Israeli Firefighters Mission in Ethiopia

April – June 2019

Millennia-old Friendship, Also in Times of Need: Israeli Firefighters Mission in Ethiopia

following a request for assistance made by Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed during a phone conversation with his Israeli counterpart Netanyahu, Israel has sent a special mission of firefighters to help extinguishing the wildfires that raged in Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains. The Simian National Park inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list is one of the country’s main touristic attrac- tions and has faced blazes on and off over two weeks. The national park is a home to several rare animal species including the Waliya ibex and Gelada baboon. Under the instruction of Prime Minis- ter Benjamin Netanyahu, the Ministry The mission was sent to the of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Pub- country together with an lic Security and the Ministry of De- expert from the Home Front fense, organized and sent to Ethio- Command. pia a delegation of 9 fire fighters The mission was assisted by from the Fire and Rescue Authority Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help extinguishing the wildfires and the Israeli Embassy in that have raged for two weeks in Addis Ababa. the Simien Mountains area in north- ern Ethiopia. The Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign affairs, Ambassa- dor Yuval Rotem held a special meeting in honor of the Israeli firefighters. “We will always stand Israel’s Ambassador to Ethiopia shoulder to shoulder with our Raphael Morav said that “Israel friends in time of need”, said Am- stands by Ethiopia in fighting the bassador Rotem. The meeting was wildfire in the Simien Mountain Na- attended by the firefighters’ dele- tional Park.” gation, headed by Brig. General Thanks to the collaboration of the Zion Shenkor and Wendyifiraw Israeli firefighters and the Ethiopian Mengiste, of Ethiopian Embassy in authorities, the wildfires in Simien Israel. Mountains National Park were extin- guished.

The Embassy of Israel Presented: “Fig Tree”

In his opening remarks Ambassador The Israeli Embassy in collaboration Morav stressed that “National inde- with Istituto Italiano di Cultura Addis pendence is also the ability to have Abeba presented the award win- a national creative and original film ning film by an Israeli-Ethiopian writ- production”. In Israel, a country with er-director Alamork Davidian titled less than 9 million people there are “Fig Tree”. ten film schools and seven interna- The Ethiopian premier of the film tional film festivals. The Israeli Film In- was opened with remarks by H.E. dustry is a vibrant point of cultural Dr. Hirut Kassaw, Minister of Culture exchange with social and econom- and Tourism and H.E. Raphael Mo- ic contribution to the Israeli society rav, Ambassador of Israel to Ethio- and worldwide. pia. Page 4 The screening was attended by high level diplomats, govern- ment officials, actors, directors, writers and cinema lovers in Ad- dis. The film takes place during the Ethiopian Civil War and depicts the story of a Jewish teenager’s scheme to keep her Christian boyfriend from being drafted in- to the military. At the same time, she and her family were prepar- which she left at the age of 11. ing to flee the country and go to Alamork Davidian was born in Israel. But in times of war, plans Awash, Ethiopia and moved to Israel tend to go wrong. The film is in 1991. She studied at Tel Hai Col- based on Alamork’s memories in lege in Israel and continued to the war-torn Ethiopia, prestigious Sam Spiegel Film & Televi- sion School and graduated in 2012. Israeli Medical Mission in Gondar

Deputy Ambassador Mr. Or Daniely visited University Hospital of Gon- dar, with the Israeli medical mission, led by Dr. Gil Levy. This is the 3rd work visit of the medical team col- laborating with local doctors on neo-natal mortality. This joint program is another example of experience and knowledge sharing between Israel and Ethiopia.

Israeli scientists, universities and companies are working to benefit the global health system - from physician to patient to medical administrators and insurers. There is virtually no area of medicine to which Israeli devices have not made significant contributions - cardiology, genetics, neurology and ophthalmology are but a few of the sciences benefiting from advanced Israeli technology.

Page 6 Progress on the Identification Process of ET302 Flight Victims

An official delegation from the Israeli Prime Minister's Of- fice visited Ethiopia and met with Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges and Feder- al Police Commissioner En- dashaw Tassew, to discuss the progress on the identification process of ET302 flight victims. Shimon Reem and Avraham Matzliah were the two Israeli victims in the crash of Ethiopi- an Airlines B-737-800MAX air- craft which was on regular scheduled flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya.

The plane crash claimed the life of all 157 passengers on board and crashed around Bishoftu, 47km away from the capital Addis Ababa on March 10, 2019. The Embassy of the State of Israel and its staff grief the loss of Shimon and Avraham and extend our heartfelt condo- lences to their families.

