Iranian port
• First direct commercial flight from UAE lands in Israel, bringing medical supplies for Palestinians, but PA rejects shipment as “normalization”
• Prime Minister Netanyahu’s corruption trial opens
• As of May 31, Israel has had 17,071 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 284 fatalities
• Large bipartisan majorities in U.S. Congress call to end International Criminal Court investigations of Israel
• Israeli coronavirus-related innovations include antibody, plasma, stem-cell, and antiviral treatments; breathalyzer, ultrasound, and CT diagnosis, and a one-minute test; vaccines and  micro-needles; sterilization device, masks (incl. a self-cleaning mask and one for the hearing impaired) and face shields, disinfectant, patient monitoring, privacy-sensitive contact tracing, and medical clowns
• Missouri and Oklahoma pass anti-BDS legislation
• Israeli startups, amid pandemic, raised nearly $1 billion in April; Intel buys Israeli transit-app startup Moovit for $900 million; Microsoft acquires cybersecurity company CyberX for $165M; chip maker Xsight Labs raises $50M; automotive data services platform Otonomo raises $46M
• Israelis wins awards and honors in film, mathematics, “Webby” online excellence; Haifa Univ. professor Wendy Sandler inducted into prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits Israel to discuss annexation, Chinese investments, COVID-19, and of course Iran

April 2020

• Prime Minister Netanyahu and Blue & White leader Benny Gantz agree to form emergency unity government
• COVID-19 has claimed 219 lives in Israel, with 15,870 confirmed cases
• Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan and U.S. National Institutes of Health join forces on COVID-19 research
• On 72^nd Independence Day, Israel’s population nears 9.2 million, 74% of them Jewish
• Israel honors memories of 23,816 fallen soldiers and 4,166 terror victims on Memorial Day—with physical distancing and closed cemeteries
• The Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret) is full for the first time since 1992
• Israelis win international awards and honors in high-school math
• Israeli and Israeli-founded companies raising capital include BioCatch (cybersecurity, $145 million), VAST Data (data storage, $100M) Cato Networks (cybersecurity, $77M), Tyto Care (telehealth, $50M), Glassbox (customer-analytics, $40M), Bringg (on-demand delivery, $30M), and CyberMDx (medical cybersecurity, $20M). In total, Israeli high-tech firms raise a record $2.74 billion in Q1/2020.

March 2020

• From Israel: Coronavirus tests and treatments, risk assessment and respirators, coexistence and cooperation, masks and more
• Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party wins Knesset plurality, but falls short of majority for forming right-wing coalition; Blue & White’s Benny Gantz gets mandate to form new government, but instead splits party and enters unity talks with Netanyahu
• Interim Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein defies Supreme Court, resigns to avoid vote to elect successor
• Israel records 4,831 COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths as of March 31; Israelis ordered to remain within 100m of home; thousands return from abroad to quarantine
• Israeli cycling team races in UAE
• Ethiopian-Israeli Eden Alene will represent Israel in four languages at 2020 Eurovision Song Contest
• Oklahoma passed anti-BDS legislation; Columbia Univ. President Lee Bollinger and more than 70 faculty members condemned the BDS movement ahead of campus-wide divestment vote; UC Berkeley Chancellor condemned display glorifying Palestinian terrorists and a student’s anti-Palestinian statement; Brown University advisory committee recommendation divestment from companies “that profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.”
• Sudan allows flights to Israel over its territory
• Israeli cybersecurity firm Checkmarx acquired by private-equity firm for $1.15 billion; Flywire Payments buys healthcare payments startup Simplee for a reported $100 million; Synopsys acquires semiconductor startup Terrain EDA; oncology company Ayala Pharmaceuticals files for $50M IPO; AI chipmaker Hailo today raises $60M
• Israelis win international awards and honors in marathon running, “mathematics Nobel,” universities, hospitals, Fast Company’s “most innovative” firms, food tech and ag-tech companies, and artificial-intelligence startups
• Recent visitors to Israel include singer Lionel Ritchie; hip-hop artists Lecrae, Derek Minor, and Tony Tillman; two NFL football players training with IDF soldiers, and hundreds of American troops for joint military exercise

February 2020

• Palestinian Islamic Jihad fires 90 rockets and a drone at Israel from Gaza in two days; IDF responds against PIJ targets in Gaza and Syria
• Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Uganda, meet with Sudan’s leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan
• UN releases list of 112 companies doing business “related to settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” including Jerusalem
• Austrian parliament unanimously condemns BDS campaign; University of Illinois student government passes BDS resolution
• Private equity firm buys Israel-founded cybersecurity company ForeScout for $1.9 billion; business- intelligence company Sisense raises $100M at $1.1 billion valuation; Cisco invests in software testing automation company SeaLights Technologies
• Israelis win international awards and honors in judo, speed skating, half marathon, restaurants (plus one in Paris), photography (also animal photography), film, innovation, and climate technology.
• Recent visitors to Israel include the Governor of Texas, Gov. of Maryland, an orca whale, a record 309,000 tourists in January, and many others.

January 2020

• President Trump unveils “Deal of the Century” peace plan; Palestinian Authority and Hamas reject the plan, as do Iran and Turkey; the governments of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Morocco, Australia, and Britain express appreciation; Israelis widely support it
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicted on corruption charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust
• Israel hosted its largest diplomatic event ever at the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau (see Visitors, below)
• Israeli-American Naama Issachar pardoned in Russia after serving 10 months of a 7½-year prison sentence for passing through a Moscow airport with 10 grams (about ⅓ of an ounce) of marijuana
• Israel begins pumping gas from Leviathan field, exporting to Egypt and Jordan; Israel, Greece and Cyprus sign huge gas-pipeline deal
• U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Arizona anti-BDS law as regulating commercial activity, not speech; American Historical Association rejects anti-israel resolution for the 4th time; South Dakota Governor signs anti-BDS executive order
• 30 parties register for March elections; Labor, Gesher, and Meretz will run jointly, as will the New Right, National Union, and Jewish Home
• Gazan reunited with Jewish Israeli mother 30 years after being abducted by his Palestinian father
• Israeli tech companies raise record $8.2 billion (!!) in 2019; Insight acquires Israeli security-software maker Armis at $1.1B valuation; marketing analytics firm Appsflyer raises $210M and cybersecurity startup Snyk raises $150M, each at a valuation of over $1 billion; Mimecast acquires cybersecurity startup Segasec Labs for approx. $40 million
• Microsoft launches cloud datacenter in Israel
• Israelis win international awards and honors in judo, skiing, debate, energy efficiency, business software, “Cool Vendors,” “game-changing companies,” travel destinations, and longest scooter journey
• Recent visitors to Israel include Britain’s Prince Charles: the King of Spain; the presidents of Russia, Germany, France, Argentina, Bulgaria; U.S. VP Mike Pence, and many other world leaders for Holocaust Forum; 500 “Christian Birthright” college students; Austrian biker Fabio Wibmer, Jordanian singer Aziz Maraka, and many others

December 2019

• Failing to form a governing coalition, short-lived 22nd Knesset dissolves; new elections scheduled for March 2; Prime Minister Netanyahu reelected Likud leader by a landslide
• U.S. House of Representatives passed H.Res. 326, reaffirming support for a two-state solution and opposing unilateral annexation, largely along party lines
• New express train cuts Jerusalem–Tel Aviv travel time to about 30 minutes
• International Criminal Court opens investigation of alleged Israeli war crimes, despite questions of jurisdiction
• French parliament passes resolution equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism; Portugal joins International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance; Brown Univ. advisory committee urges college to divest from companies ‘facilitating rights abuses in Palestine’
• President Trump issues Executive Order clarifying that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, including requirements for federal funding of higher education, apply to discrimination rooted in antisemitism
• Israel tech exits double to $9.9 billion in 2019; Intel buys Israeli artificial intelligence (AI) firm Habana Labs for $2 billion; medical technology fund Peregrine Ventures raises $115 million; 1-800 Contacts buys online vision-testing startup 6over6 Vision
• Israelis win international awards and honors in sailing, marathon running, molecular biology, restaurants, sustainable food, smart-transportation cities, foodie destinations, best and fastest-growing tourist destinations and cities, best countries for female entrepreneurs, TV shows, best Eurovision, design art, large Pride parade, and popular scientific “Breakthrough of the Year”
• Recent visitors to Israel include Ireland’s foreign minister, 23 UN ambassadors, 11 U.S. Secretaries of State, 650 Christian businessmen from 40 countries, director Quentin Tarantino, UK chef Jamie Oliver, a record 4.55 million tourists in 2019, dozens of sharks, and many others.

November 2019

• Prime Minster Netanyahu indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust
• Like Netanyahu, Benny Gantz could not form a governing coalition
• IDF airstrike in Gaza kills Islamic Jihad leader Bahaa Abu al-Atta; Islamic Jihad responds with rocket barrage, triggering sirens all the way to Tel Aviv; IDF strikes terror targets in Gaza; two days of fighting end with tentative ceasefire
• Israel intercepts rockets fired from Syria, responds against Iranian, regime, and Islamic Jihad sites in Syria
• U.S. new stand on settlement legality hailed by Israel and opposition party Blue and White and condemned by Palestinians, UN Security Council, EU, Russia, Turkey, Jordan, the Vatican, the Arab League, J Street, and U.S. Democratic presidential candidates
• Naftali Bennett appointed interim Defense Minister; his New Right party merges with Likud
• Human Rights Watch director and BDS activist Omar Shakir deported from Israel after Israeli Supreme Court affirms decision not to renew his work visa
• Bolivia renews diplomatic ties with Israel after decade-long break; Danish-autonomous Faroe Islands Atlantic archipelago recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
• U.S. “deeply concerned”; Israel, American Jewish leaders, and Dutch parliament reject EU ruling requiring labeling for products from Israeli settlements
• California Democratic Party rejects anti-Israel amendment to platform; University of Cape Town rescinds academic boycott of Israel
• Israeli agricultural enclaves in Jordan Valley returned to Jordan after  25-year lease
• Baring Private Equity Asia acquires Israeli medical-device firm Lumenis for $1.2 billion; Ribbon Communications buys ECI Telecom for $486 million; Proofpoint buys Israeli-founded cybersecurity company ObserveIT for $225 million; Israeli fraud-prevention company Riskified raises $165M at valuation of >$1B; Veera Systems acquires pharmaceutical analytics company Crossix for $430M; radar-sensor firm Vayyar Imaging raises $109M, healthcare software company Viz.ai raises $50M, video analyzing startup Viisights raises $10M, precision agriculture startup Agritask raises $8.5M
• Israelis win international awards and honors in high-school robotics (in Dubai!), ju-jitsu (in Abu Dhabi!), basketball, Thai boxing; promising startups, entrepreneurship; innovations in synthetic biology (vegan honey), consumer-electronics, life sciences, agtech/foodtech, wi-fi technology, and more; humanitarian leadership; travel destinations, cities recognized for their beauty (Jerusalem), vacations (Tel Aviv), and environmental leadership (Ashdod); restaurants, and medical assistance to NATO.
• Recent visitors to Israel include former Australian prime minister John Howard; European Parliament members; S. Congresswomen, military chiefs, and governors; soccer superstar Lionel Messi, Argentina and Uruguay national soccer teams, fighter jets and crews from 4 countries; Arab journalists; a badger from Syria, and many others.

October 2019

• Prime Minister Netanyahu failed to form new governing coalition; Benny Gantz given the opportunity to try, invites Netanyahu to unity government
• Czech parliament condemns boycotts of Israel; European mental-health association ENMESH reverses earlier decision, will hold conference in Israel after all; Spanish court issues injunction against municipal boycott of Israel; Oslo’s City Council bans Israeli settlement goods and services from public procurements; after Univ. of Illinois Chancellor condemned “anti-Semitic content” in presentation, the student governement passes resolution differentiating anti-Zionism from antisemitism
• Israeli hi-tech firms raise $2.24 billion in third quarter of 2019; British private equity firm CVC invests $400 million in Israeli advertising-technology company ironSource; medical device company AngioDynamics acquire Eximo Medical for $46M; Israeli medical device company Body Vision raises $20M
• Israelis win international awards and honors in gymnastics, baseball, kickboxing, economics, and Miss Congeniality
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Vatican diplomat Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, actor Kevin Spacey, motivational guru Tony Robbins, Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish children for emergency medical treatment, 437,000 other visitors in September, and many others.

September 2019

• Elections for 22nd Knesset bring new deadlock; after failure to establish broad coalition, Prime Minister Netanyahu tasked again with forming a government
• During campaign, Benjamin Netanyahu announced that if reelected he would apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley
• Proposed BDS resolution fails at American Political Science Association (APSA); Anglican Church of Southern Africa votes to boycott Israel; AMCHA Initiative report finds spike in anti-Israel antisemitism on college campuses; Israeli government report unmasks BDS antisemitism; Iran suspended from world judo over Israel boycott
• Israeli Air Force appoints female flight squadron leader
• Baxter buys Israeli-American medical-device maker Cheetah for $190 million; McDonald’s buys Israeli-founded voice AI startup Apprente
• Israelis win international awards and honors in gymnastics, swimming and Paralympic swimming, baseball, windsurfing, 10K running, film schools, entrepreneur-producing universities, venture funding per capita, early-stage startups, cash-sniffing dog, and pizza.
• Recent visitors to Israel include the president of Honduras, prime minister of Ethiopia, Chelsea Football Club delegation, American police officers, singer Lionel Richie, British comedian John Cleese, thousands of migrating pelicans, and many others.

August 2019

• 32 parties (now 31) registered for September 17 elections
• Dvir Sorek (19) stabbed to death; Rina Shnerb (17) killed and her brother and father injured by IED blast at West Bank hiking spot
• Kentucky becomes 26^th state to pass anti-BDS legislation; Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) rejects Israel boycott
• Salesforce buys Israeli-founded ClickSoftware for $1.35 billion (!!), Amazon purchases Israeli startup E8 Storage for $60M; software startup Lightricks raises $135M at $1 billion valuation; Siemens Healthineers acquires Israeli-founded Corindus Vascular Robotics for $1.1 billion
• Israel signs free-trade agreement with South Korea
• Honduras and Pacific island nation Nauru recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
• Israelis win international awards and honors in judo, windsurfing, gymnastics, luxury restaurants, and cyber-security “Black Unicorns”
• Recent visitors to Israel include 72 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives; South Korean Trade Minister; Greek, French, and U.S. navy forces; Miss Universe pageant organizers; 21 flag football teams; a whale shark, and many others.

July 2019

• Violent protests follow fatal police shooting of Ethiopian-Israeli Soloman Tekah (19)
• Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz speaks at UN Environment Conference in Abu Dhabi, the first Israeli official to travel to the UAE; foreign ministers of Israel and Bahrain meet publicly in Washington DC
• Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visits South Korea
• Israel & U.S. successfully test Arrow-3 missile defense in Alaska
• Israeli F-35 jets reportedly hit Iranian targets in Iraq
• U.S. House of Representatives votes overwhelmingly to reject the anti-Israel BDS campaign
• Israeli government approved building homes for 700 Palestinians and 6,000 Jews in West Bank’s Area C
• Jerusalem court finds Palestinian Authority liable for terrorism against Israelis
• Canadian court rules wines produced in West Bank settlements cannot be labeled “Made in Israel”; European Network for Mental Health Service Evaluation cancels 2021 conference in Jerusalem; National Education Association defeated anti-Israel resolution; students at Univ. of Münster (Germany) reject BDS
• Israeli right-wing parties unite under Ayelet Shaked; Labor Party elects past chairman Amir Peretz to lead it in next election, merges with Orly Levy-Abekasis’ party, Gesher; Nitzan Horowitz wins Meretz leadership
• The Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD) awarded $8.2M to nine joint U.S.-Israel projects
• Bridgepoint acquires Israeli software testing company Qualitest for reported $420 million, Google buys Israeli cloud storage company Elastifile for reported $200M
• Israelis win international awards and honors in debate, judo (and another), youth basketball, synchronized swimming, youth baseball, track, Paralympic rowing, show jumping, high-school mathematics and physics, debate, innovation and innovative countries, technology pioneers, medical devices, best cities, and combatting human trafficking
• Recent visitors to Israel include the President of Croatia, British Home Secretary, U.S. Energy Secretary, 35 French parliamentarians, Washington DC Mayor, Arab journalists, music superstars Jennifer Lopez (JLo), Sir Tom Jones, Paul Anka, Disturbed, Bon Jovi, Milton Nascimento, and Slash; Rwandan children for cardiac care, lacrosse players from 16 European countries, and many others.

June 2019

• The national security advisers of the U.S. (John Bolton) and Russia (Nikolai Patrushev) met in Israel to discuss Syria, Iran, and regional issues
• British Society for Middle Eastern Studies passes Israel academic boycott resolution
• Broadcasting and streaming startup LiveU acquired for $200 million; Palo Alto Networks buys cloud security company Twistlock
• Israelis win international awards and honors in gymnastics, tennis, soccer, judo, sailing, fencing, air-rifle shooting, chess, wine, cheese, “Webby” digital arts, “Transformational Businesses,” Google Play “Social Impact,” AI/machine learning, law technology, innovation hubs, top universities, and patent-producing universities
• Recent visitors to Israel include Chile’s President, New York Governor, Qatari experts, French Muslim leaders, American military cadets, 300 Palestinian farmers, actor Neil Patrick Harris, 8,000 cybersecurity experts, Tachtouch the Lebanese monkey, and many others.

