Grapevine March 1, 2026: Women in the spotlight

■ WHAT PROMISES to be particularly inspiring for invitees this Thursday is a multicultural event in Herzliya, co-hosted by the Diplomatic Spouses and Partners in Israel (DSPI), The International Women’s Club (IWC), and Women Champions for Change. There will be a film screening, dialogue, and shared stories with participants from different national, ethnic, professional, and religious backgrounds. Among the various speakers will be Shirin Taber, an Iranian-American filmmaker and founder of Empower Women Media and Abraham Women’s Alliance (AWA).

■ NOT EVERYTHING is female-oriented over the coming two weeks. On Wednesday, March 4, the Israel-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry, together with the French Embassy, will honor Israeli companies that have excelled in doing business with and in France during 2025. The event is under the patronage of French Ambassador Frédéric Journès, who will also be in attendance.

■ THE SPORTS center and gym at the Israel Defense Forces’ Re’im Base reopened last Tuesday as part of a comprehensive NIS 23 million reconstruction project led by Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) and the Association for Israel’s Soldiers (AFIS) to restore facilities destroyed during the October 7, 2023, terrorist infiltration at the Gaza Division headquarters base.

The restored facility includes a state-of-the-art fitness gym and indoor basketball arena with seating for spectators.

After terrorists infiltrated the base on October 7, they chose the sports center as their own base of operation and fortified position for further attacks on soldiers and their families on base.

In the months that followed, a large-scale rehabilitation effort was launched to restore the base to full operational capacity. Through funding from FIDF and in partnership with AFIS, damaged facilities across the base were rebuilt.

The project included rehabilitation of the synagogue, library, health clinic, and other service structures. The sports center, which became one of the most visible symbols of the battle, was rebuilt from the ground up.

“Rehabilitating Re’im Base is a true mission, stemming from the inseparable bond between the Jewish community in the United States and IDF soldiers,” said FIDF CEO Maj.-Gen. (res.) Nadav Padan. “Commitment is tested in times of emergency, and our support has grown stronger. It continues throughout the long process of rebuilding, recovery, and strengthening morale.”

Association for Israel’s Soldiers CEO Col. (res.) Shari Nechmias-Carmel said the rehabilitation project is a moving expression of coming full circle.

“The very buildings that were damaged in the fierce battles were originally built through donations from the Friends of the IDF in the United States, and now they are being restored and reopened thanks to the same spirit of partnership and giving.”

Co-Chair of the FIDF New York Tristate Real Estate Affinity Group Marty Berger, who participated in the ceremony and inaugural basketball game, reflected on the center’s restoration.

“I remember when we first built this gym and facility, and coming back over the years to see how much they meant to you. When we returned in December 2023, just two months after October 7, we saw the damage and the bullet holes throughout the gym and fitness center. It was heartbreaking, but we also saw how the Gaza Division re-emerged ready to defend Israel with strength and determination, and we vowed to rebuild it. To see this place rebuilt and to have played a small part in restoring it is deeply humbling.”

■ FOLLOWING THE death of Shimon Peres almost 10 years ago, the Medal of Distinction, which he established during his presidency, continued to be awarded to outstanding women from Israel and abroad whose inspiring actions characterized them as people of distinction. His faithful staff continued to promote his legacy and to annually present the award.

Peres had a great respect for the abilities of women, and most of his senior staff were female. His two sons and daughter, who hold executive roles in the Peres Center, continue with their father’s policy, and most of the senior staff are female. Some worked with Peres when he was prime minister and later president, and after he completed his term, they went with him to the Peres Center and are still there.

Among this year’s Medal of Distinction honorees is paraplegic kayaker Talia Eilat, 27, who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Talia had always dreamt of being a professional dancer. She had been dancing since childhood. But when she was in her late teens, a blood vessel burst in her spinal cord, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.

Instead of sitting around and feeling sorry for herself, she opted to do the most that was possible with the upper part of her body and became sufficiently proficient at kayaking to be selected for the Paris Paralympic Games.

It was a tough battle to become good enough to be selected, and an even tougher battle to enhance Israel’s reputation in sport. Unfortunately, medals eluded her at the Paralympics, but she did reach the finals and was the first Israeli to do so in her heat.

In accepting the Medal of Distinction, Talia said it belonged to all paraplegics who are confronted with new challenges every day.

According to Barkat, Smotrich is a lone wolf who does not consult with fellow ministers and therefore does not understand the needs of different sectors of the population. This was evident when various ministers approached Smotrich and explained why it was important for him to cancel his latest edict. But Smotrich wouldn’t budge.

■  GISHA, THE Legal Center for Freedom of Movement last week filed an appeal to the Supreme Court against a ruling by Jerusalem District Court Judge Ram Winograd, who rejected a petition filed by Gisha to allow a five-year-old Gazan child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia to enter Israel for life-saving medical treatment. Attorneys Mohamed Awad, Sigi Ben-Ari, and Osnat Lifshitz, who is also Gisha’s legal director, argue in the appeal that the ruling ignored the child’s particular and dire circumstances and is “riddled with factual and legal errors.” The appellants are asking the court to hold an urgent hearing and to overturn the ruling.

The child, a resident of the Gaza Strip, relocated to the West Bank in 2022 to receive medical care unavailable in Gaza. After treatment options in the West Bank were exhausted, his doctors determined that he must urgently receive immunotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, which are available at the Tel HaShomer hospital in Ramat Gan. The state refused his entry based on a sweeping policy that was put in place in October 2023, which bars Gaza residents from entering Israel for “any purpose whatsoever.”

The appellants say that Judge Winograd in his ruling ignored the assessment by Tel Hashomer physicians that the child’s condition does not allow for transfer to a third country, and he also raised the possibility that the child would take the place of an Israeli child, disregarding the fact that Israeli medical institutions never refuse to treat children with any form of cancer or other life threatening illness.

The appellants also address additional baseless speculations raised by the judge, including the suggestion that the child might take the place of an Israeli child at the hospital when, in fact, the hospital has been waiting to admit him for several months, with funding provided by the Palestinian Authority.

Winograd also argued that accepting the petition would prompt thousands of sick children in Gaza, who have been waiting extended periods for medical evacuation abroad, to file similar requests and that the petition constitutes an attempt to circumvent policy – despite the fact that the pending petition addresses access from Gaza to hospitals in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and is entirely irrelevant to this child, who is already living in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority has undertaken to pay for the child’s hospitalization and treatment.