What is selective humanism?

This is when, during the Olympic Truce one can be represented on a worldwide stage, but continue to hate people based on ethnicity. That is what some of the villains do, using the Olympic arena as a theatrical stage.

During the opening ceremony of Olympic Games in Rio there were more egregious incidents, which should have no place in the Olympics. Firstly, the representatives of the Lebanese national team made a demarche to the Israelites and blocked the entrance to the bus that was carrying both teams into the stadium. The head of the Lebanese team even tried to close the entrance to the bus with his body, bravely blocking the path of the Israeli Olympic team.

Later, at the stadium, during the passage of the Israeli national team under the national flag, whistling could be heard from some of the crowd. It is significant that the Games organizers did not react to such unsporting behavior of athletes and fans. Probably, they have to wait for some more concrete steps towards the Israelis to somehow respond. Perhaps, as of the Olympic Games in Munich in the 72th year, when for the same reasons and with the same motives 11 Israeli athletes were killed because they dared to be born Jews?

Since then, the Israelis have learned a lot and made serious conclusions: Today Israeli national team is guarded the best specialists. Israel does not forget the lessons of the past and is able to defend their honor and dignity.

Recently I have shown you two photos of fortification constructions with the same purpose: the defense wall in Israel and its counterpart in Ukraine.

The story has continuation. Today I would like to bring to your attention the latest photos from the Ukrainian-Russian border and the thing that should protect us from the attack from the East.

Well, traditionally, I am writing about Israel for comparison. With the increase in terrorist attacks that occurred in the country over the last year, the government decided to build the underground wall between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Since the terrorists could not openly enter the territory of Israel, they began to build underground tunnels to cross the border as rats. As a rule, these self-made tunnels were quickly destroyed, often burying the builders themselves. Still, some of them managed to get into Israel. And since in Israel each life is appreciated, the state allocates $ 2.2 billions for the construction of underground fortification.

The new building will go tens of meters under the ground, so that the enemy could not dig the tunnel for sure. In addition, the sensors fixing any unnatural movement will be installed in the new wall. In addition to the underground part, the wall will grow a few meters above the ground - the protection is never too much.

At the first stage 10 km of the wall will be built, then 50 km more. It sounds like science fiction, but if Israelis intend to do something, they just do it. As for the Ukrainian “wall”, we should only hope that sooner or later the Ukrainian statesmen will begin to work for the benefit of their own country.

Sometimes it seems that everything is done in Ukraine in order only young and very healthy people can survive here.

No infrastructure, no transport, no premises, no city in general are adapted to the needs of people with disabilities and children. And here the elderly people are not thought about, everyone pretends that there are no such people.

Meanwhile, modern science provides the elderly with technologies to make the quality of their lives more comfortable. So the Israeli experts have long been engaged in the development of technological solutions specifically for those over 60. If someone thinks that this product is not profitable, I would admit that investors are very willing to invest in such developments, because they are in demand.

For example, the Vitalitix app: it is focused on improvement of communication between a user, his family (or guardians) and volunteers. Thus an elderly person does not feel lonely, his security increases, because he is always in touch. The app also helps to move both at home and around the city.

The Kytera application is a bracelet with a sensor: children can monitor movements of their elderly parents at home. If a person's movement is different from the usual one, the device immediately notifies you of an emergency situation.

There is also a mobile app that can analyze the degree of safety of drug therapy for the individual patient and will remind him of medication taking at the right time.

There are apps that don’t only analyze wellbeing of an older person, but also give specific advice on the stabilization of the state of health.

An interesting program, which, in my opinion, is necessary for not only the elderly: the virtual assistant that guides and encourages physical activity of patients using home exercises. The interface does not just show video lesson, but also sets you a specific goal, increases your motivation, and then tracks the results.

There is a variety of different programs that make life of the elderly easier, but the essence is the same: in Israel they think about the comfort of their older generation and try to make it as accessible as possible, and life - pleasant.

Today the opening ceremony of the XXXI Olympic Games is being held in Rio.

This year 306 sets of medals will be given to athletes from 207 countries at the competitions – it is a record number in the history.