May 2019

• Israel celebrates 71st Independence Day
• Israel’s 21st Knesset is sworn in – and dissolves itself 4 weeks later, triggering new elections in September, after Prime Minister Netanyahu fails to form governing coalition
• Hundreds of wildfires sparked by Lag B’Omer bonfires, electrical faults, and Palestinian incendiary balloons amid record heat
• The Netherlands won Eurovision 2019, hosted in Tel Aviv to much fanfare (and some political controversy)
• Hamas, backed by Iran, launches hundreds of rockets from Gaza into Israel; IDF strikes Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets; 4 Israelis killed, hundreds wounded; rockets damage kindergarten in Sderot, hospital in Ashdod, many homes before reaching yet-another ceasefire
• Nuvei acquires Israeli payment technology company SafeCharge for $889 million; Vimeo acquires video-creation company Magisto for a reported $200 million; Salesforce buys AI startup Bonobo
• Faculty at NYU department vote for “non-cooperation” with university’s Tel Aviv campus; DePaul U. faculty condemns Prof. Jason Hill for supporting Israel; student government at UC Davis repeals divestment resolution and at California Polytechnic condemns antisemitism and blocks BDS; German parliament condemns BDS as antisemitic
• Israelis win international awards and honors in judo, ice hockey, badminton, Riga half marathon, high-school physics, scientific progress, restaurants, architecture, best countries for “digital nomads,” Bible knowledge, strongest currencies, life-science-startup ecosystems, female innovators, and Buenos Aires Book Fair booth
• Recent visitors to Israel include UN ambassadors from a dozen countries, the governor of Florida, U.S. mayors, Sichuan (China) provincial government and industry officials; pop diva Madonna; tens of thousands of tourists from Muslim countries, and many others.

April 2019

• Body of IDF Sgt. Zachary Baumel, missing since 1982, repatriated by Russia and buried in Israel
• Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft crashes into the moon
• Airbnb reverses ban on West Bank settlement listings; Arizona House votes to deny public contracts to Israel boycotters; student governments at Cornell, Univ. of Maryland and (for the sixth time) UC Santa Barbara reject Israel divestment
• Israelis win international awards and honors in European Cup basketball, rhythmic gymnastics, high school basketball, healthiest diet, technological innovation, most influential countries (#8), and oldest pro soccer player.
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), a Kurdish delegation from Iraq and Syria, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, 52 Imperial College London students from 30 countries, hundreds of students for an autonomous-car competition, participants from 50 countries at Forbes Under 30 Global Women’s Summit, hordes of black beetles, and many others.

March 2019

• Hamas rocket from Gaza destroys home in Mishmeret (central Israel), injuring 7; IDF retaliates against Hamas targets; rocket fire on Israel continues until Egypt brokered uneasy ceasefire
• U.S. recognizes Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights; EU rejects move
• World’s longest salt cave uncovered near Dead Sea
• IDF soldier Gal Keidan (19) and Rabbi Achiad Ettinger (47) shot dead by near Ariel; Palestinian terrorist later killed in shootout with IDF
• Rockets from Gaza fired toward Tel Aviv and border towns; IDF strikes Hamas targets in response
• Nvidia to buy Israeli chip maker Mellanox for $6.9 billion; McDonald’s to acquire Dynamic Yield for personalized menus for estimated $300M; Stryker acquires orthopedic device maker OrthoSpace for $220 million, I.D. Systems buys Pointer Telocation for $140M; Alibaba buys InfinityAR
• BDS rejected by student governments at Columbia Univ. and Swarthmore College but divestment resolution passed at Brown University; Pitzer College president vetoes College Council vote to suspend study abroad program in Haifa
• Israelis win international awards and honors in Judo, rhythmic gymnastics and artistic gymnastics, Special Olympics, European Cup soccer, innovative and promising companies, most powerful countries (#8), world’s best hospitals (Sheba, #10), and best cities (Tel Aviv, #21 in the world, #1 in Middle East).
• Recent visitors to Israel include the prime minister of Greece; presidents of Brazil, Cyprus, and Liberia; foreign minister of Hungary, U.S. Secretary of State; 4,600 athletes from 80 countries for Jerusalem Marathon, more than 10 million butterflies, and many others

February 2019

• Prime Minister Netanyahu to be indicted for bribery, corruption
• 47 parties register for April 9 elections; Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid join forces to challenge PM Netanyahu; Netanyahu orchestrates merger of right-wing party with extremist fringe
• Israel opened first embassy in Rwanda
• Israeli spacecraft Beresheet successfully launched
• Israel exposes terrorist ties of pro-BDS organizations; University of Oregon Constitution Court and Georgia State University student government rule BDS illegal; University of Cologne (Germany) student parliament condemned BDS
• Palo Alto Networks acquires Israeli cybersecurity company Demisto for $560 million, Qlik will buy Attunity for $560M, Symantec buys Israeli cybersecurity company Luminate for $200M, Google to acquire data-migration company Alooma for reported $150M; Walmart buys AI startup Aspectiva
• Israelis win international awards and honors in healthiest countries, innovative AI startups, mobile innovation, Paralympic swimming, film (including an Oscar), photography, and wine travel destinations
• Recent visitors to Israel include the prime ministers of Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Hungary; UN ambassadors from 40 countries, Kuwaiti businessmen, celebrity chefs, thousands of runners at the Tel Aviv marathon, and many others

January 2019

• Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Chad, announces renewed diplomatic relations with Muslim country
• Record Israeli exports reach record $100 billion in 2018
• Israel opened new Ramon International Airport near Eilat
• Intel to invest $11 billion in new manufacturing facility in Israel; Samsung buys Corephotonics for $155 million; Advanced Medical Solutions Group acquires medical-adhesive maker Sealantis for $25M; Verint Systems buys emergency-response technology company NowForce, Amazon buys cloud-computing startup CloudEndure; Israeli startups raised record $6 billion in 2018
• Former Israeli minister Gonen Segev pleads guilty to spying for Iran
• Malaysia loses swimming competition after excluding Israelis; HSBC divests from Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems; Airbnb faces discrimination lawsuit and Florida sanctions after banning Israeli settlement homes; judge upholds Arkansas law against Israel boycotts; BBC rejects calls for Israel Eurovision boycott
• Israelis win international awards and honors in judo, building heating and cooling, travel destinations (Jaffa, Eilat, incredible hotels, and Israel overall), college debate, food innovation (again), travel technology, innovative economy and global “innovation champion”
• Recent visitors to Israel include the Ukranian President, Romanian Prime Minister, Japanese Trade Minister; officials from Iraq,  the UAE, and the Russian military; actress and comedian Rosanne Barr, competitive surfers from 26 countries, a record 4.12 million tourists in 2018, and many others

December 2018

• Israel destroys Hezbollah attack tunnels on Lebanon border, including one that penetrated 40 meters into Israeli territory, a violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701
• Hamas terrorist shoots pregnant woman (killing her baby, who dies after premature delivery) and 6 others; in a separate attack, soldiers Yosef Cohen (19) and Yovel Mor Yosef (20) murdered
• Knesset dissolves, schedules April 9 elections; parties reshuffle as former IDF chief Benny Gantz forms new party, Jewish Home splits, with Ministers Bennet & Shaked forming “New Right” party
• Australia recognizes “West Jerusalem” as Israel’s capital
• Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Brazil, meets president-elect Jair Bolsonaro
• Israel signs cybersecurity deals with Japan, Greece, and Cyprus, and technology-cooperation agreement with Brazil
• Acclaimed Israeli author Amos Oz (79) died
• UN General Assembly approves 6 anti-Israel resolutions, rejects Hamas condemnation despite majority of votes
• Student government at Ohio State Univ. rejects BDS; NYU students support, administration opposes BDS resolution; Israel boycotts declared illegal for cities in Chile, rejected by Madrid City Council; chancellors of all 10 University of California campuses reiterate their “standing opposition” to academic boycotts of Israel; New England police forces cancel training in Israel; UK Pink Floyd Experience band cancels, then reinstates Israel performance; Illinois cites Airbnb for violating anti-boycott law
• IBM’s Red Hat buys Israeli data storage startup NooBaa
• Israelis win international awards and honors in judo (again); TIME “Genius Company”, Forbes “Women In Tech”; most educated countries; AI/big data; innovation in medicine, imaging, food (and another), and pools; jazz, wine, restaurants, travel technology, and tourism growth
• Recent visitors to Israel include the prime minister of Greece, president of Cyprus, dance professionals from 45 countries, navy vessels from France, Italy, Spain and Britain, and many others

November 2018

• Israeli officer and 7 Hamas leaders killed after blown cover of IDF intel mission in Gaza; Hamas launches 460 rockets at southern Israel, killing one and injuring dozens; anti-tank missile hit Israeli bus, critically injuring an IDF soldier; Israel targets Hamas infrastructure, including tunnels and TV station; Israeli Defense Minister resigns over controversial ceasefire
• Labor party MKs revolt against Zionist Union leader Avi Gabbay
• Kentucky bars state contractors from Israel boycotts; Canadian Federation of Students endorses BDS; Airbnb removes listings in Israeli settlements; Pitzer College faculty votes to terminate Haifa study-abroad program; Israeli academics dropped from conference in South Africa; CNN dropped commentator Marc Lamont Hill after he supported the elimination of Israel
• Wikimedia publishes 28,000 photos from Israel, 1900-1946
• Iranian fake news campaign triggered 2016 Pakistani threat to Israel
• Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) blocks U.S. military aid to Israel
• Mueller Water Products acquires Israel’s Krausz for $140 million; Symantec acquires cybersecurity startup Javelin Networks
• Israelis win international awards and honors in high school debate, judo (again), marathon running, artistic gymnastics, film, healthcare technology, retail technology, best inventions, consumer-electronics innovations, and ‘game changing’ technologies
• Recent visitors to Israel now listed here

October 2018

• Kim Levengrond Yehezkel (29) and Ziv Hajbi (35) murdered, another injured by Palestinian co-worker
• Aysha al-Rabi (45) killed by a rock thrown at her family car, allegedly by a Jewish extremist
• Rocket from Gaza (apparently triggered by lightening) destroys Beer Sheva home, mother and three children saved; Iran-backed terror group Islamic Jihad fires 30+ rockets at Israel; IDF bombs Gaza military targets, including 95 Islamic Jihad targets
• Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Oman for official diplomatic discussions with the Arab state’s ruler
• Hamas instigates new riots at Gaza border, challenges naval blockade
• Jerusalem takes over municipal services in UNRWA “refugee camp”
• New Israeli law absolves food donors from liability if they follow food safety requirements
• Israeli Supreme Court permits American pro-BDS student Lara Alqasem to enter after 15-day detention
• Jordan ends lease of border areas included in 1994 peace deal with Israel
• 2,000-year-old Hebrew inscription of “Jerusalem” name uncovered at construction site
• NASA signs agreement with Israel Space Agency for moon-bound mission
• U.S. places consular services for Palestinians under Jerusalem embassy; Sec. Pompeo: No change of US policy
• PM’s wife Sara Netanyahu goes on trial for fraud
• UAE ambassador attends pro-Israel event, seated with Israeli envoy
• University of Michigan disciplines professor who refused to recommend a student for study in Israel; a second instructor withholds similar recommendation letter; another UM class compares Netanyahu to Hitler
• Israeli robotic surgery company Mazor Robotics acquired by Medtronic for $1.64 billion; cybersecurity companies Imperva and Sygnia acquired for $2.1B & $250M, respectively; software-update company JFrog raised $165 million;
• Israelis win international awards and honors in youth swimming and gymnastics, gymnastics (again), judo (in Abu Dhabi!), peace and sports, documentary film, climate innovation, healthiest countries, best hotels, refugee integration, education technology, sustainability, “genius companies,” NASCAR racing, and Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire
• Recent visitors to Israel include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chinese vice president Wang Qishan with 2 ministers and 12 deputy ministers, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, Punjab (India) Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Bundestag President (speaker of the German parliament) Wolfgang Schäuble, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet warship USS Ross, the bands America and Jethro Tull, actor Gerard Butler, German volunteers who renovate homes of Holocaust survivors, thousands of Jewish leaders at the General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America, and dozens of Israel supporters on a Swedish “friendship boat.”

September 2018

• American-Israeli Ari Fuld, 40, murdered by Palestinian teenager; fatally stabbed, he saves another’s life
• Hamas reignites violent protests at Gaza border
• Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman visited Georgia, Azerbaijan; signed security cooperation agreements
• Paraguay moves Jerusalem embassy back to Tel Aviv; in response, Israel closes Asunción embassy
• Medtronic buys Israeli surgical robotics company Mazor for $1.6 billion; Chinese companies acquire ColorChip for $300 million and medical device firm Keystone Heart; Mantis Vision buys AI startup BrainVu, TransEnterix purchases Medical Surgery Technologies; financing raised for business-intelligence platform Sisense ($80M), diagnostic company MeMed ($70M), fraud prevention company Forter ($50M), cancer-radiation therapy firm Alpha Tau ($29M)
• Israelis win international awards and honors in accessibility technology, high-school physics and chemistry, judo (again), gymnastics (again), innovative cybersecurity startup, cloud computing, top universities and universities for entrepreneurs, healthcare efficiency, film, and hot startups
• Recent visitors to Israel include Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Zulu King Nkosi Zwelakhe Mthethwa, Hong Kong’s Finance Minister Paul Chan, Prince Constantijn van Oranje of the Netherlands, Swedish heavy-metal musician Yngwie Malmsteen, former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, singer Suzanne Vega, American veterans with PSTD on an archeological dig, Afghan children and a Kurdish-Iraqi baby for heart surgery, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, and 1,500 boys and girls at the 50^th International Children’s Games

August 2018

• 19 Israelis injured after hundreds of rockets were launched from Gaza; IDF retaliates against Hamas headquarters and other targets; confrontation ends with an uneasy ceasefire
• Mossad blamed for assassination of senior Syrian rocket scientist
• Israeli Air Force appoints first female flight squadron commander
• Pepsi buys Israeli drink-machine maker SodaStream for $3.2 Billion; Israeli high-tech firms raised $1.6 billion in Q2/2018; Standard & Poor’s upgrades Israel’s credit rating
• Israelis win international awards and honors in women’s 10,000-meter run, gymnastics (and another and another), windsurfing, Paralympic swimming, blind bowling, sustainable-development business, top universities, high-school robotics, debate, sports technology, travel destinations, and highest-paid actresses
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee; the head of Egyptian intelligence, the Greek warship HS Prometheus with hundreds of cadets, sailors and officers; reggae star Ziggy Marley, Beach Boys icon Brian Wilson, Canadian rocker Alanis Morissette, Columbian superstar musician Carlos Vives; legendary New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera; 40 American student-government leaders as well as 30 College Democrats and College Republicans leaders; 73 young scientists for a summer program at the Weizmann Institute, African agriculture specialists, Yemeni-Egyptian writer and activist Dr. Elham Manea, first Birthright group from Uganda, 10 American firefighters, Cypriot soccer team Apoel Nicosia, thousands of hot-air balloon pilots and fans, and 293,400 other tourists in July 2018.

July 2018

• July ust4 2018 ceasefire ends a day of heavy shelling in Israel’s south—rockets and mortars from Gaza, IAF air strikes on Hamas targets
• Yotam Ovadia, 31, murdered in a stabbing attack in West Bank settlement of Adam
• Israel evacuates 800 civil-defense volunteers from Syria
• IDF shoots down Syrian fighter jet that penetrated Israeli airspace
• Israel passes controversial “Jewish nation-state” law
• IDF Staff Sgt. Aviv Levi, 21, killed by sniper fire from Gaza
• Israeli will head UN Human Rights Committee
• Israeli and French navies conduct joint exercises
• S. and Israel establish joint energy cooperation center
• Dutch firm com buys Israeli online food ordering firm 10bis for $158 million; Facebook acquires social email startup Redkix
• Israelis win international awards and honors in most powerful countries (again), research universities, emergency-medicine technology, youth basketball, tennis (again), girls’ chess, windsurfing, economic returns from technology innovation, and technology for the aging population
• Recent visitors to Israel include Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian military chief Valery Gerasimov, U.S. Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani with other senior government officials from Indian state of Gujarat, World Jewish Congress leaders from more than 50 countries, 30 American first responders, NASA chief Jim Bridenstine, 5 Iraqi Yazidis training as medical clowns, lacrosse teams from almost 50 countries, NBA basketball star Draymond Green, English music star Ozzy Osbourne, Canadian rocker Alanis Morissette, pioneering grunge rock group Alice in Chains, electronic DJ duo The Chainsmokers, alternative rock musician Mark Lanegan, Colombian band Bomba Estereo, 20 Rwandan children for heart surgery, and a record 2.1 million tourists in the first half of 2018.

June 2018

• Arson kites and incendiary balloons from Gaza cause fires in southern Israel, destroying fields and damaging a nature preserve; Hamas fires rockets into Israel; IDF destroys Hamas undersea tunnel
• Philips buys cardiac imaging company EPD Solutions for $300 million
• Israelis win international awards and honors in wheelchair tennis, Tony music awards, counter-terrorism technology, World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers, UN Population Awards, ATM security, and university brands
• Israel participating in large international military drills in Europe and the Pacific
• Spanish cities of Valencia and nearby Sagunto vote to boycott Israel, but Spanish court rules such boycotts unconstitutional; Argentina’s national soccer team cancels game in Israel; U.S. Presbyterian Church condemns Israel
• Recent visitors to Israel include Britain’s Prince William, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Ireland’s deputy prime minister Simon Coveney, Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs, head of the Tibetan government-in-exile Lobsang Sangay,S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Indonesian Muslim Leader Yahya Staquf, Russia’s Military Police chief Vladimir Ivanovsky, former CIA Director Gen. (ret.) David Petraeus, the Philadelphia Orchestra, trauma-management experts from 16 countries, thousands of cyber-security professionals from 60 countries, 2,000 delegates to the AJC (American Jewish Committee) Global Forum, sports-science experts, former New York Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani; 21 U.S. police officers participating in the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange, 10 American university presidents, ex-Beatle Sir Ringo Starr, singer-songwriter Don McLean (“American Pie”), Norwegian pop band A-ha, world-renowned Spanish opera singer (and Three Tenors member) José Carreras, legendary Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis; French, Algerian and Moroccan dance troupe Hervé Koubi; Miss Iraq 2017, 3 elite fashion & beauty bloggers, and a rare blue whale.

