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Remarks by Deputy CG Hadas Wittenberg Silberstein to the JVS Building Bridges Conference, January 31, 2013:
 It is a great pleasure and honour to be here today on behalf of the Consulate General of Israel and to bring greetings and good wishes to the organizers, led by JVS, and the participants of the first Building Bridges Conference, which was established to encourage organizations to serve communities outside their own. One of the first seeds leading to today's event was the vision of the former Consul General, Mr. Amir Gissin who was devoted to the idea of reaching out to others and who was involved in building bridges of many shapes and forms. The Consulate today, headed by Mr. DJ Schneeweiss, is still committed to this philosophy. We truly believe that, when it comes down to important things, it's all about friendship and building relationships.
In his book, Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankle wrote "The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, gives him ample opportunity - even under the most difficult circumstances - to add a deeper meaning to his life". The wonderful work being done by different organizations represented at this table can be seen as a model offering meaning to many people. This model needs to be encouraged with more water and sunlight to allow it to bloom and flourish.
This Conference will enable us all to deepen our knowledge, to share ideas and to shed light on different projects, both within the Jewish community and, just as importantly, in the world outside, where other people from different groups face similar challenges. By offering our knowledge, our experience and also the lessons we have learned through our failures, we are becoming not only better Jews but simply better human beings and better members of our society.
We all know very well the impressive community-building capabilities that different Jewish communities have; especially here in Toronto. But today as our societies and countries undergo major structural social changes, it is time to adopt another concept aimed at a wider society. We believe that the Jewish community can and needs to play a major role, not only for the benefit of our own people but also for the good of the wider society.
The State of Israel, despite being small and young, invests a huge amount of effort, energy and resources in reaching out to the world around us in order not to be isolated from the world. For us, this is a crucial component of our national interest. By being here today and through the continuation of our relations we can bring a new dimension to the connections between Canadians and Israelis that may provide an answer to some of the challenges our societies are facing.
I wish you all a most enjoyable day, and every success in your efforts.
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The political scene in Israel has been busy this week, with coalition negotiations proceeding apace after President Shimon Peres charged Likud-Beitenu leader Binyamin Netanyahu with the task of forming the next government. On February 5th all 120 members of the incoming Knesset were sworn in at a formal ceremony in Jerusalem (for a summary of the special Knesset session, including the speeches of President Peres and PM Netanyahu, see here.)
On February 5th Bulgarian authorities released a report of their probe into the July 18 bombing in Burgas which killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver and injured 30 others. The report blamed Hezbollah for the attack and said the two surviving terrorists were now living in Lebanon, where the Shi'ite terror group is based. The report received considerable attention in Canada due to the finding that one of the terrorists was a Canadian dual-national living in Lebanon. The report has also placed new pressure on the EU to list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, something Canada and the United States did years ago. You can find Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird's comments on the report here.
Meanwhile, President Obama has announced his intention to visit Israel and the region in the coming weeks, after the new Israeli government is formed, sparking a flurry of diplomatic activity which will no doubt continue in the lead-up to the visit.
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On Sunday, January 27, CG Schneeweiss addressed the ceremony to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem Memorial Site at
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Minister Jason Kenney
laying a wreath
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Earl Bales Park. Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, represented the Government at the event, and spoke movingly of Canada's commitment to Holocaust education and to fighting the scourge of anti-Semitism. Mark Adler, MP - the only MP who is a child of Holocaust survivors- and Dr. Mario Silva, the 2013 Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance also participated in the event, which was attended by Holocaust survivors and their families.
Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) held their inaugural Building Bridges Conference on January 31. The conference - initiated in partnership between JVS and previous Consul General, Amir Gissin - showcased cross-cultural work being done in the Jewish community and encouraged organizations to get involved in building ongoing relationships of exchange and assistance with communities outside their own. Deputy Consul General Hadas Wittenberg-Silberstein spoke at the event of the Consulate's commitment to the principles of engagement and building bridges beyond our own community of supporters. Her remarks can be read in full in the featured article on the left.
To get a deeper sense of the kind of work being done by our Embassy and Consulates, together with partner organizations such as CIJA, see the article in this week's CJN describing the recent visit to Israel of a delegation of Deans of Business Schools from across Canada. While always working directly to combat anti-Israel agitation, the bulk of our efforts are invested in building bridges between Israel and Canada which bring real value to both societies. An elaboration of the MFA approach to reaching key audiences, can be found here.
On January 28th
 CG Schneeweiss met with elementary andmiddle school students at Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School as part of the "Taking Charge for a Day" joint initiative of the Consulate and the Israel Engagement Committee of UJA Federation to mark Tu Bishvat. The program, an institution in Israeli schools, sees students and teachers switching places for a few hours every year on Tu Bishvat. This is the first time it has been brought to Toronto. At the vanguard of the local program were the 14 Israel Engagement "Shinshinim" - young volunteers from Israel who are spending their year of pre-army community service bringing their own Israel stories into schools and shuls across Toronto - who each replaced the head of their parent institution. At the Paul Penna session, pupils from Grade 1 and from the middle school enjoyed an open conversation with the Consul General, while Adi Novak and Reem Korin, the school's shinshinim, replaced the CG at the same time. CG Schneeweiss praised the work of the shinshinim and their hosts in bringing the freshness and variety of young Israel right into the heart of the Toronto community in new and exciting ways.
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has open ed a new Facebook page "MFA & NGOs", to focus on and promote Israel's (and Israelis') cooperation with NGO's - encouraging dialogue, joint projects, and international events. You can find the Facebook page here, and you're invited to like and share.