Page 7 Sharing Views with the Next Generation of the Horn’s Officials: Open Discussion with the Ethiopian Civil Service University

Deputy Ambassador, Mr. Or Daniely held an open discussion on Israel, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa with dedicated civil servants from several East African countries at the Ethiopian Civil Service University in Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian Civil Ser- vice University started operation in 1995 but was formally established in February, 1996 . The University has been able to make tremendous contribution in capacity building through the pro- vision of short-term courses and specialized un- dergraduate and post- graduate programs.

Page 8 Film Screening: “Who Will Write Our History”

The film narrates the story of a clan- destine group of Jewish journalists, scholars, and community leaders in the Warsaw Ghetto, vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda not with guns or fists but with pen and paper. Their story is told in the documentary featuring the voices of three-time Academy Award nominee Joan Allen and Academy Award winner Adrian Brody. In his opening remarks, H.E. Ambassa- dor Raphael Morav commented that “Remembrance through drawing, personal memoirs and documentary writing played an important role in the Jews' battle to maintain their human dignity, even on the verge of death. “Who Will Write Our History” is about such a battle. It was a battle for memory, a war against forgetfulness and deception”. Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Re- The Israeli Embassy in Addis Ababa, to- membrance Day (Yom Hashoah), commemorated at beginning of this gether with the Embassy of Poland month, is the national commemora- screened the film Who Will Write Our tion day in Israel in remembrance of History. Members of the Diplomatic the six million Jews murdered in the Community as well as cinema and his- Holocaust. tory enthusiasts attended the event.

Ambassador Raphael Morav Visited the Cardiac Centre of Ethiopia

The Ambassador of the State of Israel H.E. Mr. Raphael Morav visited the Cardiac Centre of Ethiopia with its director Dr. Helen Befekadu and CoB Salahadin Khalifa. The Centre cooper- ates with Save A Child's Heart that conducted lifesaving surgeries on over 600 Ethiopian children in Israel. Soon the operations will be conducted at the Centre. Revealing the Secrets Behind Israel Success Story: What makes Israel a leading Country in Innovation?

Deputy Ambassador Mr. Or Daniely shared the secrets of Israel as an innovative country at a fireside chat held at the BlueMoon Ethiopia. Mr. Or discussed what makes Israel one of the leading countries in innovation worldwide, how the public and private sector work together in building the right innovation- enabling ecosystem, and how is that related to Ethiopia. Global rankings of the top innovation ecosys- tems in the world consistently find Israel to be one of the world's top locations for entrepre- neurs and venture capitalists, together with the Silicon Valley in California and the eco- nomic capitals of Europe. Indeed, Israel's self-proclaimed "Startup Nation" title often comes as a surprise due to the country's small size, relatively young economy and culturally diverse population. Yet any- one who knows a thing or two about Israel knows that the country itself is a kind of "startup" endeavor that takes risks, constantly seeks improve- ment and knows that innovation and creativity will pave the way forward. Israeli Diplomatic Cadets Visit to Ethiopia

The trainee diplomats also visited one Two Israeli diplomatic cadets, Maizy of the national TV and Radio station, Eliash and Yoav Bistritsky from the Israel Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Cadet for experience sharing. Course Program were on a work visit to The Cadet Course is a professional Ethiopia. during their visit, together with training conducted by the Israeli Minis- Deputy Ambassador Or Daniely they try of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, to met with Masters students at the Ethio- train Israeli diplomats. Ethiopia has pian Civil Service University coming been chosen by the MFA as a destina- from different countries in the horn of tion for this training considering the Africa and held an open discussion tight and strong relations between the about Jewish immigration to Israel, suc- countries, and being an important cess stories and challenges. scene for bilateral and multilateral di- plomacy. Presenting The Israeli Experience in Integration of Technology and Agriculture

Ambassador Raphael Morav attended the 36th Annual Research Ex- tension and Community Engagement Review Workshop at Haramaya University. The Ambassador presented the Israeli experience in integration of technology and agriculture to enhance the development of a country’s economy. He also said on the workshop, Ethiopia is a country with potential to further its advancements in agriculture and improved agricultural technologies. The Israeli NGO Fair Planet in partnership with Haromaya University works to transfer Israeli agricultural technologies to Ethiopia. Professionals from Ethiopia and Burundi Attended MASHAV Trainings in Israel

MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation is dedicated to providing developing countries with the best of Israel’s experience in development and planning. As a member of the family of nations, The State of Israel is committed to fulfilling its responsibility to contribute to the fight against poverty and to the global efforts to achieve sustainable development. MASHAV, representing Israel and its people, focuses its efforts on capacity building, sharing relevant expertise accumulated during Israel's own development experience to empower governments, communities and indi- viduals to improve their own lives. Every year professionals from Ethiopia and Burundi travel to Israel to attend MASHAV courses. Here are courses for this quarter.