May 2018

• An estimated 50,000 Palestinians—on a jihadi campaign for “return” organized by Hamas, funded by Iran—riot on Gaza border; dozens, most of them Hamas and Islamic Jihad members, killed while planting bombs, hurling rocks, or attempting to breach fence. Other Gazans fired live ammunition (including machine guns), planted IEDs at the fence, or launched arson kites and drones toward Israeli fields and homes.
• Dozens of mortars and rockets fired from Gaza into Israel, hitting a house and kindergarten and injuring 3 soldiers; mortar hits Gaza power line, cutting electricity to the Strip. IDF targets Hamas and Islamic Jihad installations, including submarines and a tunnel into Israel; Hamas announces unilateral ceasefire.
• New U.S. embassy opens in Jerusalem; Guatemala and Paraguay follow suit
• IDF strikes Iranian military targets and air-defense systems in Syria in response to Iranian rocket attacks on Israel. The U.S., Britain, EU, even Bahrain support Israeli action.
• Israel wins Eurovision song contest with “Toy” by Netta Barzilai
• Israel exposes captured secret Iranian nuclear files, supports U.S. withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal
• IDF Sgt. Ronen Lubarsky killed by marble slab dropped on him during West Bank arrest raid
• Israeli cabinet approves major funding to develop Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem
• Israel and Panama sign free trade deal
• Anti-Israel resolutions pass student governments at Barnard College and Univ. of Oregon; vote canceled at UC Santa Barbara; Louisiana bans state contracts with Israel-boycotting companies
• International Flavors & Fragrances acquires Frutarom for $7 billion, medical technology developer V-Wave raises $70 million; Tyson Foods invests in Israeli clean-meat startup Future Meat, Canon will acquire video-analytics firm BriefCam, Google buys cloud migration company Velostrata; Mexico’s TV Azteca invests $7M in social-music startup MUGO
• Israelis win international awards and honors in cybersecurity, innovation, film, Time’s Most Influential People, artificial-intelligence startups, and of course the Eurovision song contest
• Recent visitors to Israel include Japanese President Shinzo Abe, Guatemala president Jimmy Morales, Paraguay president Horacio Cartes, Panama president Juan Carlos Varela, former German president Christian Wulff, Minister-President of Flanders Geert Bourgeois; U.S. delegation opening the new embassy, led by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin with Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and 12 members of Congress; Norway’s deputy minister of foreign affairs, British members of Parliament, former U.S. presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, European intelligence officials, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, 176 cyclists from 22 teams at the Giro d’Italia bike race (including teams from Bahrain and the UAE), Brazilian soccer idol Ronaldinho, heads of 20 foreign air forces, sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, British jazz-funk band Jamiroquai, rapper Azealia Banks, German folk-pop duo Milky Chance, Cuban pop king Enrique Iglesias, English rock band alt-J, reggae rap superstar Matisyahu, thousands of food and agricultural-technology industry executives, international students at Model UN conference, 3,000 Christians from 40 countries at the March of the Nations, and 700 young entrepreneurs from 38 countries at the Forbes Under 30 summit.

April 2018

• 10 Israeli teens killed in flash flood during school trip near Dead Sea
• Hamas leads weekly riots on Gaza-Israel border; Palestinians hurl fire bombs, Molotov cocktails, burning tires, and explosive-laden kites across border, storm and attempt to breach fence; dozens of rioters and instigators killed
• Students at George Washington University and Barnard College vote to divest from Israel; 51 student groups at New York University pledge to boycott Israel; Dublin’s city council endorses BDS; city of Durham, NC bans police training with Israel; Cambridge, MA rejects BDS resolution; Wisconsin governor signs law prohibiting state agencies from participating in anti-Israel boycotts
• Technion-Israel Institute of Technology receives $50M gift to support a new quantum science & engineering center
• Palo Alto Networks acquires Israeli cybersecurity company Secdo for $100M, Medtronic buys surgery technology developer Visionsense for $75M, Nike buys computer vision startup Invertex, Porsche invests in AI startup Anagog, social investing platform eToro raises $100M, nutrition analytics firm Nutrino raises $8M
• Israelis win international awards and honors in cybersecurity deals, judo, rhythmic gymnastics, blind golf, Para shooting, youth Bible knowledge, green cities, population health, and healthy longevity
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, UN ambassadors from 40 countries, head of U.S. Central Command Gen. Joseph Votel, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich with other Intel executives and 300 Intel drones, 300 international technology investors and venture capitalists, 25 Eurovision contestants, European judo champions, Nineties boy band Backstreet Boys, and (again) a record number of tourists

March 2018

• Adiel Coleman (32) stabbed to death in Jerusalem; separately, IDF soldiers Ziv Daos (21) and Netanel Kahalani (20) killed in car-ramming attack on the West Bank
• Hamas instigates Palestinian riot along Israel-Gaza border; at least 10 Hamas members among Palestinian casualties
• Israel admits 2007 attack on Syrian nuclear facility
• The UN Human Rights Council passes five anti-Israel resolutions
• Coalition crisis ends without new elections
• Israel’s unemployment rate reaches 45-year low
• Florida governor signs anti-BDS bill; students at the University of Minnesota and Trinity College Dublin adopt anti-Israel resolutions; University of Illinois and Univ. of Ottawa students reject similar measures; two Spanish courts overturn cities’ Israel boycott
• KLA-Tencor to buy Israeli tech firm Orbotech for $3.4 billion; Broadridge acquires startup ActivePath; transit-app company Moovit raises $50m
• Israel strengthens ties with Zambia
• Israelis win international awards and honors in judo, top universities in Asia, luxury hotels, photography, youth handball, ju-jitsu, and paramedic training in Ecuador; Israel named world’s 11^thhappiest country and one of its strongest economies
• Recent visitors to Israel include a bipartisan group of U.S. senators, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Bartosz Cichocki, now-U.S. Undersecretary of State Heather Nauert, U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and 10 other Democratic lawmakers, former Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi, UK Government Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues Sir Eric Pickles, 2,000 American sailors and soldiers aboard the aircraft carrier USS Iwo Jima, the vice president of Greece’s opposition party Adonis Georgiadis, 750 HP customers from 50 countries, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, CBS News president David Rhodes, ‘Superman’ actor Dean Cain, actress Mayim Bialik, American guitarist Steve Vai, 19 heads of prestigious Latin American universities, 11 members of the New York State Assembly, 24 student leaders from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, 7 American professional football players, three teen survivors of Florida school shooting, over 200 Caribbean-American pastors and congregants, and 4,000 runners from 72 countries participating in the Jerusalem Marathon

February 2018

• Israel intercepts Iranian drone from Syria, targets launch vehicle; after F-16 downed, Israeli Air Force destroys Syrian-Iranian air defense installations
• Police recommend indicting Prime Minister Netanyahu on corruption charges
• Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal (29) stabbed to death by Arab-Israel teen; two IDF soldiers attacked by mob in Jenin, rescued by Palestinian Authority police
• Four IDF soldiers injured by IED on Gaza border; Israel retaliates against Hamas targets
• Israeli & Egyptian companies sign 10-year, $15 billion natural gas deal
• BDS initiatives fail at Northeastern Univ. and Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP)
• Israel strengthens ties with Greece and India; relations with Poland strained following controversial “Polish Holocaust Law”
• Israelis win international awards and honors in film, top universities in Asia, Olympic ice skating, Judo, luxury hotels, most educated countries, most innovative companies, and civil defense cooperation with Panama
• Recent visitors to Israel include senior Russian government officials, 49 representatives of 25 countries’ parliaments, members of the Brazilian Senate and Congress, 30 mayors from around the world, Serbian National Assembly President Maja Gojkovic, thousands of U.S. soldiers and Marines for Juniper Cobra joint exercise with IDF, seven current and former NFL players, U.S. Representative Alan Clemmons (R-SC), U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield, former U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, former CIA director Gen (Ret.) David Petraeus and another 15,000 attendees from 80 countries at CyberTech conference; thousands of investors from over 90 countries at OurCrowd Summit, nine Arab journalists from Morocco, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and Syria; American business accelerator executives; and huge flocks of starlings.

January 2018

• U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visits Israel, prays at Western Wall, speaks at Knesset, promises embassy move in 2019
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits India, warmly received
• Rabbi Raziel Shevach (35), father of 6, murdered in West Bank drive-by shooting
• UN indefinitely postpones settlement blacklist
• Student government at Ohio State passes anti-Israel divestment resolution; New Orleans City Council rescinds BDS-backed human rights resolution
• Record Israeli exports in 2017 exceed $100 billion; Israeli high-tech companies raised $5.24B in 620 deals
• SuperMeat, an Israeli startup developing lab-made chicken meat, raises $3 million
• Israel signs new trade agreements with India, expanded air transport agreement with Canada
• Israelis win international awards and honors in architecture, artificial intelligence, sustainability, consumer-electronics startups, powerful and innovative countries, and WeWork Creator awards
• Recent visitors to Israel include, in addition to US VP Pence, the foreign ministers of Germany Sigmar Gabriel, Norway Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide and of Ireland Simon Coveney, American comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock, Egyptian sociologist Saad Eddin, 1,000 emergency responders from 35 countries, 80 college students from 13 countries for a coding and entrepreneurship fellowship, and 200 African-Americans from New York

December 2017

• President Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, announces embassy move from Tel Aviv; UN resolution condemning the move faces U.S. veto in Security Council, but passes in the General Assembly (128 countries for, 9 against, 35 abstentions, 21 absent); in response, U.S. cuts funding for UN
• Guatemala announces it, too, will move its embassy to Jerusalem; Honduras and Panama follow; others may come soon
• U.S. House of Representatives passes Taylor Force Act targeting Palestinian funding for terrorists
• Rockets from Gaza hit southern Israel and are intercepted by Iron Dome; IDF retaliates, targeting Hamas infrastructure
• IDF destroys Hamas tunnel into Israel
• Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Israel signed an MOU for constructing an underwater gas pipeline
• Following U.S., Israel announces withdrawal from UNESCO
• New Jersey has divested from Danish Danske bank due to its Israel boycott; New Zealander singer Lorde canceled planned Israel concert
• Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba to buy Israeli QR code startup Visualead; Israeli startups raised over $4.6 billion so far in 2017
• Israel’s Elbit Systems wins $46M NATO contract
• Israelis win international awards and honors for artificial intelligence, digital education, film, young scientists, most prolific inventors, innovative technology, antibiotic-resistance research, water security, para table-tennis, and GQ’s Wonder Woman of the Year
• Recent visitors to Israel include parliament heads from six African nations (Ghana, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda); Florida Governor Rick Scott with a delegation of nearly 70 Florida business and education leaders; the head of Britain’s armed forces, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, and the Royal Navy’s flagship vessel, the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean; presidents of leading American universities, 150 German-speaking Jewish leaders, 30 Jewish social-media mavens, 19 law-enforcement officials from Massachusetts, senior medical professionals from 20 countries for mass-casualty training; an interfaith delegation from Bahrain, a Syrian refugee baby for life-saving surgery, and 3.6 million others (including 48,000 Birthright participants) in the first 11 months of 2017

November 2017

• Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Kenya; meets with leaders of African nations Rwanda, Gabon, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, South Sudan, Botswana, Namibia and Ethiopia.
• Israel deploys Iron Dome aerial defense system aboard a naval ship to protect offshore energy resources and maritime and coastal installations
• Germany’s Continental AG buys Israeli startup Argus Cyber Security for $400 million (est.)
• Anti-Israel BDS resolutions were defeated at the University of Maryland and University of Ottawa, but passed at the University of Michigan and York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies; a court in Seville, Spain, halted a boycott of Israeli products by the City Council of La Roda de Andalucia
• Israelis win international awards and honors in cardiovascular innovation, film, innovative use of underground space (a cemetery!) and soccer in China.
• Recent visitors to Israel include the speaker of the Swedish parliament Urban Ahlin, Illinois governor Bruce Rauner with a university delegation, mayor of San Antonio (Texas) Ron Nirenberg with a trade delegation, officials from the U.S. National Security Council, UK Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry and (now former) Secretary of State  for International Development Priti Patel, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, Russian spy chief Sergey Naryshkin, hundreds of pilots and air support team members from 7 countries, 45 members of the Indian military, mobile- and financial-technology investors, “Saturday Night Live” actress and comedian Michaela Watkins, rock star Boy George and his band Culture Club, Australian rocker Nick Cave, international entrepreneurs and journalists, 110 Turkish volunteers (including descendants of Ottoman sultans), and tens of thousands of migrating cranes.

October 2017

• IDF destroys tunnel from Gaza into Israel, killing 12 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants
• Israeli Air Force destroys a Syrian surface-to-air missile battery that had previously fired towards IAF planes
• Israel discovers Russian hack of classified U.S. materials via Kaspersky antivirus software
• U.S. Army will use Israeli Trophy system to protect American tanks
• Israeli representative was elected by the General Assembly to UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
• Chinese company Playtika acquires Israel’s Jelly Button Games; data-storage company Infinidat raises $95 million on $1.6B valuation; funding also secured for medical-technology companies CathWorks ($16M), Magenta Medical ($15M), farming company Phytech ($11M), Agumedics ($8M), Elivex ($8M), Colospan ($7M), Vensica ($2M), and ElastiMed ($1M) and automotive-tech companies Via ($250M), Innoviz ($65M), and StoreDot ($60 million); Israeli high-tech funding reaches record amount in Q3/2017; Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba launches Israeli research hub
• The governors of Wisconsin and Maryland forbid state contracts with Israel-boycotting companies; Green Party of Bavaria (Germany), Austrian National Union of Students, and students at the University of Winnipeg (Canada) reject BDS campaign; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the campaign to boycott Israel the product of a “leftist-Islamist alliance … a totalitarian ideology”; peasants and farmers wing of the Communist Party of India joined the BDS movement; McGill Student Society removes pro-Israel students from board
• Israelis win international awards and honors in gymnastics, Judo, Thai boxing, tennis, NASCAR; Paralympic rowing, youth swimming, and bocce; food security, footbridges, best bars, and McArthur “genius” grants. Gold-medalist Judoka Tal Flicker sings Israeli national anthem after host UAE bars Israeli symbols.
• Recent visitors to Israel include the Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull, Governor-General of New Zealand (head of state) Patricia Reddy, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, American Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, 26 parliamentarians from 14 countries, American sailors and officers aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard, 130 Christian journalists from 30 countries, venture capitalists, automotive and alternative-fuel executives, legendary British singer Sir Cliff Richard, Colombian pop star Singer Malum, Spain’s national soccer team, descendants of Australian soldiers who fought in Palestine in World War I, thousands of Christian pilgrims, and Puerto Rican survivors of Hurricane Maria.

September 2017

• Palestinian terrorist opens fire at settlement check point, killing policeman Solomon Gavriyah and security guards Youssef Ottman and Or Arish
• Israeli rescue team warmly received by Mexico earthquake survivors; other Israeli aid teams arrive in Florida, Texas, and Haiti
• Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico; meets in New York with President Trump, Egyptian president Sisi
• Israeli jets reportedly struck a chemical-weapons and missile facility in Syria
• Israeli Supreme Court strikes down ultra-Orthodox draft exemption, allows restaurants to claim kosher status without official Rabbinate approval
• Esther Hayut unanimously elected next Israeli Supreme Court president
• On the eve of Rosh HaShanah 5778, Israel’s population tops 8.7 million. Its birth rate of 3.11 is the highest among developed nations.
• Israel expresses support for Kurdish independence
• The British Secretary of Communities, the student parliament at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, and the King of Bahrain denounce boycott of Israel; mayor of Berlin will deny city resources to BDS groups; Canada’s largest private-sector labor union adopts BDS motion
• Israeli pharma giant Teva sells assets for $1.38 billion; SAP buying identity-software company Gigya for $350M; Daimler invests $60M in fast-charging battery technology company StoreDot; IBM is buying the Israeli data center start-up Cloudigo; Bet Shemesh Engine will supply $640M of jet-engine parts to Pratt & Whitney
• Israeli exports up 6%, foreign investment in Israel up 7% year-over-year, to $12.6B; foreign-currency reserves at record high
• Israel strengthens ties with Switzerland, Latin American countries, Bahrain and other Arab states
• Israelis win international awards and honors in drug research, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Paralympic table tennis, soccer, basketball, judo, high-school debate, film, blind bowling, London restaurants, and automotive cyber-security
• Recent visitors to Israel include Iowa governor Kim Reynolds with members of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel with a trade delegation and mayors of 8 other U.S. cities, 52 American law-enforcement officers from 12 states, water professionals, 1,200 agriculture students from Asia and Africa, Kurdish activist Diliman Abdulkader, officials from the University of Arizona and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México signing a cooperation agreement with Ben Gurion University, singer Chrissie Hynde with The Pretenders, Russian ice-skating Olympic champion Yulia Lipnitskaya for medical treatment, 7 international “mega-bloggers,” 253,800 tourists in August (including Bangladeshi-born Shadman Zaman), and (maybe) Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

August 2017

• Israeli crisis unit helping Hurricane Harvey victims
• City of Frankfurt (Germany) outlaws municipal funding for anti-Israel BDS activities
• S&P upgrades Israel’s debt outlook
• Mexican firm to invest in Israeli drip-irrigation company Netafim at $1.9B value; Australian company buys social gaming firm Plarium for $500M; Signet Jewelers to buy online jewelry retailer R2Net for $328M; depth-sensor company Oryx Vision raises $50M, digital testing company Applause sold to U.S. investors;
• Israel strengthens ties with African Muslim-majority countries Senegal and Guinea
• Israelis win international awards and honors in teen kickboxing, tennis, judo, triple jumping, innovation institutions, and health systems
• Recent visitors to Israel include 51 Members of both parties in U.S. Congress, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, 28 American West Point cadets and Naval Academy midshipmen, 60 European teen basketball players and an American National Basketball Association delegation led by Commissioner Adam Silver, 12 international modern-dance troupes, comedian and talk show host Conan O’Brien, Actor Jonathan Lipnicki, and dissident Iranian blogger Neda Amin