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A Native and a Zionist
 THE MÉTROPOLITAIN Ryan Bellerose January 24, 2013
Compelling personal account of why this Métis is an ardent Zionist, why he identifies the Métis struggle with that of Israel and how "co-opting today's native struggle to the Palestinian propaganda war is a fallacy."
Fathom - a new quarterly journal from the UK dedicated to providing rich, fair and compelling essays, conversations, reviews etc., on Israel and the Middle East. The second edition has jsut been published.
More on the investigation into the Burgas, Bulgaria terrorist attack which killed five Israeli tourists last July:
"Hezbollah: Portrait of a Terrorist Organization"
A comprehensive review, compiled by ITIC - The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, 18 December 2012
"Don't mince words. Hezbollah are terrorists"
By José María Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain and David Trimble, First Minister of Northern Ireland and Nobel Prize Laureate, The Times of London, January 29, 2013
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 The Consulate General is supporting the community event commemorating Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, and the 6 American crew members who perished upon landing the Columbia Space Shuttle. The event willbe held at the Bernard Betel Centre on February 10 at 11:00 AM. For details, contact Chassida David at 905-770-4720.
 On February 19 at 12:00 PM, the Consulate, the Canada Israel Chamber of Commerce and Israel's Reut Institute will hold a meeting with Israeli business leaders in Toronto to discuss strategies for building Toronto's Israeli community life and ties to Israel.
The Consulate is helping to facilitate meetings and events for WORDSWAP - a nonpartisan, public diplomacy project founded by Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman through their Keren Heseg program. Seventeen Israeli students participating in the program, from a diverse range of ethnic , religious, and ideological backgrounds, are coming to Canada to engage in student-to-student dialogue on campus, meet with the Jewish community in Toronto as well as non-Jewish communities and organizations.
Prof. Alean Al-Krenawi, President of Achva College (the first non-Jew to be president of an Israeli college) will be in Toronto on February 13-14 and will meet with Jewish leaders and local universities in events facilitated by the Consulate together with local partners, including UJA Federation.
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Upcoming Events:
The Mifgash Theatre, the only Hebrew speaking theatre in Toronto presents "A Night in May" by A.B.Yehoshua, directed by Yael Shamir Feingold, February 23 and 24 at City Playhouse Theatre in Thornhill. In Hebrew with English Surtitles. Reserve Tickets Today! Contact Hamifgash@srcentre.ca for more info.
The well-known Vancouver festival, Chutzpah! runs Feb. 7 to March 3rd and tickets are selling fast! Here are some of the Israeli highlights from a stellar line up of
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performance: The Idan Raichel Project, When You See God...Tell Him by Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili, perennial favorite world music act Yemen Blues, and don't miss If at All by Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company
Young Israeli Musician Daniel Cohen to conduct the Canadian Opera Company's Toronto production of Mozart's La clemenza di Tito for nine performances Feb. 3 to 22, 2013. Read all about it in an article in the Canadian Jewish News.
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 Israel ranks 7th globally in innovation
On the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos in late January, the WEF published its annual Global Competitive Index for 2012-13, which has Israel climbing three places in the field of innovation, now ranking seventh in the world.While Israel's overall competitiveness ranking slipped a few points to 26th in the world, Israel continues to run ahead of the global pack on a range of key measures - ranking first in the quality of scientific institutions, third in the amount of available venture capital, fourth in the number of patents per capita, and eighth on university-industry collaboration on R&D. For the full report, see here. Israel's rankings appear on pages 206-7.
Innovative Israeli Delegation at Mobile World Congress 2013
The Israel Economic Mission to Canada is pleased to once again be working with the large and innovative Israeli delegation that will be heading to Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, taking place February 25th - 28th, arranging dozens if not hundreds of direct business-to-business meetings for Canadian and Israeli businesses to explore opportunities with each other.
Mazor Robotics' Renaissance Technology Receives Health Canada License
 Mazor Robotics Ltd. (TASE: MZOR), a developer of innovative surgical robots and complementary products, ....announced the Company received its Health Canada (HC) Medical Device License to market its Renaissance system and accompanying accessories in Canada.
 Israel to be 1 of 3 focus regions for new $100 million Samsung seed fund
Samsung Electronics announced on Tuesday the launch of a new company-owned seed investment fund that will focus on three geographic areas: California's Silicon Valley, Massachusetts - and Israel.
Technion launches 'startup MBA' program
The Technion Israel Institute of Technology, one of the world's top institutions of its kind, has announced the October 2013 launch of the international "Start-uP MBA" program. The leading Israeli institution will offer a prestigious MBA degree which embodies Israeli entrepreneurship and innovation in the "startup nation."
For more innovation, business and economic news, visit the Israel Economic Mission to Canada website at www.itrade.gov.il/canada/
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"Van Gogh Alive" Sound & Light Exhibition"
 Tel Aviv , February 3 - March 3
The "Van Gogh Alive" multimedia exhibition, a sound and light experience featuring the artwork of Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, will be on display at the Israel Convention Center in Tel Aviv, February 3 - March 3, 2013. The groundbreaking exhibition, previously displayed in Istanbul, Ankara, Phoenix and Singapore, features 360-degree life-like images of the works of Van Gogh projected onto massive HD screens, as well as the ceiling, walls, pillars and floor.
For more information, visit http://vangogh-alive.com
For more tourism news from Israel, check out the Israel Government Tourist Office website at www.goisrael.ca
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