 Startup Accelerators in the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (June 16th – 28th)  Agribusiness: A Tool for the Empowerment of Rural Women (16th – 28th June)  Intensive Vegetable Production (may 21st – June 3rd)

 Agricultural Dep’t in arid regions (June 25th – July 9th)

 Production d'arbres fruitiers subtropicaux : Gestion, technologies et après- récolte (French Courses,11th -25th June) Startup Accelerators in the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (June 16th – 28th)

With a population of about 8 million, Israel has over 6,000 startups, and 1,000 new start-ups are launched every year. Being the “Startup Nation”, it is only natural to address the issue of innova- tions for startups and expose participants to the uniqueness of Israel’s entrepreneurial ecosystem which includes over 100 accelerators. Israel as a leader in the entrepreneurial world, com- bines innovation with technology, education, academia and is comprised of various popula- tions: men, women, youth, children, veteran Israelis, newcom- ers, minority groups and more. The course provided participants with skills and knowledge on various points like ecosystem development, community building One of them was the leading business and entrepreneur support. For woman, entrepreneur and CEO of one this course three Ethiopians were of the leading startup accelerator “Blue accepted and all of them at- moon”, Eleni Gabre-Madhin. tended the course. Agribusiness: A Tool for the Empowerment of Rural Women (16th – 28th June)

Addressing gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well as increasing attention to eco- nomic and social development strategies within rural areas, are globally recognized as critical as- pects of sustainable development. Rural women play a critical role in rural economies and societies in both developing and developed countries.

This training program aimed at contributing to rural women’s empowerment by exploring agricultural entrepreneurship, as well as additional, farm related components of the rural economy contributing to income generation and employment, taking into consideration the adaptability of methods and technologies, to meet local conditions in each participant's country. For this Five Ethiopians were accepted and all of them attended the course.

Intensive Vegetable Production (may 21st – June 3rd)

Israeli agriculture is renowned for its high yield, high quality, and off-season production. It is also known for the innovative agricultural technologies that have been developed over the years in order to provide solutions for the lack of natural resources and the challenges. The training program aimed to share with participants, Israel's experience in developing intensive and sustainable vegetable production systems. For the program, six Ethiopians were accepted and all of them attended the course. Agricultural Dep’t in arid regions (June 25th – July 9th)

This training program aimed to share with participants Israel's vision, strategies and holistic approach to sustainable agricultural development of dry- lands. For the program Nine Ethiopians were accepted and all of them attended the course.

Production d'arbres fruitiers subtropicaux : Gestion, technologies et après- récolte (French Courses,11th -25th June)  one Burundian was accepted and attended the course. Press Briefing Sessions

Deputy Ambassador Or Daniely held a series of press briefings with promi- nent Ethiopian journalists from the major media houses of the country, to discuss current issues in the Middle East, Israel and the region. Theses sessions are a part of the growing collaboration of the Embassy with the Ethi- opia press.

With Zinabu Asrat and Ephrem Tefera With Bilal Derso (Ethiopian (OBN) Herald) and Tamirat Tesfaye (Addis Zemen Newspaper)

Two Israeli cadets with DCM Or Daniely and the Israeli Bereket Sisay From ENA cadets with senior journalist at FBC for experience sharing The Ambassador’s Meetings

in Pictures

After being the guest of EBS « Kidamen Ambassador with CEO of Tourism Keseat» TV program : discussed Israel - Ethiopia: discussed on areas of Ethiopia relations along with Alämwork collaboration for tourism Davidian & Saar Yogev, the filmmakers of the development

While Ambassador sharing his experience for the two Israeli cadets Shabbat dinner with SaveChildsHeart delegation With Neo Brown of AFRO FM radio after giving interview in her « Diplomatic Corner » program

Ambassador participated in the memorial in honour of UN & NGO personnel lost in the ET 302 plane crash

The Embassy lectured on ‘Volunteerism and Good Reporting’ The Embassy of the state of Israel participated in a professional workshop hosted by Ethiopian National Blood bank service & media forum. The Embassy Press Officer Mrs. Mihiret Fekadu lectured on ‘Volunteerism and Good Reporting’ and showcased the Israeli Experience. Deputy Ambassador’s meetings

in pictures

with Mayor of Gondar, Dr. Muluken Adane discussed a variety of issues as well as opportunities for future

With Dr. Boja Mekonnen and Dr. Zelalem Biru from Adama Science and Tech University to explore potential collways for collaboration With Artist Iniye Takele after her visit at the Embassy