July 2017

• Three Israeli Arabs shoot & kill two Israeli Druze policemen at Temple Mount; Israeli authorities closed the Mount for two days, then installed metal detectors at the entrance, then removed them after deadly riots and installed security cameras instead; Palestinians celebrate victory; Palestinian Authority urges “struggle,” freezes security cooperation with Israel
• A 19 year old Palestinian stabbed to death Yossi Salomon (70), his daughter Chaya (46) and son Elad (36) at their Shabbat dinner table at their Halamish (Neve Tzuf) family home
• Israeli security guard shot and killed a Jordanian attacker who stabbed him and a passerby at the Israeli embassy in Amman, Jordan, prompting a recall of embassy staff to Israel and a diplomatic rift between Israel and Jordan
• Avi Gabbay wins Israeli Labor Party primaries
• UNESCO adopts resolutions denying Jewish history in Hebron and Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem
• Israel signs water deal and ‘historic’ energy agreement with Palestinian Authority
• North Carolina becomes 22^nd state to pass anti-BDS legislation; Mennonite Church USA to divest from companies doing business in Israeli-occupied territories; United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ condemn Israeli treatment of Palestinian children; statement against Israel boycotts from top entertainment-industry executives, the Pitzer College board of trustees, and a Tunisian NGO; City Council of Onda (Spain) cancels Israel boycott; Canada required special labels for Israeli settlement wines, then promptly reversed the requirement
• Israel strengthens ties with India, Ukraine, the central European countries (Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic) and Tanzania
• Israeli pharmaceutical company NeuroDerm acquired for $1.1 billion by Japanese pharma giant; Symantec acquiring cybersecurity company Fireglass for $250M; Toyota invests $14 million in Intuition Robotics; cybersecurity company PerimeterX raises $23M
• Israelis win international awards and honors in biomedical research, universities for math, best airports, cancer research, agricultural innovation, exact sciences, digital innovation, cybersecurity, high-school chemistry, tennis, “iconic houses,” under-20 basketball, and most popular actor (“Wonder Woman” Gal Gadot)
• Recent visitors to Israel include the President of India Narendra Modi and of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadéra, Prime Ministers of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman and of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Rwanda President Paul Kagame, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush with thousands of sailors and officers, investors in frontier technologies (augmented reality/virtual reality, sensors, computer vision, robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles, and space), legendary bands Radiohead and Guns N Roses, the Pixies, pop diva Britney Spears, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (the Jersey Boys), UN ambassadors from 9 countries; 10,000 athletes from 80 countries (including Ronald, son of Brazil’s legendary soccer player Ronaldo) for Maccabiah (“Jewish Olympics”) games, 75 Christian, Jewish and Muslim youth on an interfaith peace summit, Yazidi activists, super sperm-donor (“Sperminator”) Ari Nagel, University of Pennsylvania students, and 10 American pilots who volunteered for Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War

June 2017

• 23-year-old Border Policewoman Hadas Malka fatally stabbed by a terrorist in Jerusalem
• Israeli government suspends plans for egalitarian prayer at Western Wall, prompting sharp protests from Jewish Agency, American Conservative and Reform Jews, and Israeli opposition and other leaders
• Shelling from Syria spills over into Israeli Golan, raising tensions
• President Trump extended the waiver allowing the U.S. Embassy to remain in Tel Aviv, but reiterated his intent to move it to Jerusalem in the future
• Modern Language Association rejects BDS resolution; Kansas and North Carolina pass anti-BDS laws; Swiss Parliament votes to end funding to BDS organizations; Spanish courts reverse city boycotts
• Israeli esthetic medical products company Syneron Medical acquired for $397 million; Microsoft buys Israeli cloud-solutions firm Cloudyn for $50-70M, Honeywell acquires cybersecurity company Nextnine for $35M; Porsche invests in Israeli automotive innovation; Israeli startups raise over $400M in June, including $8M for career-search AI company Workey
• Israel renews diplomatic relations with Nicaragua and strengthens ties with India and New Zealand; Israel’s UN ambassador elected VP of the General Assembly session
• Israelis win international awards and honors in IoT security, Paralympic kayaking, top universities, literature (the Man Booker International Prize), tennis, cool startups, and vodka-label design.
• Recent visitors to Israel include the president of Pacific island nation Nauru Baron Waqa, American UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, White House advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Democratic and Republican campaign officials, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the Albanian national soccer team, sports industry leaders, cyber security and education technology experts, Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt, British electronic duo Pet Shop Boys and rock stars Rod Stewart and Tom Jones, 18 pro football Hall of Famers, 10 former high-ranking US military officials, Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin, artists and performers from Mediterranean countries, female Australian business leaders, about 30,000 participants in the Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade, a Birthright group from India, and a record 347,000 tourists in May.

May 2017

• UNESCO resolution denying Israeli links to Jerusalem slammed by U.S. & Israel, applauded by Palestinians
• Czech Parliament recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
• UN removes support and Norway demands return of funds for Palestinian women’s center named after terrorist
• Governors of all 50 U.S. states signed statement rejecting the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign; Nevada and Texas passed anti-BDS laws; BDS motions failed at Spanish city Lérida, student senates of George Washington Univ., UC Santa Barbara, and Teaching Support Staff Union at Simon Fraser Univ., but passed at California State University (CSU) Long Beach; leader of Norway’s main opposition group condemns trade union Israel boycott vote; other anti-BDS statements from Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Rep. Shelley Berkeley, and the Berlin Social Democratic Party.
• Microsoft buys Israeli cyber security company Hexadite for $100 million; Canada’s Stingray Digital buys Yokee Music for $40 million, Dutch game developer GamePoint acquires Luck Genome for $12.5M
• Israel strengthens ties with Japan, India, and Canada’s Province of Québec
• Israelis win international awards and honors in medical research, agribusiness innovation (and another), young scientists, best country for women in the Middle East (a low bar!), chefs, high-school robotics, wheelchair tennis, and life expectancy
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. President Donald Trump (with wife Melania, daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, among others), German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard with a large trade delegation, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, the Archbishop of Canterbury, former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, U.S. Air Force pilots taking part in a joint exercise, U.S. Navy ship USS Ross, pop superstar Justin Bieber, rock legends Aerosmith, three Indian navy ships, Jordanian sheikhs, a nearly 1,000-strong ”Mega-Mission” from Montreal, transportation executives, and a record almost 350,000 tourists in April (plus at least one rare bird, a long-billed dowitcher)

April 2017

• Israel intercepts drone from Syria, reportedly strikes arms cache near Damascus airport after Iranian cargo arrives
• Gaza women, entering Israel for medical treatment, tried to smuggle explosives
• On eve of 69^th (re-)birthday, Israel’s population is 8.7 million: 75% Jewish, 20% Arab, 5% other
• All 100 U.S. Senators signed a letter to UN Secretary General warning the UN to stop anti-Israel bias
• Anti-boycott motions pass state legislatures in Kansas and Texas; European Union rejects commercial boycotts;  boycott and divestment measures fail at Bath University, Columbia University, University of British Columbia, and University of Wisconsin-Madison, but passes student senate at Tufts University (then rejected by trustees) and Pitzer College; Ohio purchases record $61M in Israel Bonds
• Apple buys Israeli cybersecurity startup RealFace; Snap acquires Israeli photo-filter patent, U.S. private equity firm buys e-commerce platform R2Net at $300M valuation, SeatGeek acquires ticketing software company TopTix for $56M, MRI systems developer Aspect Imaging raises $30M
• Israelis win international awards and honors in innovation (and another), universities, gymnastics, amputee marathon, and honey; Israeli economy ranked world’s 3^rd most stable
• Recent visitors to Israel include Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades (again); U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis; German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, the energy ministers of Greece, Italy, and Cyprus; UK International Trade Minister Lord Price; U.S. Vice Admiral James Syring, Director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency; 28 Eurovision Song Contest contestants, former antisemite and granddaughter of founder of the Westboro Baptist Church Megan Phelps-Roper; deputy prime minister of Azerbaijan for medical treatment, and a record 739,000 tourists in the first quarter of 2017

March 2017

• Prime Minister Netanyahu meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and with China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing
• Israel approves first new settlement in 20 years, will limit future settlement growth
• UN anti-Israel report withdrawn, after rejection by UN Secretary General and U.S. outrage; head of issuing body resigns; Britain criticizes “unacceptable” anti-Israel bias of UN Human Rights Council
• Israeli-American teen arrested for JCC bomb threats
• Intel acquires Israeli automotive tech firm Mobileye for $15.3 billion (!); Chinese electronics giant Midea acquires Servotronix for $170 million; Palo Alto Networks acquires cybersecurity firm LightCyber for $130M
• Anti-boycott motions pass state legislatures in Arkansas, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Switzerland and adopted by Spain’s ruling party; Israel boycott and divestment proposals defeated at Georgetown Univ., Ohio State University, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Western Ontario, but passed at the University of Michigan-Dearborn; Student Council at University of Turin (Italy) votes to boycott the Technion
• Israel renews diplomatic relations with Nicaragua, strengthens ties with China, Vietnam, and Cambodia
• Israelis win international awards and honors in baseball, photography, ecological architecture, fencing, artificial-intelligence startups, water innovation, and Germany’s Order of Merit; Israel ranked among world’s healthiest, happiest, and most powerful countries
• Recent visitors to Israel include the President of Slovakia Andrej Kiska, Prime Minister of Belgium Charles Michel, President of Zambia Edgar Lungu with 9 members of his cabinet, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, U.S. lawmakers considering Embassy relocation to Jerusalem, UNESCO ambassadors, President Trump’s advisor Jason Greenblatt, German politicians and journalists, Brazilian political leaders, the head of U.S. European Command Gen. General Curtis M. Scaparrotti, actors Richard Gere and Hugh Laurie, top executives of major U.S. television networks (CNN, Fox TV, NBC, HBO), travel professionals and bloggers, legendary rock band Yes, British DJ Fatboy Slim and comedian Eddie Izzard, Iranian dissident musician Shahin Najafi, Canadians with special needs, hundreds of sick children from Gaza for medical treatment in Israel, thousands of Egyptian Coptic Christian pilgrims, 975 Diaspora Jewish dads, and 234,000 other tourists in February

February 2017

• Prime Minister Netanyahu met in London with British Prime Minister Teresa May, in the White House with President Donald Trump, in Singapore with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and in Sydney, Australia with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
• Following court ruling, Israel forcibly evacuates illegal settlement outpost Amona; Knesset passes controversial Regulation Law, retroactively legalizing other settlements built on private Palestinian land
• Islamic State in Gaza launched four rockets toward Eilat; three were intercepted by Iron Dome; no injuries reported
• Israel’s economy grew at an annual rate of 6.2% during the fourth quarter of 2016; unemployment fell, exports and foreign reserves  increased, the budget deficit was reduced, and private equity investments hit a record high.
• Apple buys Israeli  Facial Recognition Firm RealFace; Celanese Corp. acquires Israeli plastics company Nilit Plastics for an estimated $250 million.
• Israel strengthens ties with India, Japan, Turkey, many African countries, and even Qatar
• Israelis win international awards and honors in cryptography, R&D spending, startup schools, best countries to raise a family, and the German government’s Knight Commander’s Cross
• Recent visitors to Israel include Turkey’s Minister of Tourism Nabi Avci, NFL (American professional football) players, actor/martial artist Chuck Norris, the band Coldplay, Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, Marseilles celebrity chef Lionel Levy, university provosts and deans, Indonesian Muslim leaders, Latin American youth leaders, Brown University student leaders, 5,000 delegates from 80 countries to crowdfunding conference, Australian Aborigine leader Nyunggai Warren Mundine, 1,800 runners at Tel Aviv Marathon, and 210,000 tourists in January (including tens of thousands of Chinese tourists)

January 2017

• ISIS-inspired, Hamas-blessed terrorist rams truck into soldiers in Jerusalem, killing Yael Yekutiel (20), Shir Hajaj (22), Shira Tzur (20), and Erez Orbach (20)
• Police officer Sgt. Maj. Erez Levi (34) killed in car-ramming attack amid demonstration over demolition of illegal construction in Bedouin village Umm al-Hiran
• Prime Minister Netanyahu under two separate corruption investigations, one involving allegedly inappropriate gifts from a wealthy businessman, the other for alleged collusion with a newspaper publisher
• Israeli soldier who shot a disarmed terrorist in Hebron convicted of manslaughter
• Israel’s High Court rules for women’s prayer at Western Wall
• Israel deploys Arrow-3 long-range missile defense system, capable of intercepting nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles; successfully tests David’s Sling, designed to stop long-range rockets, drones and cruise missiles
• U.S. Congress rejects anti-settlement UN Security Council Resolution 2334
• Microsoft invests in Israeli cyber security company Illusive Networks; Israel tech companies raised record $4.8b in 2016, and exits total $10b
• Michigan passes anti-BDS legislation; Modern Language Association rejects Israel boycott (and future boycott motions), as does (for the third time) the American Historical Association; Valencia region adopts Israel boycott while another Spanish town reverses BDS endorsement
• Israelis win international awards and honors in mathematics, Bible knowledge, travel destinations, junior tennis, blind golf, Sahara Desert motorcycle race, great world powers, innovative economies, clean technology, hotels, and restaurants
• Israel strengthens ties with Brazil, Egypt, Turkey, the Vatican, and NATO
• Recent visitors to Israel include Polish President Andrzej Duda, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma, Norwegian Foreign Minister Børge Brende, French Senate president Gérard Larcher, members of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, the Minister of Finance and a trade delegation from British Columbia, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker with dozens of 50 business and academic leaders, former CIA director Gen. David Petraeus, former New York Mayor and President Trump cyber security advisor Rudy Giuliani, South African opposition leader Mmusi Maimane, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (daughter of Robert Kennedy), former governor of Arkansas and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, 10 Jewish major league baseball players,  Hollywood TV stars, over 80 Columbia University graduate students, a delegation of French physicians, ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ winner Eliana Girard, English comedian Ashley Blaker, 350 young professionals from around the world, 5 bloggers with over 10 million combined followers, wounded Syrians seeking medical treatment, and 2.9 million others in 2016, plus dozens of sharks off the Mediterranean coast

December 2016

• UN Security Council, with U.S. abstention, passes “shameful” Resolution 2334 condemning all “settlement activity,” including in Jewish areas of Jerusalem; decision excoriated from the right and from the left
• U.S. Congress authorizes over $600 million for U.S.-Israel missile defense cooperation, enacts U.S.-Israel Advanced Research Partnership Act
• German Chancellor Merkel’s party labels BDS antisemitic; Ohio and Canadian province of Ontario pass anti-BDS legislation, while Quebec’s Green Party endorses the movement
• Snapchat buying Israeli augmented-reality startup Cimagine for $30-$40 million; Israeli companies raised record funds in private equity investments in 2016
• Israelis win international awards and honors in neurobiology, environmental innovation, fast-growing companies, European soccer, Ju-Jitsu, youth windsurfing, best places to travel, and relations with Japan
• Israel strengthens ties with the European Union, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and the U.S. state of Nevada
• Recent visitors to Israel include Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, 14 UN ambassadors, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström, ministers and top officials from 13 Western African countries at an agriculture conference, Swiss MP Corina Eichenberger-Walther, British cardiologists and heart surgeons, international Jewish journalists, legendary punk rockers The Stranglers, soft rock band Air Supply, American singers Ryley Walker and Rickie Lee Jones, bestselling author Scott Turow, thousands of cyber-security experts from 80 countries, emergency-medicine professionals from 5 countries, 75 disabled Canadian hikers, 20 rectors from Latin American universities, conservative leaders from multiple countries (including a senior member of Donald Trump’s transition team), 21 travel bloggers, a record number of tourists, and tens of thousands of migrating cranes.

November 2016

• Many fires, some caused by arson, ravage Haifa and Jerusalem areas; hundreds of homes destroyed, tens of thousands evacuated
• U.S. Congress passes resolutions opposed to unilateral UN actions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and partnering with Israel on advanced research and on cyber-security
• Pennsylvania passes anti-BDS bill; the city of Trondheim (Norway) votes to boycott goods and services produced in Israeli settlements on the West Bank, while the Paris regional council bans funding for Israel-boycott promoters. Canadian universities ban discrimination based on “place of origin”; BDS resolution passes by student government at Portland State Univ. but fails (again) at the University of Michigan
• Proofpoint buys Israeli cloud-security company Firelayers for $55 million; three Israeli startups raise a combined $38 million
• Israel signs scientific-cooperation deal with Canada; also strengthens ties with India, Chile, and Turkey
• Israelis win international awards and honors in film, emergency medicine, synthetic biology, financial technology, sports technology, medical technology, advertising technologies, figure skating, and “Mr. Universe” bodybuilding
• Recent visitors to Israel include Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, U.S. National Guard chief Gen. Joseph Lengyel with a delegation studying homeland security, the mayors of Toronto and Montreal with a trade mission, 18 other mayors from 5 continents (including the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Crivella), cyber-security experts and law-enforcement officials from 80 countries, a Brazilian dance company, English electronic music duo Chemical Brothers, British singer-songwriter Chris Martin of Coldplay, actress Sophia Loren, internationally acclaimed chefs and piano players, stamp collectors from around the world, clean and renewable energy experts, Mixed Martial Arts competitors, American female veterans suffering from PTSD, a British warship with over 500 navy personnel, over 300 foreign firefighters, and 7 leading Moroccan journalists

October 2016

• Hamas-affiliated gunman kills two  in Jerusalem
• UNESCO passes resolutions denying Jewish & Christian ties to Temple Mount
• U.S. condemns construction in Shilo for evacuees from illegal Amona settlement
• UK freezes aid to Palestinian Authority over terrorism funding
• Israeli digital payments company Payoneer raises $180 million, Boston Scientific buys EndoChoice for $210M,  eBay buys Israeli visual-search startup Corrigon for an estimated $30M, Pluristem Therapeutics raises $30M from Chinese firm, and a dozen other startups raise a combined total of over $220M in new venture investments; in the 3rd quarter, Israeli high-tech companies raised a total of $1.2 billion
• Israel strengthens ties with China, India, Britain, Kenya and other African nations
• Israelis win international awards and honors in mobile-ad technology, wildlife law enforcement, innovative countries, and travel destinations
• Recent visitors to Israel include the prime minister of Luxembourg, International Criminal Court officials, 15 parliamentarians from 3 continents, water experts from Panama, entrepreneurs from Miami, science fiction authors and fans, cyclist Lance Armstrong, thousands of Christian pilgrims, 30,000 Birthright participants, and the President of Fiji on an emergency landing.