If the other teams are just preparing for competitions, Israel has already won even before the official start: this year, the safety of all participants of the Olympic Games will be provided by the Israeli company ISDS. We can say that Israelis have already won the first “gold”, because they have passed this obstacle and won among other strong security teams.

ISDS is quite a small company, its staff includes 15 people, but they were able to get ahead of the best and largest security companies of the world and received a budget of $ 2.2 billion. Within three years, ISDS has been demonstrating its ability to win the tender in Rio. And before that, the Israelis had to work there in Brazil at the World Cup in 2014, at the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, in Sydney in 2000, in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

To ensure the safety of participants and guests of the Olympics the ISDS company has employed more than 30 sub-contractors - also Israelis. And of course, the most advanced Israeli equipment will be used in Rio. Already, the city is being air patrolled by the Israeli drones, cameras monitor potentially dangerous individuals on the streets. The same thing will happen in all the stadiums, grounds and swimming pools, on all roads and routes, beaches and in the Olympic Village. In addition, the Israelis will keep the situation in airports, railway stations, ports, on the streets, in hotels and public places. In short, it is the Israeli security.

Even before the games the Israeli experts conducted a training course and trainings for 10,000 Brazilian policemen: they told their Brazilian colleagues, how to behave in high-risk situations, how to ensure security in mass gatherings of people. They have brought a unique program to Brazil, which searches a crowd of people with strange behavior. The Israelis have brought a lot of different equipment and safety programs, but of course, they will not talk fully about it.

It is interesting that they do not like Israel in Brazil. I would say they intensively dislike. I'm not talking about ordinary citizens - here everyone has their own preferences – I am talking about a political and intellectual elite. It has happened historically. Even in the last few years international scandals spiked between the countries. But at the same time Brazilians called the best – Israelis - to defend the country from the real threats, knowing that in the security issues there is no room for compromises or insults.

I wish brilliant victories at the Olympic Games to the Ukrainian and Israeli athletes: they can confidently think only about sport - safety will be ensured by Israelis.

Today Ukraine celebrates the National Police Day for the first time.

I want to congratulate police officers on their professional holiday!

President Petro Poroshenko said that the new police are a symbol of irreversible changes in the state. I totally agree with him.

Over the past year, people’s trust in police officers - paradoxically after the events on the Maidan - has completely risen from the negative value to 46%. This means that almost half the population trusts the police, and therefore can feel secure in this difficult time. Currently, the police are functioning in 32 cities of Ukraine.

And again with the forming of new law enforcement structure was quite clear that reform would not come quietly. First, competition for one place in the ranks of the National Police averaged 18 people, depending on the region. The recruits themselves and people were expecting rapid and radical changes after the formation of the police. But it was clear that we would see slander and disappointment resulting from police actions, and not all police officers would meet the expectations of an honest and brave police officer. And we saw all this during the last year.

Reforms are never easy, and especially the reform of the structure, which was and partly remains a symbol of corruption and bribability. It takes a long time before confidence in the police will be complete. But the first step has already been made and the first results are already evident.

Today, the Israeli Knesset pays tribute to our fellow countryman, the man who is a symbol of the foundation of the State of Israel – Ze’ev Jabotinsky.

The speaker of the Knesset, Israel's Prime Minister and head of the opposition will appear at the ceremonial meeting in honor of Ze’ev Jabotinsky.
Israel marks the 76th anniversary of the death of our countryman like this. Is this person well-known in Ukraine itself as he is remembered in Israel? I think it is worth reminding once again about his life.

Ze’ev Jabotinsky was born in Odessa in October, 18, 1880. A writer, bright publicist, poet, playwright, he became co-founder and ideologist of the Zionist movement, the founder of the Jewish Legion, the Etzel and Beitar organizations. He wrote his works in Russian and Hebrew.
In 1903 there were anti-Jewish pogroms on the territory of the Russian Empire. Jabotinsky became one of the first who did not fold his hands and founded the first Jewish self-defense troop. Later this experience came in useful to him in creating professional security organizations. Since that time he became an active Zionist and supported the idea of ​​a Jewish state.

