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

of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Pub-

lic Security and the Ministry of De-

fense, organized and sent to Ethio-

pia a delegation of 9 fire fighters

from the Fire and Rescue Authority

to help extinguishing the wildfires

that have raged for two weeks in

the Simien Mountains area in north-

ern Ethiopia.

The mission was sent to the

country together with an

expert from the Home Front

Command.

The mission was assisted by

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

and the Israeli Embassy in

Addis Ababa.

Israel’s Ambassador to Ethiopia

Raphael Morav said that “Israel

stands by Ethiopia in fighting the

wildfire in the Simien Mountain Na-

tional Park.”

Thanks to the collaboration of the

Israeli firefighters and the Ethiopian

authorities, the wildfires in Simien

Mountains National Park were extin-

guished.

The Director General of the Israeli

Ministry of Foreign affairs, Ambassa-

dor Yuval Rotem held a special

meeting in honor of the Israeli fire-

fighters. “We will always stand

shoulder to shoulder with our

friends in time of need”, said Am-

bassador Rotem. The meeting was

attended by the firefighters’ dele-

gation, headed by Brig. General

Zion Shenkor and Wendyifiraw

Mengiste, of Ethiopian Embassy in

Israel.

Page 4

The Israeli Embassy in collaboration

with Istituto Italiano di Cultura Addis

Abeba presented the award win-

ning film by an Israeli-Ethiopian writ-

er-director Alamork Davidian titled

“Fig Tree”.

The Ethiopian premier of the film

was opened with remarks by H.E.

Dr. Hirut Kassaw, Minister of Culture

and Tourism and H.E. Raphael Mo-

rav, Ambassador of Israel to Ethio-

pia.

In his opening remarks Ambassador

Morav stressed that “National inde-

pendence is also the ability to have

a national creative and original film

production”. In Israel, a country with

less than 9 million people there are

ten film schools and seven interna-

tional film festivals. The Israeli Film In-

dustry is a vibrant point of cultural

exchange with social and econom-

ic contribution to the Israeli society

and worldwide.

The Embassy of Israel Presented:

“Fig Tree”

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-

ing to flee the country and go to

Israel. But in times of war, plans

tend to go wrong. The film is

based on Alamork’s memories in

war-torn Ethiopia,

which she left at the age of 11.

Alamork Davidian was born in

Awash, Ethiopia and moved to Israel

in 1991. She studied at Tel Hai Col-

lege in Israel and continued to the

prestigious Sam Spiegel Film & Televi-

sion School and graduated in 2012.

Page 6

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 pro-

gram is another example of experi-

ence and knowledge sharing be-

tween Israel and Ethiopia.

Israeli Medical Mission

in Gondar

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 7

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 identifi-

cation 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.

Progress on the Identification Process

of ET302 Flight Victims

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 8

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.

Sharing Views with the Next Generation of the Horn’s Officials:

Open Discussion with the Ethiopian

Civil Service University

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 cours-

es and specialized un-

dergraduate and post-

graduate programs.

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-

membrance Day (Yom Hashoah),

commemorated at beginning of this

month, is the national commemora-

tion day in Israel in remembrance of

the six million Jews murdered in the

Holocaust.

The Israeli Embassy in Addis Ababa, to-

gether with the Embassy of Poland

screened the film Who Will Write Our

History. Members of the Diplomatic

Community as well as cinema and his-

tory enthusiasts attended the event.

Film Screening:

“Who Will Write Our History”

The Ambassador of the State of Israel

H.E. Mr. Raphael Morav visited the

Cardiac Centre of Ethiopia with its di-

rector 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.

Ambassador Raphael Morav Visited

the Cardiac Centre of Ethiopia

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 to-

gether 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.

Revealing the Secrets Behind Israel Success Story:

What makes Israel a leading

Country in Innovation?

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 innova-

tion and creativity will pave

the way forward.