September 2016

• Shimon Peres, 9^th Israeli president and Nobel Peace laureate, dies at 93
• Prime Minister Netanyahu speaks at UN General Assembly, invites Abbas to Knesset; meets with President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and African leaders; Palestinian President Abbas at UNGA demands return to 1947 Partition lines, calls on UK to apologize for Balfour Declaration
• U.S. and Israel sign 10-year agreement for military aid, with strong bipartisan support from U.S. Congress
• 88 U.S. Senators sign a letter to President Obama urging a veto of any one-sided UN Security Council resolutions on Israel
• Israel shoots down Hamas drone from Gaza and intercepts mortar shells fired from Syria
• Israel’s unemployment rate fell to new all-time low; growth accelerates, beating expectations
• Campus anti-Israel and antisemitic bullying resumes in new school year, with Syracuse University disinviting Israeli filmmaker (critical of the settlements!) following BDS pressure, the president of UCLA’s Graduate Student Association leaving the school after anti-Israel attacks resulting from his decision not to fund a BDS initiative, and swastika graffiti at Swarthmore.
• State of California and New York City Council pass anti-BDS laws; UC Berkeley cancels anti-Israel course (then reinstates it with changes) and U.S. Congress cancels anti-Israel event after outcry; Jordanian political leader: “BDS is a reckless act of hatred”; UK health minister: Israel boycott puts “100 million prescriptions at risk”; other statements supporting Israel and opposing anti-Israel boycotts recently issued by Ohio Governor John Kasich, Washington D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser, and Germany’s national teacher’s union
• Chinese firm acquires Israel’s Adama Agricultural Solutions for $2.79 billion, Uber buys startup Otto for $680 million, Ford buys autonomous-driving technology company, CA Technologies to acquire application performance testing firm BlazeMeter for $100M
• U.S. Dept. of Energy will establish an American-Israeli energy and water research center in 2017
• Israel strengthens ties with China, Japan, Paraguay, Peru, Chile, Togo, South Africa, NATO, Gulf Arab countries, and even Sudan, a Muslim country with which Israel does not have diplomatic ties.
• Israelis win international awards and honors in science; Paralympic rowing, shooting, and swimming; social entrepreneurship; architectural design; European soccer; cloud companies; baseball; inspiration; swimming while juggling; and Miss Transsexual
• Recent visitors to Israel include world leaders (including President Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, and Prince Charles, and dozens of heads of state) attending Shimon Peres’s funeral; Australia’s foreign minister Julie Bishop, education ministers from 30 countries, American Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan with a trade mission, French MP and antiterrorism expert George Fenech, Deputy Prime Minister of German state of Baden-Württemberg Thomas Strobl, 11 Australian members of parliament, a Nigerian minister with a scientific delegation, Swedish opposition leader Anna Kinberg Batra; 10 Australian cybersecurity and fintech startups, senior Facebook officials, 52 police officers from U.S. seven states; Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Sikh, Jain and Taoist religious leaders; Queen and Adam Lambert, pop sensation Natalie Imbruglia and Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin, blues singer Beth Hart, rock band Eagles of Death Metal, Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton, American-Scottish alternative rock band Garbage, British diva Joss Stone, legendary British singer Morrissey, electronic dance music (EDM) group Major Lazer, media executives and buyers, NBA basketball players, a Jordanian military delegation, and over 100 Rwandan agronomists

August 2016

• Rocket from Gaza hits Sderot, Israel responds against Hamas targets
• Israeli economy grew by higher-than-expected 2.9% annual rate in first half of 2016; natural-gas revenues hit new record
• Israel sends assistance to victims of Louisiana floods, Canada fire, and Italy earthquake
• Israelis win Olympic medals in women’s and (after snub by Egyptian competitor) men’s judo, and recognized among “best dressed” Olympic teams; other international awards and honors in robotic surgery, global innovation, humanitarian work, animated films, music videos, and high-school chemistry, robotics, and computer science
• Head of World Vision church in Gaza accused of diverting tens of millions of dollars from aid budget to Hamas weapons, tunnels, facilities, terrorists, training, and supplies; UN employee arrested separately on similar charges
• Rio Olympics honor Israelis murdered at 1972 Games
• Record amount of goods shipped from Israel to Gaza
• Chinese firm acquires Israeli game maker Playtika for $4.4 billion; Taiwanese firm buys mobile ad firm MassiveImpact; Uber buys autonomous-driving startup Otto Motors for $680 million; Intel Capital invests $25M in three Israeli startups; Medtronic Invests $20M in surgical robotics developer Mazor Robotics; U.S. developer buys game studio Scene53; UK cybersecurity firm acquires Dojo Labs; India’s Wipro invests in startup Intsights Cyber Intelligence
• New Jersey and California passed anti-BDS laws; boycotts defeated or overturned by courts in 3 Spanish cities, other municipalities have followed suit; New York City mayor Bill De Blasio and German university students call anti-Israel boycotts antisemitic; Canadian Green Party endorses BDS (over objection of party leader), Evangelical Lutheran church calls to end U.S. aid to Israel over settlements; students file complaint against Univ. of Ontario groups, alleging discrimination against and intimidation of pro-Israel activists
• Israel strengthens ties with Russia, Turkey, Peru, Honduras, Kurdistan, Kazakhstan, and many other countries, including Arab states like Saudi Arabia
• Recent visitors to Israel include Kazakhstan Defense Minister Imangali Nurgaliuly Tasmagambetov, UN ambassadors from 11 countries, 6 U.S. Republican Senators, 9 Conservative members of the Scottish parliament, government and business leaders from the Indian state of Gujarat and Indian border-security officials, Chinese academic leaders, U.S. police chiefs (including from Orlando and San Bernardino), a senior advisor to U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Iranian and Cuban dissidents, 10 American business students, legal scholars, comedian Louis C.K., ‘Seinfeld’ star Wayne Knight, British Jamaican reggae star Julian Marley, actor Jeremy Piven, Australian singer Sia, 35 influential Jewish fashionistas, basketball superstar Amar’e Stoudemire (who will be joining Israeli team HaPo’el Jerusalem), an Afghan baby undergoing life-saving heart surgery, and 140 Syrian civilians, including an 8-year-old girl with cancer, receiving medical treatment

July 2016

• Rabbi Miki Mark (48) killed in shooting attack near Hebron
• Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Africa, strengthens relations with Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, even Somalia and Chad; renews diplomatic ties with Guinea. Israel’s relations also improve with Russia, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Cyprus and many other European countries, Egypt, Jordan, and even (unofficially) Saudi Arabia
• Israel passes controversial law requiring disclosure of foreign-government funding for NGOs
• IDF intercepts weapons smuggling from Jordan
• U.S. Senate report: Taxpayer funds used for anti-Netanyahu election campaign
• 25,000 attend Jerusalem Pride Parade
• Cisco acquires Israeli cyber company CloudLock for $293 million; Swiss firm Doodle buys chatbot maker Meekan; consultancy giant Accenture purchases cyber-security company Maglan, opens R&D lab in Herzliya; Sony Pictures Entertainment invests over $50M in interactive storytelling platform Interlude; eBay to acquire consumer-tracking company SalesPredict; Keter Plastic sells 80% stake to European equity fund; Bosch Group opens research office in Tel Aviv. In total, Israeli company “exits” in the first half of 2016 totaled over $3.3 billion.
• Israelis win international awards and honors in athletics, universities, gymnastics (again); youth chess, physics, and math; “smart” companies, and international airports
• Statements supporting Israel and opposing anti-Israel boycotts recently issued by 8 U.S. state governors, the president of Portland State University, NY state senator (and candidate for U.S. Congress) Jack Martins, and the Republican party platform; French municipality of Bondy votes to boycott Israeli settlement products; Spanish city supports BDS, loses Israel flights
• Recent visitors to Israel include the presidents of Paraguay Horacio Cartes and of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry, former British prime minister Tony Blair, former US ambassador to UN John Bolton; a former Saudi general with a delegation of Saudi business people and academics; Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, officials from Mali, Chad, and Somalia; 30 members of the French parliament; Cisco Executive Chairman John Chambers; rock musician and guitarist Carlos Santana, thrash metal band Megadeth, German hard rock band Scorpions, director Quentin Tarantino, Australian psychedelic sensation Tame Impala, soul singer Joss Stone, actresses Amy Poehler and Natasha Lyonne, “Godfather” actor James Caan, Spanish dance troupe Larreal, Australian psychedelic/indie-rock band Tame Impala; retired American generals and admirals; presidents and chancellors from top U.S. universities and colleges; cyber-security, intelligence & counter-terrorism experts; leading cancer researchers, students from Taiwan, law-enforcement and intelligence officials from 7 countries, U.S. Marines training with the IDF, and 150 Palestinians farmers.

June 2016

• Palestinian terrorists gun down 4 at Tel-Aviv restaurant: Michael Feige (58), Ido Ben Ari (42), Mila Mishayev (33), and Ilana Navaa (39). In a separate attack, Hallel Yaffa Ariel (13) is stabbed to death in her Kiryat Arba bedroom.
• Palestinian Mahmoud Badran (15) killed by IDF in error at late-night rock and firebomb attack on Route 443
• Israeli President Reuven Rivlin addressed the European Parliament in Brussels; Palestinian President Abbas refused to meet Rivlin, repeats water-poisoning hoax, then apologizes
• France hosts talks on Israeli-Palestinian peace, without Israelis or Palestinians
• Israel elected to head UN legal panel
• 30,000 march in to celebrate Israel in New York, 20,000 in Toronto
• U.S. House of Representatives approved $635.7 million for Israel’s missile defense
• Statements supporting Israel and opposing anti-Israel boycotts recently issued by the Dutch parliament; Finland’s foreign minister; New York Governor Andrew Cuomo; state legislatures of New Jersey, California, and Rhode Island; Nassau County (NY); the U.S. Democratic Party; the Southern Baptist Convention; the United Auto Workers (overturning a BDS resolution by NYU graduate students); the American Anthropological Association; security company G4S; the Judicial Board of the Student Society of McGill University; Edinburgh University Student Association’s board of trustees; actress Helen Mirren; English singer Mick Hucknell; and Italian academics. Statements supporting boycotts from Presbyterian Church USA and Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein.
• Financing secured for WalkMe ($50M); drone platform Airobotics ($28.5); sales promotion company Yotpo ($22M); video marketing company Eyeview ($21.5); e-commerce company Twiggle ($20M, including from Chinese giant Alibaba); augmented-reality company Lumus ($15M); storage firm Elastifile ($15M, from Cisco); smart dash-cam developer Nexar ($10.5M); baby monitor developer Nanit ($6.6M); cyber-security companies Sixgill ($5M) and Armeron ($2M); Nuro Secure Messaging ($2.6M); IBM buying cloud-integration company EZ Legacy; singer-songwriter Will.i.am buys Sensiya; Salesforce buys Implisit
• Israel restores full diplomatic ties with Turkey; strengthens ties with Russia, China, India, Brazil, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, Ethiopia, and a number of other African countries
• Israelis win international awards and honors in kickboxing, tennis, judo (again), rhythmic gymnastics (again), air-rifle shooting, antidepressant drugs, technologies for the disabled, startups, universities in Asia, academic excellence, fashion schools, tech hubs, smartphone apps, NutraIngredients, and cookbooks.
• Recent visitors to Israel include UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the foreign ministers of Finland Timo Soini and of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredev, Italy’s education minister with a delegation of university deans, speaker of the Danish parliament Pia Kjærsgaard, Google executive Eric Schmidt, American law-enforcement officials (including the sheriff of San Bernardino County, CA) at a counterterrorism seminar, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, former Arkansas governor and GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, actress Dame Helen Mirren, English pop band Simply Red, Heavy metal performer Alice Cooper, American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, South African rave band Die Antwoord, Beach Boys singer-songwriter Brian Wilson, Brazilian Bossa Nova artist Sergio Mendes, Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, ‘Orange is the New Black’ actress Lea Delaria, comic Hannibal Buress, a World Bank delegation, hundreds of cardiologists and trauma-medicine specialists, a Jewish Federations LGBT group, Cuban-Jewish mothers, 120 Wikimedia developers, martial artists from Jordan, Japan and Senegal, luxury ocean liner Queen Mary 2, and a 10-meter baby whale.

May 2016

• PM Netanyahu reshuffles cabinet; unsuccessfully negotiates with Zionist Union party, replaces Ya’alon with Avigdor Lieberman as Defense Minister
• Israel intercepts 4 tons of chemicals used in rockets, 60,000 hand-grenade springs, drones, and other weapons-making materials bound for Gaza
• Chinese tech giant launches $300M international innovation fund based in Israel, invests $20M in Israeli gesture-recognition company EyeSight Technologies; VW invests $300M in Israeli taxi-hailing company Gett; cancer treatment company Biocancell raises $6M
• Kuwait Airways stops inter-European flights to avoid selling tickets to Israelis
• Alabama becomes 24^th state to pass anti-BDS legislation; Israel boycott rejected by Methodist Church (following criticism from Hillary Clinton; instead, Methodists voted to cut ties with anti-Israel group), the Canadian province of Ontario, the student bodies at Stanford University and Vassar College, and a Spanish constitutional tribunal, but endorsed by University of Chile’s law students and Alliance of Baptists
• Israeli innovations show promise in treating menstrual cramps and depression, diagnosing cervical cancer, integrating dental implants, non-pharmacological sleep aid, computer-assisted x-ray diagnostics, and DNA blood test for early detection of multiple diseases
• Israel strengthens ties with China, Greece, France, Egypt, Jordan, the EU, NATO, Ontario (Canada), and New South Wales (Australia)
• Israel sends humanitarian assistance to flood-stricken Sri Lanka, Syrian refugees in Jordan and Greece, and Iraqi Kurds
• Israelis win international awards and honors in judo (again), karate, swimming, golf, women’s wrestling, water technology, films, cyber-security, smartphone apps (also for Android), high-school robotics, analytics software, and ophthalmology
• Recent visitors to Israel include French prime minister Manuel Valls and foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Martin Luther King III, presidents and chancellors from top U.S. universities, a New Zealand trade mission, Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell, Australian security experts, Yeshiva U. social-work students learning about trauma and recovery, singer Elton John, actor Alan Cumming, and 18 Eurovision stars

April 2016

• 21 injured in Jerusalem bus bombing; Hamas claims responsibility
• Israel finds & destroys new terror tunnel from Gaza into Israel
• Saudi Arabia commits to upholding peace treaty with Israel in islands transferred from Egypt
• Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Moscow, receives assurances over Syrian threat
• Jewish extremists arrested for praying on Temple Mount
• IsraAID teams deliver earthquake relief in Japan and Ecuador
• Israeli government reaffirms sovereignty over (but not annexation of) Golan Heights
• The UN Human Rights Council on voted to establish blacklist of companies “profiting from settlements”; UN Commission on the Status of Women condemned only Israel for violating women’s rights; UNESCO denies Jewish connection to Temple Mount
• U.S. Universities Debating Association national championship features anti-Israel debate topic
• Francisco Partners Buys Israeli Company SintecMedia, for $400 million; Oracle buys Israeli big-data company Crosswise for $50M; China’s Fosun to buy Israeli skin-care company Ahava for $77M; other acquisitions include Genome Compiler, cybersecurity company NorthBit, and mobile-ad startup Inneractive; overall, 81 Israeli startups raised $1 billion in the first quarter of 2016; pharma giant Bayer to invest $10 million in Israeli agriculture tech fund
• Professors sue American Studies Association over Israel boycott
• Israel’s former president, Shimon Peres, sent Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II a happy birthday video message telling her that “life begins at 90.”
• 83% of U.S. Senators sign letter to President Obama supporting increased military assistance to Israel
• Boycott resolutions approved by City Univ. of NY doctoral students, graduate students at NYU (rejected by the university president and notable alumni) and Univ. of Massachusetts–Amherst, and University of Chicago undergraduate student government; rejected by Univ. of Michigan-Dearborn Faculty Senate and Univ. of Minnesota student government
• Statements supporting Israel and opposing anti-Israel boycotts recently issued by U.S. Senator Cory Booker, British Justice Minister Michael Gove, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, and the Iowa state legislature
• Israel strengthens ties with Russia
• Israelis win international awards and honors in rhythmic gymnastics (again), tennis, judo (again), wrestling, car racing, wine, digital diplomacy, universities (6 of the world’s top 100), political campaign TV ads, water technology, agricultural machinery, and best places to raise a family (#4)
• Israeli innovations show promise in preventing diabetes and treating asthma, leukemia, and prostate cancer
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. House of Representative Speaker Paul Ryan, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (with a 60-member delegation), U.S. Secretary of Energy Dr. Ernest Moniz, Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz, French Health Minister Marisol Touraine, San Francisco mayor Ed Lee, Austrian far-right political leader Heinz-Christian Strache, energy expert (and Donald Trump foreign-policy advisor) George Papadopoulos, 600 young innovators, nanotech scientists, entrepreneur Elon Musk, actor Kevin Costner, Scottish musician Donovan, British R&B star Craig David, singer and TV star Pat Boone, 20 Eurovision contestants, supermodel Naomi Campbell, Monica Lewinsky, Forbes’ under-30 leaders, robotics experts, an Iraqi former diplomat, the brother of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (treated for cancer at a Tel Aviv hospital), a Syrian bone-marrow donor, and thousands of Egyptian Coptic Christian pilgrims.