Jabotinsky believed that a necessary condition for the foundation of a state is the “language issue”: he literally demanded the establishment of educational institutions, in which subjects will be taught in Hebrew. He believed that the revival of Hebrew promoted knowledge of the Jewish culture and the embodiment of the Zionist idea and he was right.

He called the foundation of a strong military force as another necessary condition, soduring the First World War, working as a correspondent in Turkey, he put forward the idea of ​​establishing a Jewish military force and the participation of the Jews as a side in the World War II. He said that the Zionists should take the side of the Entente and form a Jewish army as part of its forces, which would have participated in the liberation of Palestine and then became the framework of the organization of a Jewish state there. While in Egypt, together with Joseph Trumpeldor he formed the Jewish Legion as part of the British army. He also organized self-defense groups during the first Arab-Israeli conflicts.

Jabotinsky wanted to found a Jewish state on the both banks of the Jordan, the repatriation of all Jews, who wanted that, to Palestine, as well as the elimination of the Diaspora. He has openly called for the foundation of the State of Israel which would have a Jewish majority. Discoursing of the constitution of the future state, Jabotinsky saw in front of him a full civil equality and cultural autonomy for the Arab minority.
In 1923 the Beitar organization was founded. Its ideology was formed under the influence of the call to establish a Jewish legitimate army to protect the Jewish population of mandated Palestine. Members of the movement accepted the only banner (white and blue), same hymn (“Hatikvah”) and same Zionist worldview. These principles became the basis for the foundation of Israel. After the beginning of the Second World War, Jabotinsky was engaged in the formation of the Jewish army, which was to fight against Germany.

In addition to ideology, Jabotinsky left a great literary and philosophical heritage. He wrote poetry, short stories and novels, was engaged in translation. Do our contemporaries, except historians, know that such a person was born and lived on our land? Of course, the memory of Ze'ev Jabotinsky will live in Israel, but I really want Ukrainians to remember about their great compatriot.

From yesterday, August, 1 all public procurement at the expenses of taxpayers in Ukraine is changing to an electronic public system ProZorro.

This means that from now on all tenders which are exceeding the threshold amount (from UAH 200 thousand for goods and services and UAH 1.5 million for work), should be held openly: anyone can check how many, where, by whom, from whom and at what price tables for accountants of the Ministry of Education or a new car for the regional hospital have been purchased.
The ProZorro system provides online information on all tenders above threshold, which have been held by central authorities, large state enterprises and natural monopolies. Now local authorities, utility companies and other organizations that use taxpayers' assets are obliged to use ProZorro.

As for the so-called subthreshold purchases (at the cost below UAH 200 thousand for goods and services and up to UAH 1.5 million for work), usage of ProZorro for them is voluntary.

During the year of pilot project in the ProZorro amount of the expenses saved is more than UAH 2.6 billion, by the end of the year the amount of the expenses saved will be about UAH 5 billion.
The use of this electronic system simplifies procurement procedure. The volume of public procurement market in Ukraine is about UAH 250 billion per year, and this is huge opportunities for business development. Since July in five regions of Ukraine an advertising campaign has been launched to attract business to ProZorro.
No hryvnia was taken from the state budget for the project execution, all the work was done by donor organizations. In addition, the introduction of the ProZorro system is a major anti-corruption initiative and permits non-governmental organizations to track the spending of public funds.

In Israel, public procurement system has been existed for a lot more than a dozen of years. Depending on the final consumer, it is divided between three areas: procurements made by ministries and state companies, procurements of local authorities and separately – procurements of the Ministry of Defense. For a country that spends a significant part of its budget on defense, procurement transparency in this area is an integral part of sustainable development.

Government agencies that contract are offered the wide range of potential partners. The feature of Israel's public procurement system is that in the system of procurements preferences for domestic producers are introduced, especially for public companies: Israelis choose local producers if the price of its products does not exceed 15% of the price of foreign offers. Thus, in Israel, first, they support its own production, and, secondly, create a healthy competitive environment. Of course, to take part in such procurement one should have a maximum financial transparency.

Now all Ukrainian regional administrations are recommended to use this system regardless of the amount of the announced tender. I think it will be a good test for Ukrainian officials to check their readiness for new standards of resource management and will clearly demonstrate who is ready to do business transparently and who will remain in the past.