Two Israeli diplomatic cadets, Maizy

Eliash and Yoav Bistritsky from the Israel

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Cadet

Course Program were on a work visit to

Ethiopia. during their visit, together with

Deputy Ambassador Or Daniely they

met with Masters students at the Ethio-

pian Civil Service University coming

from different countries in the horn of

Africa and held an open discussion

about Jewish immigration to Israel, suc-

cess stories and challenges.

The trainee diplomats also visited one

of the national TV and Radio station,

Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC)

for experience sharing.

The Cadet Course is a professional

training conducted by the Israeli Minis-

try of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, to

train Israeli diplomats. Ethiopia has

been chosen by the MFA as a destina-

tion for this training considering the

tight and strong relations between the

countries, and being an important

scene for bilateral and multilateral di-

plomacy.

Israeli Diplomatic Cadets

Visit to Ethiopia

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 integra-

tion 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.

Presenting The Israeli Experience

in Integration of Technology and

Agriculture

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 experi-

ence 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 devel-

opment. MASHAV, representing Israel and its people, focuses its efforts on ca-

pacity 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)

With a population of about 8 mil-

lion, Israel has over 6,000 start-

ups, 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 ecosys-

tem which includes over 100 ac-

celerators. Israel as a leader in

the entrepreneurial world, com-

bines innovation with technolo-

gy, education, academia and is

comprised of various popula-

tions: men, women, youth, chil-

dren, veteran Israelis, newcom-

ers, minority groups and more.

The course provided participants

with skills and knowledge on vari-

ous points like ecosystem devel-

opment, community building

and entrepreneur support. For

this course three Ethiopians were

accepted and all of them at-

tended the course.

Startup Accelerators in the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (June 16th – 28th)

One of them was the leading business

woman, entrepreneur and CEO of one

of the leading startup accelerator “Blue

moon”, Eleni Gabre-Madhin.

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 par-

ticipants, Israel's experience in developing in-

tensive and sustainable vegetable production

systems.

For the program, six Ethiopians were accept-

ed and all of them attended the course.

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 tech-

nologies, to meet local conditions in each participant's country. For this Five

Ethiopians were accepted and all of them attended 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.

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

This training program aimed to

share with participants Israel's

vision, strategies and holistic

approach to sustainable agri-

cultural development of dry-

lands. For the program Nine

Ethiopians were accepted and

all of them attended the

course.

Production d'arbres fruitiers subtropi-

caux : Gestion, technologies et après-

récolte

(French Courses,11th -25th June)

one Burundian was accepted and

attended the course.

Agricultural Dep’t in arid regions

(June 25th – July 9th)

Press Briefing Sessions

With Bilal Derso (Ethiopian

Herald) and Tamirat Tesfaye

(Addis Zemen Newspaper)

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 ses-

sions are a part of the growing collaboration of the Embassy with the Ethi-

opia press.

With Zinabu Asrat and Ephrem Tefera

(OBN)

DCM Or Daniely and the Israeli

cadets with senior journalist at FBC

for experience sharing

Two Israeli cadets with

Bereket Sisay From ENA

The Ambassador’s Meetings

in Pictures

Ambassador with CEO of Tourism

Ethiopia: discussed on areas of

collaboration for tourism

development

While Ambassador sharing his

experience for the two Israeli cadets

After being the guest of EBS « Kidamen

Keseat» TV program : discussed Israel -

Ethiopia relations along with Alämwork

Davidian & Saar Yogev, the filmmakers of the

Shabbat dinner with SaveChildsHeart

delegation

Ambassador participated in the

memorial in honour of UN &

NGO personnel lost in the

ET 302 plane crash

With Neo Brown of AFRO FM

radio after giving interview in

her

« Diplomatic Corner » program

The Embassy lectured on

‘Volunteerism and Good Reporting’

The Embassy of the state of Israel partici-

pated 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 Dr. Boja Mekonnen and Dr. Zelalem Biru

from Adama Science and Tech University to

explore potential collways for collaboration

with Mayor of Gondar, Dr. Muluken

Adane discussed a variety of issues as

well as opportunities for future

With Artist Iniye Takele after

her visit at the Embassy