March 2016

• Taylor Force (28), a U.S. Army veteran and Vanderbilt student, killed in Jaffa terror attack. (The Palestinian Authority celebrated the murder.) One Israeli, stabbed in the neck, removed the knife and killed his attacker; another intended victim used his guitar to strike the attacker. Multiple additional attacks were thwarted.
• Iran, violating UN resolutions, fires missiles marked “Israel must be wiped out”
• Soldier charged with manslaughter for killing Palestinian stabber neutralized after attack in Hebron
• The Israeli economy grew by 2.5% in 2015 (3.3% in 4^th quarter); foreign investment in Israel up 90%
• Three Israelis killed in Istanbul ISIS bombing
• Israeli supreme court overrules government concession on natural-gas deal
• Israeli Air Force takes possession of David’s Sling air defense system
• BDS-targeted Soda Stream finalizes move from West Bank to southern Israel, laying off 500 Palestinian workers
• Yemenite Jews airlifted to Israel
• Russia halted a shipment of advanced antiaircraft weapons to Iran, after Israeli intelligence showed transfer of Russian weapons to Hezbollah
• Statements supporting Israel and opposing anti-Israel boycotts recently issued by British Justice Secretary, members of 13 Latin American parliaments, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, hundreds of Columbia University faculty members, the president of the University of Minnesota, the Austrian student association, and the city of Aviles in northern Spain. Boycott supporters include the Vassar College student government and a Miss Canada finalist. Student leaders at Univ. of Minnesota declined to vote on BDS resolution. University of California Regents unanimously adopt resolution condemning “anti-Semitic forms of anti-Zionism”
• U.S. states of Virginia, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, and Arizona pass anti-BDS laws, joining Tennessee, Alabama, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, and Illinois
• U.S. VP Biden and presidential candidates Clinton, Trump, Cruz and Kasich address 18,000 pro-Israel activists at AIPAC Policy Conference
• Tel Aviv U. innovation combines living tissue and electronics to repair damaged hearts
• United Airlines launches SFO-TLV nonstop service
• Israeli researchers develop single blood test to detect diabetes, multiple sclerosis, pancreatic cancer, and other diseases
• Israeli security firm Cellebrite helped FBI unlock San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone
• Hebrew U. students developed lifesaving device to treat collapsed lungs
• Cisco to acquire Israeli network chip vendor Leaba Semiconductor for $320M; Intel bought 3D video technology company Replay Technologies for $175M
• Israelis win international awards and honors in ice skating, judo, rhythmic gymnastics, Ju-Jitsu, nanotechnology, and Forbes’ lists of billionaires and innovative companies; Israel named #8 world power, #11 in global happiness, and OECD’s #3 for quality of life
• Israel strengthens ties with Japan, South Africa, Kenya, Turkey, and Indonesia
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Romanian president Klaus Werner Iohannis, Bulgarian prime minister Boiko Borissov, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and director of the U.S. National Security Agency Adm. Michael Rogers, the German Bundestag’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Canadian First Nations and African Muslim religious leaders, 30 Japanese government and business officials, Latin American entertainment stars, six Iraqi Kurds and Yazidis, Spanish entrepreneurs, NBC TV hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, American comedian Rosanne Barr, actor Jan-Claude Van Damme, four Arab-European journalists, 45 attorneys and legal scholars fighting BDS, senior journalists from Indonesia, scrabble players from 10 countries, thousands of runners from over 60 countries at Sixth Annual Jerusalem Marathon, and thousands of Christians celebrating Easter in the Holy Land.

February 2016

• Police trainee Hadar Cohen (19) and Tuvia Yanai Weissman (21) killed in separate Jerusalem terrorist attacks; Eliav Gelman killed by friendly fire during stabbing attack
• Controversial Israeli NGO transparency bill passes first vote
• Israel approves mixed-gender, egalitarian prayer space at Western Wall
• U.S. Congress passes trade and customs bill with anti-BDS provisions; Britain, Canadian Parliament, Paris municipality, state legislatures in Indiana, Iowa, and Florida, and the students and administration of McGill University reject boycotts of Israel
• S&P reaffirms Israel’s A+ credit rating
• Netflix buys Israeli TV show “The Greenhouse”
• Iran announces financial rewards for families of Palestinian terrorists who kill Jews
• Sony purchases Israeli chip manufacturing company Altair for $212 million; Oracle acquires Israeli cloud firm Ravello for $500 million
• Israel strengthens ties with Russia, India, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Egypt, and U.S. state of Colorado
• Variety Magazine, London Underground, and Chicago billboards pull anti-Israel ads
• Israelis win international awards and honors in Judo, fencing, English-language debating, cyber security startups, movies (at Sundance Film Festival), chess grandmasters; innovation in financial services, mobile-automotive apps, and fruit; and France’s “Singer of the Year”
• Recent visitors to Israel include Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, Rwandan foreign minister Louise Mushikiwabo, American UN envoy Samantha Power, former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz, 9 British Members of Parliament, over 100 American Jewish leaders, hundreds of American sailors (aboard the USS Carney) and other service members (for joint military exercise), Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, nanotechnology industry and academia leaders, medieval fighters, hundreds of diamond traders, Latina stars Maite Perroni and Adamari Lopez, Jethro Tull front man Ian Anderson, German Nazi hunter Beate Klarsfeld (to receive Israeli citizenship), French nuclear expert François Heisbourg, a delegation of South African scholars and journalists, French-Cuban musical twins Ibeyi, thousands of runners in Tel Aviv marathon, and (in 2010) a Bahraini princess undergoing life-saving surgery, plus 3.1 million tourists last year.

January 2016

• Israeli Arab kills 2 at Tel Aviv pub; shooter killed after week-long manhunt
• Dafna Meir (39), nurse and mother of six, stabbed to death in her home, allegedly by Palestinian teen motivated by Palestinian TV incitement; Shlomit Krigman (23) killed in separate stabbing attack
• U.S. ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, accuses Israel of having a “double legal standard” in the West Bank; after outcry, he apologizes for the timing of his remarks.
• U.S., UK spied on Israeli Air Force
• UN chief Ban Ki-moon slammed for comments that Palestinian violence is result of ‘human nature to react to occupation’; ‘alarmed’ that Hamas is rebuilding Gaza tunnels
• France: We will recognize Palestinian state if stalemate persists; Netanyahu: Reward for intransigence
• Historians’ academic association, Association of American Universities, New York and Florida state senates, a Spanish court, University of Waterloo students, and the World Medical Association reject Israel boycott; Methodist Church divests pension funds from 5 Israeli banks.
• Israel designates as “state land” large tract near Jericho, farmed for decades by Israeli settlers
• LGBTQ event featuring Israeli speakers was disrupted by protests
• A 13-year-old Israeli girl invented a system for producing oxygen in space
• Israel, U.S. agree to cooperate on health and medical innovation
• Slovenian supermarket removes, then restocks Israeli produce
• Israel strengthens ties with China, Hong Kong, Colombia, Indonesia, India, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Ukraine, the Islamic Republic of Gambia, and potentially even Sudan
• Israeli venture capital firms raised over $1 billion in 2015; 104 companies were acquired or went public, returning over $9B to the firms and their investors
• Israelis win international awards and honors for iPhone apps, consumer electronics, recipes, U.S. News and World Report’s “Most Powerful Countries,” and Conde Nast Traveler’s “Best Hotels” and “Best Cities of the World.”
• Recent visitors to Israel include India’s foreign minister Sushma Swaraz, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, Albanian prime minister Edi Rama, Cyprus political leader Averof Neophytou, eight U.S. Senate Democrats and four Representatives, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, a U.S. National Security Council delegation, Texas governor Greg Abbott, a deputy speaker of the Swedish parliament, 200 emergency-medicine professionals from 30 countries, thousands of cyber experts, a delegation of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences, international chamber music ensembles, a top Indonesian venture capitalist, 3,000 Birthright participants, international food bloggers, and Muslim-American “viral Zionist” Farhana Rahman

December 2015

• Palestinian stabbings, and car ramming, and hammer attacks continued, supported by Hamas and justified by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
• A Jerusalem court convicted two Israeli teens of the July 2014 kidnapping and murder of 16-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khdeir
• Israeli President Ruvi Rivlin met in Washington with President Obama and Congressional leaders, was guest of honor at White House Hanukkah party
• International defense experts: Israel surpassed legal requirements in 2014 Gaza war
• Greece will not label settlement products, but its parliament voted in favor of recognizing Palestine; Czech parliament also rejects settlement labeling, as does the government of Hungary
• A reported Israeli air raid successfully targeted Hezbollah commander Samir Kuntar, convicted of brutal 1979 terror attack in Israel and allegedly planning another major attack; Hezbollah vows revenge
• 4 arrested for celebrating death of Palestinian baby at Orthodox wedding
• Israeli Interior Ministry Silvan Shalom resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment
• Israeli Navy receives 5^th nuclear-capable submarine
• Israel intercepts 4,000 rock-throwing plush dolls bound for the West Bank
• Kuwait Airways drops New York-London route to avoid serving Israelis
• Brazil rejects appointment of settler leader as Israeli ambassador
• U.S. Congress spending bill includes $3.1 billion aid to Israel, $487M for missile defense, and $40M for new tunnel-detection program
• National (U.S.) Women’s Studies Association voted to boycott Israel
• 1947 Jewish runaway teen bride turns up 68 years later as Syrian refugee great-grandmother, reunited with family in Israel
• Israeli company launches in southern California Western Hemisphere’s largest desalination plant
• Israel approves development of giant offshore gas field
• Texas A&M to open $6 million research center in Israel
• Israel withdraws from Youth Sailing World Championships after host Malaysia rejects windsurfing team’s flag
• Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert sentenced to prison for bribery
• United Auto Workers overturned BDS resolution by University of California graduate students
• WSJ: U.S. spied on Prime Minister Netanyahu
• Israel renews diplomatic relations with Turkey, and strengthens ties with Jordan, Russia, Vietnam, Japan, Germany (new space agreement and science partnership), Australia, China (joint research), Hong Kong (industrial R&D cooperation), India (missile development), Liberia, Albania (also supporting Israel at the UN), Panama, Greece and Cyprus.
• Boycott resolutions against Israel were rejected or overturned by the United Auto Workers (UAW) International and San Jose State University
• Recent statements supporting Israel and against boycotts from German speaker of the parliament, French prime minister, U.S. Trade Representative, singer Suzanne Vega and actor Adam Sandler
• Israelis win international awards and honors in short-course swimming, bodybuilding, clean-technology innovation, hottest startups and “coolest cloud startups,” video technology, medical apps, health technology, synthetic biology, financial innovation, restaurants, young innovators, restaurants, and international airports
• Recent visitors to Israel include Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the president of Germany, Vietnam’s deputy prime minister, Liberia’s senate president, senior Australian and British politicians and Canada’s former justice minister and attorney general Irwin Cotler; 140 U.S. paratroopers from the 173^rd Airborne Brigade training with the IDF, an exiled Iranian poet, World Bank and Brazilian officials studying water and agriculture technologies, Jordanian pilots, U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, actor and comedian Jerry Seinfeld, Latin pop sensation Enrique Iglesias, 600 swimmers from 47 countries at European Short Course Championships, Jordanian air force pilots, and 250 Palestinian students from Gaza en route to studying in Europe.

November 2015

• Palestinian stabbings, shootings, and car-ramming attacks against Israelis claim another 9 lives in November, including American teen Ezra Schwartz
• Prime Minister Netanyahu met with President Obama in the White House, agree to expand U.S. military aid to Israel; Netanyahu reiterated support for two states, addressed American Jewish leaders, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Center for American Progress
• The European Union will begin labeling Israeli products originating in West Bank settlements; Israel condemns the decision, reprimands European diplomats, and suspends ties with some EU groups; Hungary opposes the decision, and a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators writes a protest letter. One Israeli supermarket removes European products, a Golan winery adds Israeli flags to its bottles, Israeli MK (and former Ambassador to the U.S.) Michael Oren labels EU products at a Jerusalem supermarket, and a New York NGO pursues a legal challenge in Europe.
• Abbas admits he rejected Israeli peace offer in 2008
• President Obama: Israel-Palestinian peace unlikely in short term
• Jonathan Pollard, convicted of spying on Israel for the U.S., released after 30 years in prison
• The American Anthropological Association has voted to boycott Israeli academic institutions
• Berlin department store removes Israeli goods, then restocks them and apologizes
• Foreign minister of Sweden and chairman of Dutch Socialist Party blame Paris massacre, in part, on Palestinian-Israeli conflict
• Bipartisan majority of U.S. Representatives call on Palestinian President Abbas to end incitement to violence against Israelis, renew direct talks
• Netanyahu’s media advisory appointment derailed by candidate’s disparaging remarks about President Obama, Secretary Kerry, and Israeli President Rivlin
• New Israeli Foreign Ministry initiative targets incitement on social media
• Israel’s fifth president, Yitzhak Navon, dies at 94
• UN adopts 6 resolutions condemning Israel (zero on other countries or Palestinian Authority)
• Israeli specialists treat victims of nightclub fire in Romania, train French trauma experts
• Royal Jordanian Amman-to-Dubai flight diverted to Tel Aviv
• Sudanese attacks Israeli on Ethiopian Airlines flight
• Israeli professor shouted down at the University of Minnesota; three protesters arrested
• Last remaining Jews in Syria evacuated to Israel
• Israel raises Hezbollah rocket estimate to 150,000
• Microsoft buys third Israeli cybersecurity company; smart-energy company Panoramic Power acquired for $60M
• Israelis win international awards, medals, championships, and honors in judo, women’s kickboxing, health technology, underwater photography, scientists under 35, vegetarian restaurants, virtual tours, young concert artists, hottest startups, world’s best cities and best bars
• Israel strengthening relationships with China, Vietnam, Mexico, Greece, Panama, Russia, and even the United Arab Emirates
• Recent statements supporting Israel and against boycotts from the European Sociology Association; Britain’s ruling Conservative Party, its ambassador to Israel, Australia’s foreign minister, and the mayors of London and of Munich; actress Helen Mirren; and a proposed New York State Senate bill
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the president of Cyprus, the prime minister of Greece, the foreign minister of Hungary, the governor of Mississippi with a trade delegation, former US Senator Joe Lieberman; the mayor of London; a large delegation of Australian government officials, entrepreneurs, and industry representatives; Egyptian Coptic Pope; 20 CEOs from Michigan; European journalists, diplomats and officials; American law-enforcement and counter-terrorism officials; New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli; Chelsea (UK) football (soccer) team; actors Sean Penn and Chris Noth; British bands Smokey and Paradise Lost, Bermudian singer/songwriter Heather Nova, French metal band Gojira, American heavy metal band Fear Factory, Czech-English electronic musician Emika, Japanese jazz musician Hiromi, indie rockers Calexico, Canadian electro-rock duo Purity Ring, rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Russian-German “pianist of the century” Igor Levit, and Russian Army’s Alexandrov Ensemble; attendees from 41 countries at International Conference on Countering Radicalization, British academics at a conference on quantitative studies of conflict in international relations; and 15 teams competing at the European Beach Tennis Championships

October 2015

• 11 Israelis have been killed and dozens injured in hundreds of stabbing, shooting, stoning, car-ramming, firebomb, and car-bomb attacks, egged on by religious slander, posts on social media, and incitement in Palestinian Authority and Hamas media. Assailants include a 13-year-old, an Israeli Arab and an Israeli Bedouin; one attacker posed as a journalist. Israel responds with increased security presence; checkpoints and closures in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem; demolishing homes and revoking residency permits. Eritrean worker killed, mistaken for a terrorist. Jewish man stabs 4 Arabs in Dimona; others beat an Arab in Netanya.
• Israeli Arab leaders, including the mayor of Nazareth and a popular newscaster, criticize Palestinian violence
• Palestinians riot on West Bank, torch Jewish heritage site Joseph’s Tomb
• Israel responds to shooting on civilian car, rocket fire, and sniper attacks from Gaza Strip with air strikes on Hamas targets
• Israel and Jordan agree to video surveillance on the Temple Mount
• Palestinian carrying explosives arrested in Jordan Valley
• UNRWA employees fired for anti-Israeli incitement
• Condé Nast: Top Mideast hotel is Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem
• Prime Minister Netanyahu wrongly blames Palestinian leader for Holocaust
• Palestinian president Abbas, at UN General Assembly, announces end of the Oslo accords; Netanyahu’s speech criticizes Abbas’s and offers to resume peace talks
• Arab Deputy Speaker expels Jewish minister from Knesset debate
• U.S. cuts Palestinian Authority aid by $80M over incitement
• UNESCO declares Jewish heritage sites, Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem, as Palestinian; attempt to list Western Wall as part of Al Aqsa dropped after widespread criticism
• Thousands of Israelis sue Facebook over pages inciting violence
• Israeli boaters save Syrian & Iraqi refugees in the Mediterranean
• Death toll from Nov. 2014 Har Nof synagogue attack rises to 5
• NASA signs cooperative agreement with Israel Space Agency; Israel joins UN space panel
• Facebook will use Israeli-made satellites for broadband Internet in Africa
• A new Knesset lobby supports descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jews forcibly converted to Christianity
• State of Colorado signs R&D cooperation agreement with Israel
• Ben-Gurion Univ. cancer therapy project wins international award
• Palestinian music conservatory condemns peacebuilding with Israeli musicians
• Former BBC chairman says network has shown “inexcusable bias” on Israel
• Microsoft buys Israeli cyber security company Secure Islands; General Electric launches Israel accelerator
• Recent statements supporting Israel and against boycotts from Canadian prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau; Pope Francis; the Massachusetts State Senate; 150 British artists and intellectuals, including J.K. Rowling; Saudi prince and billionaire media tycoon al-Waleed bin Talal (a report later denied); a French court, ruling boycotts discriminatory; and candy maker Mentos
• Recent visitors to Israel include UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford; the presidents of India, Honduras, Georgia, and Lithuania; former president Bill Clinton, the governors of Arizona and Colorado, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, parliamentarians from 18 countries, the mayors of New York City and 40 other cities around the world; actor Morgan Freeman, rapper Kayne West, rocker Bon Jovi, and singer-songwriter Michael Bolton; a Christian choir from Georgia (U.S.), a group of NBA basketball players; astronaut Buzz Aldrin and 2000 other delegates to international astronautical convention, international law students at Space Law Moot Court Competition; attendees at 29th International Conference for Women Leaders, Water Technology & Environment Control Exhibition & Conference (WATEC); a dozen foreign military officers undergoing combat training, and thousands of evangelical Christian pilgrims and politicians.

September 2015

• Riots and clashes on Temple Mount cause injuries, exacerbate tensions during Jewish and Muslim holidays; Jordan, Egypt, and UN Security Council express concern; Israeli driver killed after rock-throwing attack
• Rockets from Gaza fired at Sderot, Ashkelon; IDF responds with air strikes
• Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Russian President Putin in Moscow
• Iceland capital Reykjavik (population 120,000) passes boycott of Israeli products; after severe backlash, including from the Icelandic government, city backtracks to only “occupied territories” boycott. European Parliament will label produce from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
• Los Angeles County (population 10 million) signs water agreement with Israel; city of Beverly Hills, Rutgers University, and the African nation of Zambia also strengthen ties
• Statements against boycotts by British cabinet minister, Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier, an Israeli Christian group, and a unanimous condemnation by the Pennsylvania State Senate
• Israel intercepts 15 tons of sulfuric acid, used in making explosives, en route to Gaza
• Israeli wins gold in Paralympic World Rowing Championships
• IDF combat forces to receive new high-tech uniforms
• Israel’s Shenkar College ranked one of World’s Best Fashion Schools; Tel Aviv University ranked #9 in the world (and first outside the U.S.) in producing VC-backed entrepreneurs
• Jewish immigration to Israel (Aliya) up 13% from last year
• Israeli air force is working with Lockheed Martin to double flight range of F-35 Stealth strike fighters; Tel Aviv firm won U.S. Air Force contract to provide anti-IED Micro Tactical Ground Robots (MTGR); Israeli micro-drones track nuclear radiation in difficult terrain
• Israeli team helping refugees in Europe
• Israeli Dead Sea cosmetics company Ahava sold to Chinese conglomerate; Israeli medical-device startup Valtech Cardio acquired by Massachusetts-based HeartWare Int’l for almost $1 billion; Japanese venture firm and American “500 Startups” fund invest in Israeli innovation; crowd-funded mini-booster seat raises 17 times target amount
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. acting Treasury undersecretary Adam Szubin, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the governor of Tennessee with a business delegation, members of the Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe, 15 U.S. law-enforcement officials, and Myanmar’s military chief of staff; Internet pioneer Jeff Pulver, representatives of giant tech companies, and thousands of attendees at Digital Life Design (DLD) Tel Aviv Innovation Festival; 200 scientists working on endangered species, attendees at international Women tech entrepreneurship conference and Israeli Designed International Development conference; American reggae star Matisyahu, British rock band Manfred Mann’s Earth Band; New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, 60 American Muslim leaders studying Judaism and Zionism, a group of creative content producers and composers, and 10 international fashion designers.

August 2015

• Jonathan Pollard granted parole after 30 years in prison for spying for Israel
• Shira Banki, 16, stabbed at Gay Pride march, dies
• Israel strikes Hamas weapons site after Gaza rocket attack
• Hamas enrolls 25,000 in combat-training summer camps
• Recent statements and stands against anti-Israel boycotts by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the prime minister of Italy, and the mayor of Paris; Students at the University of Toronto reject BDS campaign, Jewish-American reggae star Matisyahu (uninvited from Spanish music festival, then re-invited), celebrity Oprah Winfrey, and African-American civil-rights activists
• Cyprus and Israel agree to share gas facilities and expand cooperation; Israel signs space-cooperation agreement with U.S. to prevent satellite collisions; Israel also improving ties with India, China, Japan, and Egypt
• Israelis win 21 medals at Special Olympics, silver medal in athletics World Championship, bronze medal in World Judo Championship, and gold medal in international chocolate competition; 91-year-old Israeli wins world running championship for seniors
• Pro-Israel students push back against BDS on U.S. campuses
• Controversy surrounds appointment of new Israeli police chief
• Captured Hamas operative reveals plans for new terror attacks, tunnels, Iranian financing
• Druze town scores highest pass rate in high-school matriculation exams
• Wedding crashers save Israeli couple’s big day
• Thousands bathe in spectacular Negev meteor shower
• Israeli doctors restore sight to 90 Kyrgyzstanis
• Six Israeli universities in Chinese ranking of world’s top 500
• Ben Gurion U. scientists connect HIV virus and leukemia
• Yahoo opens startup accelerator in Israel; Viber buys Israeli mobile game developer Nextpeer
• Wired Magazine praises Tel Aviv’s high-tech scene
• Israel’s foreign currency reserves hit new record
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. Congressional delegations from both the Democratic and Republican parties, U.S. presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, singer Mariah Carey, comedian Jay Leno, talk-show host Larry King, New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, over 20 Nobel laureates and hundreds of foreign students at the world’s biggest science conference, 19 winners of Chinese teen science contest; the sailors and officers of the USS Porter and an Indian naval warship, and 2,000 Syrians treated for civil-war injuries.

July 2015

• Iran nuclear deal rejected by Israeli government (Netanyahu) and opposition leaders (Isaac Herzog, Tzipi Livni, Yair Lapid, Avigdor Lieberman).
• Jewish-extremist arsonist kills Palestinian Arab toddler
• Ultra-Orthodox stabs six at Jerusalem Gay Pride parade
• Netanyahu: “Israel is home for all Jews”—including Reform Jews; relations with Reform improving
• United Church of Christ votes to divest from companies in Israeli settlements and “profiting from the occupation”; Episcopal and Mennonite Churches reject similar measures; new Illinois law forbids public investment in companies engaged in anti-Israel boycotts
• International Criminal Court reopens investigation of 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, over prosecutor’s objection
• Two Israelis apparently held captive in Gaza
• Israeli teen is world champion in tennis for deaf
• Google’s Waze launches carpooling app in Israel
• New aviation agreement will allow TLV-Tokyo flights
• Costa Rica becomes 33rd country with pro-Israel caucus
• Israeli teen opens Christian Dior’s show at Paris Fashion Week
• Israel signs cooperation deal with Latin America’s largest investment bank
• Jerusalem in Time Magazine’s Top 10 “travel bucket list”
• UNESCO names 9th World Heritage Site in Israel
• Israel’s Weizmann Institute ranks 10^th in the world for research quality; 3 Israeli universities in Chinese top 100 ranking
• Low-cost airline Ryanair to begin flights between central Europe and Eilat
• Israel’s Radwin deploys Wi-Fi system on South African buses
• Canada expands Free Trade Agreement with Israel
• Israel signs deal for $1.1 billion thermos-solar power plant
• Israeli researchers help international airlines with cyber-security
• Microsoft acquires cyber-security company Adallom; Merck buys Israeli nanocrystal technology company, opens R&D center in Jerusalem; U.S. giant Emerson Electric buys Israeli fire-detection company; Facebook buys Israeli gesture-control company; Samsung launches Israel startup incubator; Germany opens Tel Aviv startup initiative
• Recent visitors to Israel include the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Italian prime minister, British Foreign Secretary, Greek foreign minister, a senior Foreign Ministry delegation from India, and the mayor of Amsterdam; the CEO of pharma giant Merck and executive trainees from Yahoo; Human Genome pioneer Eric Lander; a tech scout from Taiwan, a trade delegation from Vietnam, an agri-tech business mission from North America, startups and attendees at global Wearable Tech & Internet of Things conference; singer Suzanne Vega, “Big Bang Theory” star Mayim Bialik, grandma rocker Libi, Brazilian singers Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, English alternative-rock band Suede; European Women’s U-19 soccer tournament, a group of NBA basketball players; 70 attorneys at a seminar on combatting BDS, 21 international journalists on a water-related tour; Muslim human-rights activist Dr. Qanta Ahmed; and at least one Saudi businessman.

June 2015

• Israeli and Saudi officials make joint appearance, confirm talks on Iran
• Rocket fired from Gaza toward Israel; Israel strikes Hamas sites
• Obama: World doesn’t think Israel wants peace; Netanyahu reiterates goal of two states
• U.S. Supreme Court favors Executive Branch authority on Jerusalem status
• Sea of Galilee “loaves and fishes” church torched in suspected hate attack
• Swedish supermarket chain cancels plans to boycott Israeli goods
• Cyprus police arrest suspected terrorist plotting to attack Jews & Israelis
• Tens of thousands march in New York City Israel Parade
• Hamas-linked terrorists kill Danny Gonen in W. Bank shooting
• Gaza drone crashes in Israel
• Israeli Druze mob attacks IDF ambulance, kill wounded Syrian rebel
• Israel, World Bank sign water tech deal
• Israeli navy intercepts Gaza-bound boat protesting Gaza blockade
• Britain’s student union votes to boycott Israel, a move denounced by university administrators
• El Al launches Boston-Tel Aviv nonstop service
• UN report: Israel and Hamas may both have committed war crimes in Gaza conflict
• Palestinians ask International Criminal Court to charge Israel; US: “counterproductive” move
• UNRWA: Hamas hid weapons in our Gaza facilities
• CEO of cell-phone giant Orange backtracks, apologizes for anti-Israel comment
• Israeli Paralympic rower wins gold medal at World Cup; Israeli judoka wins gold medal at European Games
• U.S. and Israel signed a strategic cooperation agreement between their air forces
• New IDF policy supports equality for same-sex parents
• President Obama and Pope Francis said that Israel-denial is a form of antisemitism
• U.S. trade bill contains anti-BDS provisions; New York State Assembly passes anti-BDS resolution
• Amazon expanding Israeli operations
• U.S. investors to acquire majority stake in Israeli software security firm Checkmarx
• Recent visitors to Israel include CIA Director John Brennan and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades; the foreign ministers of France, the Czech Republic and New Zealand; the speaker of the German parliament; senior international military commanders; Orange Telecom chairman Stéphane Richard, 100 German industry executives; pop legends Duran Duran, rapper Chris Brown; American singers Damian Marley (Bob Marley’s son), Art Garfunkel, and Mariah Carey; Indie musician Mac DeMarco, ‘Seinfeld’ actor Larry Thomas, actor-producer Michael Douglas and his family; Seattle Mayor Ed Murray; 150 Jewish innovators; 19 NFL Hall-of-Famers, 60 InterContinental Hotels executives, dozens of tattoo artists; thousands attending Gay Pride parade, international cyber-security conference, and Mobile Summit; a group of hearing-impaired Birthright attendees; over 30,000 tourists from Arab and Muslim countries, and tens of thousands of West Bank Palestinians; and Gaza-bound anti-blockade activists, including Tunisia’s former president.

May 2015

• Netanyahu reportedly willing to discuss settlement boundaries; Palestinians refuse
• New government splits foreign-policy decision making
• After outcry, Israel reverses plan for segregated buses
• Palestinian Authority withdraws request to suspend Israel from FIFA
• Egypt destroys hundreds of tunnel openings on Gaza border
• Rocket from Gaza hits southern Israel (May 26); Israel returns fire
• Israeli field hospital in Nepal treats hundreds injured in earthquake
• 2,000-year-old, Hasmonean-era aqueduct discovered in Jerusalem
• Amnesty International slams Hamas executions and torture
• Illinois legislature passes anti-BDS bill
• Israeli judo team detained in Morocco
• California begins using Israeli water technology to ease drought
• Israeli teens win medals in international physics and Lego Robotics competitions
• Taiwan and Israel sign R&D agreement
• Tel Aviv names major street-art hub
• Saudi airline cancels leasing contract with company that used Israeli maintenance service
• Lockheed Martin makes strategic investment in Israeli security firm; Warren Buffett backs smart energy management for cell-phone base stations; Ontario extended joint R&D program with Israel; EMC expands Haifa R&D center; Visa opens Tel Aviv R&D center
• Recent visitors to Israel include British pop star Robbie Williams, the foreign ministers of Norway and the European Union, Germany’s defense and justice ministers, bipartisan US Congressional delegation, senior U.S. arms-control official, top NATO commanders and staff; political leaders and educators at Global Forum to Combat Antisemitism, ex-President Jimmy Carter, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, the mayor of Paris; the president of FIFA, the world soccer federation; Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Microsoft executives, French robotics scientists, Brazilian entrepreneurs and investors, healthcare industry leaders, ‘90s boys band Backstreet Boys , pop rockers One Republic, singer Dionne Warwick, and 200 Gaza farmers for an agritech conference

April 2015

• Israel celebrates 67^th Independence Day; VP Biden guest at Washington DC Party; Free Syrian Army sent congratulations letter
• Netanyahu close to forming new governing coalition
• Israel home to 8.3 million people, 75% of them Jewish
• Israel experiencing a baby boom, 9 months after Operation Protective Edge
• Israeli Supreme Court rejects route of West Bank barrier near Bethlehem
• UN Report: Palestinians fired rockets from UNRWA schools in Gaza
• Israeli Knesset installed a solar roof
• Israel thwarted terror attack, arrests Hamas plotters
• Soda Stream begins labeling its West Bank products
• U.S. issues 3,555 patents to Israelis in 2014, a 21% increase year-over-year
• UNESCO declares new World Heritage Site in Israel
• Israeli economy grew at 7% rate in 4^th quarter of 2014
• Tennessee legislature condemns BDS
• Israeli teens win international robotics competition
• Bloomberg: Tel Aviv #2 in the world for tech startups
• USA Today: Tel Aviv #8 in the world for bike sharing
• Israel, UK sign major scientific cooperation agreement
• SolarEdge Technologies, a maker photovoltaic components, raised $126 million in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock market; QuantX raises close to $1B in record seed round; Kornit goes public on NASDAQ; Check Point acquires Lacoon Mobile Security; Apple buys Israeli digital photography tech firm LinX Imaging; BlackBerry buys WatchDox, will open Israeli R&D center; in the first quarter of 2015, 11 Israeli companies raised $1.5 billion on Wall Street
• Recent visitors to Israel include U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, Senator Mitch McConnell, superstars Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, 70 young legal historians, thousands of Christian pilgrims for Easter and Pascha, wounded Syrians treated at an Israeli hospital, thousands of attendees from 50 countries at CyberTech 2015 conference, attendees at AgriVest agricultural innovation conference, Turkish and Japanese startups at Startup Fusion 2015, thousands of tourists from Muslim and Arab countries, actor Richard Gere, cyber-security business delegation from Georgia, business students from UPenn’s Wharton School, Australian tycoon James Packer, Norwegian Yiddish singer Bente Kahan, sailors and officers from two U.S. Navy vessels, and eight Rhodes Scholars on an AJC mission.

March 2015

• Defying the polls, and even contrary to the exit polls, Netanyahu wins reelection by a landslide. Election-day controversies included Netanyahu’s apparent backtracking on the two-state solution (later reversed) and complaints about high Arab turnout (later apologized).
• Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke to a joint session of Congress, heavily criticizing the pending nuclear deal with Iran; critics said the speech was overtly political and didn’t offer any new solutions
• Amnesty International accuses Hamas of war crimes in Gaza; UN commission will investigate
• Kerry: UN Human Rights Council “obsessed” with Israel
• Jerusalem court: Jews must be allowed to pray on Temple Mount
• Five injured in Jerusalem car ramming, an apparent terror attack
• Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert convicted of fraud and breach of trust
• Report that U.S. declassified information about Israel’s nuclear capabilities have been rebutted
• DocuSign acquires Israel’s ARX Digital Signatures, PayPal acquires CyActive and plans new security hub in Israel; Nielsen buys Israeli big data company eXelate; Chinese giant China giant Alibaba teams up with Israeli VC; Facebook expands Israeli operations, and Microsoft moves to a new building
• Arab-Israeli technology and innovation hub brings together young space-science enthusiasts
• Report: Palestinians working for Israelis ‎‎are paid double those working for Palestinians
• Bipartisan legislation to curb European BDS activities introduced in U.S. Congress
• Study: Israel has the healthiest diet in the West
• Israel signs ‘historic’ water deal with Jordan to save Dead Sea, and agreement to export natural gas to Egypt
• Israeli gymnastics team wins gold medal in Grand Prix in France
• Israeli judoka tops International Judo Federation’s ranking
• Recent visitors to Israel include South Korea’s minister of agriculture, U.S. Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), actor Robert De Niro, hundreds of gem buyers at International Diamond Week, Latino media and entertainment professionals from Hollywood, a bat mitzvah from Copenhagen whose original celebration was cut short by terrorist shooting attack, a delegation of British neuroscientists, Kosovo’s former foreign minister, jazz singer Gregory Porter, Wales national soccer team (for European Championship qualifying game), an 11-year-old jazz pianist from Indonesia, recovering U.S. veterans, over 250 international chess stars from 33 countries at the European Chess Championship in Jerusalem, hundreds of young French Jews considering aliya, and thousands of runners from 60 countries at the Jerusalem Marathon.

February 2015

• New York jury finds PA and PLO liable for terrorist attacks, ordered to pay over $600 million in damages and restitution
• IDF intercepts shipment of materials for rockets and mortars, bound for Hamas in Gaza
• 4-year-old terror victim Adele Biton dies
• Planned Netanyahu speech to Congress causes political storm
• U.S. bill seeks to link EU trade pact with BDS rejection
• Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat tackles knife-wielding terrorist
• Turkish-Israeli trade booms despite anti- Israel rhetoric
• Microsoft acquires Israeli company N-Trig, creator of Surface Pro 3 stylus
• Stanford student senate passes Israel divestment measure
• Flood libel: israel blamed for opening non-existent dams after heavy rains deluge Gaza
• Israel’s State Comptroller blames government for housing crisis
• Egypt designates Hamas faction a terrorist org
• NY judge Mary McGowan Davis takes over Gaza probe, replacing Israel critic William Schabas
• Winter storm brings snow to Golan, Jerusalem
• Israel to demolish EU-funded, illegal West Bank Palestinian “settlements”
• Recent visitors to Israel include Apple CEO Tim Cook, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a high-level interfaith delegation, 46 Krav Maga self-defense practitioners from Brazil, and British musician Alan Parsons

January 2015

• Hezbollah fired anti-tank missile from Lebanon (Jan. 28), killing two IDF soldiers and wounding 7
• Rockets from Syria hit Israeli Golan Heights; IDF returns fire (Jan. 27)
• Victims of terror attack at Paris supermarket buried in Israel
• Israeli president Reuven Rivlin addressed the UN General Assembly on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
• U.S. House Speaker invites Prime Minister Netanyahu to address Congress, drawing ire of Obama administration
• Israeli air strike on convoy in Syrian Golan Heights (Jan. 18) killed senior Hezbollah and Iranian commanders, possibly planning an attack against Israel, after Hezbollah chief threatens (Jan. 15) to invade Israel; Iran vowed revenge
• West Bank Palestinian stabs 12 Israelis in Tel Aviv bus attack (Jan. 21)
• Winter storm brings high winds, heavy rain, hail to Israel and the region; snow shuts Jerusalem roads
• Hamas ends official 5-year boycott of Israeli goods
• Israeli wins gold in European speed-skating championship
• 75 U.S. Senators pledge to withhold aid to Palestinians pending bid to join International Criminal Court
• Israeli startups acquired by or received investments from Alibaba, Amazon.com, Dropbox, Harman, Microsoft, and Samsung
• Israel named by Economist magazine #2 start-up ecosystem in the world
• UC Davis student senate votes for divestment, while American Historical Association rejects anti-Israel vote
• Hamas mastermind of teens’ summer abduction and killing receives 3 life sentences
• Israeli wine exports up; France is largest market
• Palestine applies to join International Criminal Court, despite U.S. condemnation; move may backfire
• Jewish immigration to Israel (Aliya) up 32% in 2014, with record “olim” from France
• 10,000 Gaza teens graduate Hamas terror camp
• 52 Israeli companies were acquired in 2014 for $15 billion, nearly double 2013′s exits
• Recent visitors to Israel include the Japanese prime minister, Canadian Foreign Minister Jonathan Baird, governor of Indiana, bipartisan delegation of U.S. Senators, Saudi head of Organization of Islamic Cooperation, American Navy transport ship USS New York, comedienne Chelsea Handler, a high-level Jewish-Christian-Muslim interfaith delegation, the CEO of Kodak (to identify acquisition candidates), and Jewish students on a STEM education trip.

December 2014

• UN Security Council rejects Palestinian proposal for Israeli withdrawal
• “Jewish nation-state” law triggers Israeli coalition crisis; early elections scheduled for March 17; Labor and Livni join forces on combined ticket
• Attacks on Israelis continue with stabbing at a bus stop by female Palestinian (Dec. 1), two Israelis stabbed at West Bank supermarket (Dec. 3), six wounded by acid (Dec. 12), two Border Policemen stabbed (Dec. 26), and an 11-year-old girl seriously injured by firebomb (Dec. 25); attack by fake-pregnant suicide bomber thwarted. Israel’s security services reported over 200 attacks in November.
• Palestinian Authority minister dies after clashing with IDF at demonstration—an apparent heart attack, though circumstances are disputed
• Gaza border tense after rocket attack on southern Israel, retaliatory Israeli air strikes, sniper fire on IDF soldier, and more Israeli strikes
• Israel indicted Jewish extremists for arson at a Jewish-Arab bilingual school in Jerusalem
• IDF kills Palestinian stone-thrower
• Belgium’s government agreed to unilaterally recognize Palestine, as did the parliaments of Ireland, Portugal, and the European Union
• The IDF launched 8 criminal probes (out of over 100 incidents investigated) following Gaza war events
• IDF appoints first female Navy ship’s commander
• Parties to 4th Geneva Convention rebuke Israel
• West Bank settlement building down by 62% in 2014
• Israeli jets apparently struck targets near Damascus
• UNESCO recognized Tel Aviv as a Creative City in Media Arts
• Harvard University president stops anti-Israel boycott; caterer admits mistake
• European Union court removes Hamas from list of terrorist groups, at the same time Hamas may be rebuilding tunnels, rocket capabilities
• UN: Israel top contributor, per-capita, in fight against Ebola
• Israeli company signs $30 million solar deal with U.S. utility
• Recent visitors to Israel include business & technology executives (including a large Amazon.com delegation) attending the Mobile Monetization Summit and other Israel Tech Week events, Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson, American comedian Sarah Silverman, Australian rock duo Air Supply, Irish nationalist leader Gerry Adams, U.S. Sixth Fleet destroyer USS Donald Cook, and U.S. Senator-elect Joni Ernst.

November 2014

• Terrorists brutally assaulted worshipers at a Jerusalem synagogue (Har Nof, Nov. 18), hacking to death four rabbis and fatally shooting a Druze police officer; Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, but other PA officials praised it and explained the “diplomatic context” of the condemnation
• In two separate stabbing attacks (Nov. 11), Palestinian terrorists killed an Israeli soldier in Tel Aviv and a 26-year-old woman at a West Bank bus stop
• In two other attacks (Nov. 5), Palestinians attempted to run over pedestrians in Jerusalem (killing a police officer) and the West Bank
• Proposed controversial “Jewish state” law defines Israel as the Jewish and democratic nation-state of the Jewish people
• Spain’s parliament, in a “symbolic move,” urges its government to recognize Palestine; Germany rejects the move, as do the Dutch foreign minister and Former French prime minister Nicolas Sarkozy; European Parliament postpones recognition vote
• U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Israel went to “extraordinary lengths” to limit Gaza civilian casualties in the recent war
• Israel uncovers Hamas cell, directed from Turkey, that has been planning major terror attacks in Jerusalem
• Microsoft will buy Israeli cyber-security start-up Aorato, reportedly for $200 million
• IDF intercepts massive shipment of weapons to east Jerusalem
• Israeli anti-fraud shopping company raises $15 million in venture funds
• IDF will cut mandatory army service for males by 4 months beginning July 2015
• UCLA students pass Israel-divestment resolution, unequivocally rejected by university administration
• Tel Aviv named “World’s Smartest City”
• Israeli startup wins PayPal prize for app enabling sharing a cellular calling connection
• Israeli companies raise record amounts on US stock markets
• Recent visitors to Israel include the foreign minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus; the Czech Prime Minister with several cabinet members; a former member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards; Canadian folk singer Martha Wainwright; Australian electronic artist Chet Faker; members of The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists for their annual conference; six Imams from Senegal; US military commander responsible for assistance to Israel, and a team to learn from Israel’s tactics in Gaza; hundreds of entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders at the 12th Go4Israel Conference; the Bosnian national soccer team; “Son of Hamas” (and former IDF informant); and millions of migratory birds at the Hula Valley

October 2014

• Hamas-linked terrorist kills a three-month-old Israel-American baby and an Ecuadorian tourist at Jerusalem light-rail station
• Israel approved construction of 2,600 homes for Jews and Arabs in Givat HaMatos neighborhood of East Jerusalem
• In separate incidents on Israel’s northern border, two Israeli soldiers and a Lebanese one were injured; 2 other IDF soldiers injured by fire from Egypt
• Sweden announced it would recognize a Palestinian state, a move criticized by Israel and the U.S., and even some pro-Palestinian activists; Britain’s Parliament passes similar “symbolic” motion; EU discusses “red lines” regarding West Bank settlements
• Islamic Jihad terrorist was killed after trying to murder Yehuda Glick, advocate for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount; Palestinian Authority celebrated the attack
• Rioters on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount injure police officers with rocks and Molotov cocktails; a separate terror attack was foiled by Jerusalem police
• Reconstruction of Gaza begins, slowly and closely supervised
• Obama and Netanyahu met in the White House, issued joint statement, though overall relations are chilly; Israeli Defense Minister denied meetings with U.S. administration officials
• Hamas, apparently committed to maintaining calm with Israel, arrested Gaza militants who launched a rocket at southern Israel
• Palestinian unity government holds first Gaza meeting in 7 years
• Israel to supply natural gas to Egypt
• Preliminary study shows that half of Palestinians killed in Operation Protective Edge were terrorist operatives
• Poll shows increase in Palestinians’ support for violence against Israel
• Vandals torch West Bank mosque in apparent ‘price tag’ attack
• Credit rating agency Moody’s reaffirmed “A1” rating, citing economic growth, entrepreneurial dynamism, and a stable political system
• Israelis launch “Am Yisrael Buy” anti-BDS app
• TIME Magazine names 27-year-old Israeli social entrepreneur a “Next Generation Leader”
• Israeli team set world record in open-water relay swim
• Ultra-Orthodox tech accelerator opens in Jerusalem
• Recent visitors to Israel include Irish metal band Cruachan, 11 American beauty queens, trauma therapists and sufferers from Northern Ireland, Toyota executives in search of innovative automotive technologies, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, the president of Nigeria, Steve Jobs’ ex-doctor, Editor of Lancet medical journal, daughter of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (for medical treatment), 5,000 Christian pilgrims from 80 countries, teams from 5 countries participating in International Hot Air Balloon Festival, and 1,500 Palestinians from Gaza (including 60 to see jailed relatives)

September 2014

• Israel indicts Hamas mastermind of June kidnapping and murder of three teens and arrests 8 accessories to the crime; Hamas kidnappers killed in shootout with IDF
• Abbas, at UN General Assembly, accuses Israel of genocide, war crimes, racism, and “attempting to artificially alter the spirit, identity and character” of Jerusalem, statements rejected by the U.S. administration as “provocative,” “counterproductive,” “offensive,” and “deeply disappointing”
• Netanyahu’s UN speech emphasizes dangers of militant Islam, a nuclear-armed Iran, Hamas, and the propaganda war against Israel; invites cooperation with Arab states and hints at openness to a “historic compromise”
• IDF shoots down drone near Syrian border
• Toddler injured by rocks thrown at on Jerusalem bus
• Israel reclassified 1,000 acres in West Bank’s Etzion Bloc as State lands
• Jerusalem approves construction of 2,200 new homes in Arab neighborhoods
• Poll shows increased Hamas popularity in Gaza and the West Bank, though others disagree
• U.S. Senate unanimously passed Israel Strategic Partnership bill
• Israeli troops saved Irish peacekeepers on Syria border
• Fatah-Hamas unity government announces return to Gaza
• Infant from Gaza undergoes lifesaving heart surgery in Israel
• Aliya (immigration) to Israel up 28% year-over-year
• Abbas unveils new Palestinian statehood plan, IDF pullout within 3 years; rejects Egyptian offer for Palestinian State in Gaza and Sinai (some analysts doubt the reports, which Sisi denies)
• Israel signs $15 billion gas deal with Jordan
• Forbes lists 10 best health tech companies; half are from Israel
• OECD: Israel is #4 most educated country in the world
• FDA approves groundbreaking Israeli lung imaging system
• Israelis help clean up after Washington State fires; send experts & aid to Africa to fight Ebola
• Israel team wins silver medal at World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships
• Recent visitors to Israel include dozens of U.S. Congress members including House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman and ranking member, a high-level delegation of Conservative Jewish leaders, Lady Gaga, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, violinist Maxim Vengerov, U.S. Coordinator for Cyber Issues, Syrian opposition chief (for medical treatment), 45 Fijian UN peacekeepers who had been kidnapped by Islamists and 1200 other members of the multinational UN force evacuated from Syria, and separate groups, organized by StandWithUs, of parliamentary assistants from 7 European countries, law students from 10 countries, travel journalists, and a British student delegation

August 2014

• Operation Protective Edge ended after 50 days on Aug. 26 with ceasefire agreement, virtually identical to those Hamas previously rejected or broke 11 times
• 70 Israelis have been killed from rockets and mortars and in combat operations in Gaza, including 4-year-old Daniel Tragerman, hit in his home by a mortar fired from near UNRWA shelter in Gaza
• IDF destroyed 32 attack tunnels from Gaza into Israel
• Hamas executed its tunnel diggers and suspected spies
• U.S. Congress approved $225 million in new funding for Iron Dome
• In separate attacks on Aug. 4 in Jerusalem, a bulldozer driver killed a pedestrian and a motorcyclist shot a soldier
• Poll finds that better educated and better informed Americans highly support Israel
• Anti-Israel lawfare advocate William Schabas appointed to lead a UN Human Rights Commission investigation of alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza
• Israel thwarts Hamas plot to overthrow Palestinian Authority in West Bank
• Hamas officials in West Bank, Qatar, & Turkey admit kidnapping teens in June
• Pro-Israel rallies held in Japan, India, New Zealand, Boston, Seattle, and many other places
• Israeli scientist leads search for Ebola cure
• Israeli students win International Math Competition
• American-Israeli  sprinter wins EU bronze
• OECD ranks Israel 4th best foreign investment target
• Microsoft to adopt Israeli N-Trig’s pen technology for new Surface Pro 3 tablets
• Recent visitors to Israel: actor Jesse Eisenberg,  NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, British Tory MP Andrew Percy, U.S. Gen. John Allen, gay porn star Michael Lucas, and the mayor of Lynchburg, Virginia;  Backstreet Boys, Neil Young and Lana Del Rey canceled Israel performances

July 2014

• The terrorist group Hamas, backed by Iran, has fired over 2,500 rockets and mortars into Israel since July 8.  Rockets from Gaza threaten 6 million Israelis and have hit homes in Sderot, Beer Sheva, and Yehud; a Sderot factory, a kibbutz cowshed, a power station supplying Gaza, Ramallah in the West Bank, a hotel in Eilat, a residential street in Hadera, an oil truck in Ashdod, and a peace conference (!) in Tel Aviv.  Many rockets fell short, landing within the Gaza Strip (including on a school, a hospital and a refugee camp).  Israeli citizens have only seconds to take shelter, though the Iron Dome missile-defense system has been highly effective in intercepting rockets aimed at populated areas.
• Israel responded with air strikes on Hamas rocket launchers, weapons caches, training facilities, command-and-control bases, tunnels, and other terror infrastructure—while making every effort to avoid civilian casualties.   However, Hamas has placed some military targets at UN schools, hospitals, residential neighborhoods, and other civilian installations, and used civilians as human shields, resulting in deaths and injuries to hundreds of innocent bystanders, including children.
• On July 17, the IDF discovered 13 Hamas terrorists emerging from an offensive tunnel inside Israel.  After launching a ground operation, Israel uncovered miles of such tunnels and a massive threat to infiltrate Israel, kill and kidnap possibly hundreds of Israelis.
• Israel thwarted an attempted Hamas infiltration from the sea and an armed drone launched from Gaza, an explosives-laden donkey, a car bombing from the West Bank, a shipment of guns and drugs from Jordan via the Dead Sea, and a weapons cache in Sudan bound for Hamas
• Support for Israel and condemnation of Hamas’ rocket attacks conveyed by senior government officials from the U.S. administration and Congress, Canada, Germany, France, the EU, the U.K., Russia, India, the UN, American Jewish Leaders, and even the Palestinian Authority, among many others
• A ceasefire proposal by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was met with scorn by Israelis across the political spectrum, and rejected by both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority
• The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration banned flights to Tel Aviv for two days (July 23-24) due to rocket threat; many foreign airlines suspended flights as well
• The bodies of kidnapped teens Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Frenkel were found after an 18-day search, apparently murdered shortly after their abduction
• Sixteen year old Mohammed Abu Khudeir was kidnapped and killed by Israeli Jewish thugs, an apparent revenge murder after the discovery of the bodies of the three Israeli teens
• A mortar round from Syria landed on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights
• Visitors to Israel include filmmaker Paul Haggis, a business delegation from China’s National Development and Reform Commission and another headed by Japan’s Economy Minister, the foreign ministers of Italy, Norway, and Britain; the Albanian Parliament Speaker, India’s Defense Secretary, the head of the Lebanese Maronite Catholic church, sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, seven US law-school deans, former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg (defying the FAA air-travel ban), a delegation of American firefighters, American rock band Pixies, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and the indefatigable U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (to mediate a cease-fire agreement)
• Palestinian Authority continues to pay terrorists with foreign donations
• Israeli pediatric surgeons save 5 Palestinian heart patients
• Police rescue 21-year-old Israeli woman found bound in PA territory
• Yahoo buys Israeli streaming startup RayV
• Reuven Rivlin sworn in as Israel’s 10th president
• Israeli scientists demonstrate world’s first photonic router

June 2014

• Kidnapped teens Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Frenkel last of dozens of similar attempts; Hamas celebrates the abduction, condemns Palestinian Authority commitment to non-violence; children around the world pose with a three-finger gesture applauding the kidnapping, while Israel supporters tie yellow ribbons and promote #EyalGiladNaftali #BringBackOurBoys
• Israel’s response: Large-scale searches on West Bank, arresting Hamas leaders & members,  denying Hamas terrorists in Israeli prisons ability to watch World Cup soccer on TV
• Recent visitors to Israel include the Rolling Stones, singer will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, actor-musician Hal Linden, the governor of Georgia, British singer-songwriter Michael Rosenberg, actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones (celebrating their son’s bar mitzvah), Zambia’s president (for medical treatment), Romania’s foreign minister, 54 agriculture students from Nepal, and a record number of American tourists
• Attack from Syria killed 15-year-old Israeli, injured two others; Israel retaliated against Syrian military targets
• Presbyterian Church (USA) votes to divest from three companies doing business in Israel.  Netanyahu calls the decision “disgraceful,” J Street: “not helpful.”
• Israel has dramatically slowed settlement construction
• Reuven Rivlin elected Israel’s 10th president; outgoing President Peres spoke before U.S. Congress, received Congressional Gold Medal
• Terror attacks against Israel in May included 5 rocket & mortar launchings from Gaza and 107 attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem; IDF uncovers weapons cache in Nablus, strikes Gaza after escalating rocket attacks
• Palestinian premier admits that “unity” government lacks power in Gaza
• Israeli gaming company Dragonplay bought for $100M
• South Carolina introduces vanity license plates supporting Israel
• US pharmaceutical giant Merck signed a cooperation agreement with Israel’s Chief Scientist
• Tel Aviv Shabbat dinner sets Guinness World Record
• Israel signs R&D agreement with California

May 2014

• Recent visitors to Israel include Pope Francis, US Nat’l Security Advisor Susan Rice, TV  host Jay Leno, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, Texas Rep. Ted Cruz, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, pop star Justin Timberlake, Bulgaria’s prime minister, the Chinese vice premier, business delegations from China and Germany, and 17 members of the National Sheriff’s Association.  Guess which of these inspired the name for new type of melon?….
• Maccabi Tel Aviv wins Europe basketball championship
• Former Israeli prime minister Olmert sentenced to prison
• IDF thwarts suicide bombing
• Jerusalem among TripAdvisor’s “Top 10 Destinations on the Rise”
• Despite formation of Fatah-Hamas unity government, Hamas reaffirms rejection of Israel, refusal to disarm; threatens West Bank violence
• Israeli lab develops blood test to detect breast cancer
• IDF paramedic wins award for treating injured Syrians
• Israeli High Court orders eviction of 3 settlements
• Palestinian Authority and Israeli Arabs reject boycotts of Israel
• Intel to invest $6M to upgrade its Israeli plant
• Palestinian mob attacks Israeli journalist in Ramallah
• Israel discovers Jerusalem and West Bank terror cells
• Israel tech firms raise $673M from VCs in Q1
• Israeli team joins operation to rescue Nigerian schoolgirls
• Israel signs R&D deal with China’s “Silicon Valley”

April 2014

• U.S.-mediated Israeli-Palestinian