In the 23rd July 17 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
A diabetic
treatment from an Israeli plant could benefit millions.
·
An Israeli
charity 3D prints hands for amputees.
·
Israel has
sent planes to combat fires in Montenegro.
·
An Israeli
startup has developed eco-friendly fish farms.
·
An Israeli
all-electric plane was unveiled at the Paris Airshow.
·
Huge
international sales of Israeli explosives detectors.
·
Radiohead’s
Tel Aviv concert was a great success.
·
A 12-part
concise mini-series for the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War.
·
Click here
to see the 16th July newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Janglo
and United
With Israel. Also (TY Karen) in Portuguese
and (TY Sandra) in German (9th
July and 16th
July).
·
Click here,
to SEARCH the IsraelActive archives of more
than 11,000 previous news articles.
·
Click
here, to donate a
small amount to help me expand the reach of VeryGoodNewsIsrael.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Israeli thorn bush treats diabetes. Dr. Tovit Rosenzweig of
Ariel University has discovered that the Israeli plant Sarcopoterium Spinosum
(sira kotzanit / thorny burnet) can balance blood sugar levels. Dr. Rosenzweig
is developing a treatment from the plant that could benefit more than 200
million diabetes sufferers worldwide.
New treatment
for Tourette Syndrome. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Therapix
Biosciences is conducting a proof-of-concept Phase II clinical study with the
Hannover Medical School, of its lead compound THX-TS01 for 20 patients
suffering from Tourette Syndrome. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/therapix-biosciences-and-the-hannover-medical-school-enter-into-an-investigator-initiated-clinical-trial-agreement-to-assess-the-effect-of-txh-ts01-in-patients-with-tourette-syndrome-300453033.html
Universal Flu
vaccine’s positive trial results confirmed. Final results of BiondVax’s Phase 2b trials
of its Universal Flu vaccine confirmed preliminary results reported here
previously. (5
Feb) Both endpoints were met. Immune response to the vaccine was
statistically significant. BiondVax can now proceed to Phase 3 final trials.
Hypoparathyroidism
biotech heads for NASDAQ. I reported previously
(Apr
2014) on Israel’s Entera Bio which is testing treatments for disorders in
the parathyroid gland, and osteoporosis. Entera Bio has now filed for floating
the biotech on NASDAQ to fund Phase II/III trials of its treatment for
hypoparathyroidism.
Looking good. A research team from
Israel’s Bar-Ilan University has developed “Prophecy” - a first-ever formula
that lets hyaluronic acid penetrate the deeper skin layers, to smooth out
wrinkles using a cream and without injection. Hyaluronic acid absorbs water to
smooth the skin and has antioxidant properties to slow the aging process. http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-researchers-rub-it-in-with-new-anti-wrinkle-cream/
Enabling the mute to speak. Israeli charity Ezer Mizion
recently hosted a major conference on Alternative and Augmentative
Communication (AAC). The aim of the
conference was to share the cutting-edge knowledge that Ezer Mizion has been
advancing. Those on Facebook please
watch the video of the conference’s opening.
Enabling the
paralyzed to walk.
The ReWalk is an FDA approved exoskeleton that allows individuals with
spinal-cord injuries to stand, walk, and move freely. Israel’s Re-Walk has
already helped more than 100 paraplegics take their first steps towards
mobility – some can be seen in this new short video.
3D printing
transforms face surgery. Queen Elizabeth hospital
in Birmingham UK uses the Objet Eden 350V 3D printer from Israeli-founded
Stratasys to produce customized face models for pre-surgical preparations. It cuts
surgical planning time by up to 93%, saves 3-4 hours per surgery and cuts costs
by up to £20,000 per op.
Upgraded FDA approval for Insightec. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s
Insightec has been granted US FDA approval to use its Exablate Neuro system
with 1.5T MRI - the most common MRI system in use today. It should vastly expand the use of
Insightec’s successful non-invasive focused ultrasound treatment for essential
tremor.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Support for
survivors. Three times a week,
Israeli charity Ezer Mizion provides breakfast for 120 Holocaust survivors - elderly
members of its British Café Club. They have lectures, exercise sessions, field
trips and parties. In addition, Ezer Mizion’s Eshnav program gives one-on-one home
support to homebound survivors.
3D-printing prosthetic hands. (TY Karen & INO)
Israeli non-profit Haifa 3D prints prosthetic hands for children and adults at
no cost. Haifa 3D volunteers receive assistance from Israel’s Technion and
donations for computers, printers, plastics and all other parts. They even
designed a hand that can hold a guitar pick.
Female tekkies
should join the club. Real-life groups are key to encouraging
Israeli girls and women to enter high-tech careers and flourish at work.
Examples of such Israeli groups are LeadWith, QueenB and CyberGirlz.
https://www.facebook.com/LeadWith/ https://www.leadwith.org/
https://www.facebook.com/queenb.program/
Arab industrial park for Arabs and Jews. Israel’s Technion and the
Israeli Government are establishing a new industrial park in the Galilee Arab
settlement of Shfar’am. The aim of the park is to unify the Jewish and Arab
economies – managed by Arabs but bringing together Jews and Arabs, to get the
best out of both.
UK prince supports Sport for Peace. During a rain-break at
Wimbledon, Prince Michael of Kent helped launch the new Sport for Peace project
to complete a new state-of-the-art sports center in Israel. It’s aim: to bring
young Israeli Arabs and Jews together to compete alongside each other and
increase understanding.
Arab Muslim woman sings with Radiohead. Arab Muslim female singer Nasreen
Qadri shares the stage with Radiohead and supports the band’s decision to
perform in Israel. Nasreen was born in
Haifa and grew up in Lod, two cities with a mix of Arab and Jewish communities,
living side by side.
Improving security and comfort. Thanks to fingerprint
readers and workers’ buses, it now takes only 8 minutes for 50 Palestinian Arab
factory workers to cross the “Green Line” each day on their way to work. The
new system is being piloted prior to being rolled out across Israel, Judea and
Samaria.
IDF medical help to wounded Syrians. (TY TIP)
In the IDF’s “Operation Good Neighbor”, which began Aug 2016, there have been
over 110 individual aid events. The goal was to reach as many needy Syrians as
possible, without violating Israel’s carefully crafted policy of
non-intervention in the Syrian civil war.
Agreements with Ukraine. In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed
agreements with the (Jewish) Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman
covering disaster co-operation, medicine and health, trade statistics and
temporary workers. Ukraine recently
voted against UNESCO’s anti-Israel resolution.
First-ever visit by Quebec leader. A 100-strong delegation joined
Philippe Couillard’s first official visit to Israel by a Quebec premier. His priority
was to open a Quebec trade office in Israel and set-up an artificial
intelligence and metadata partnership. A $12 million program will support
bilateral industrial R&D projects.
Israeli sends firefighters
to aid Montenegro.
Following Montenegro’s appeal to NATO for international help, Israel
dispatched firefighters and 4 planes to assist the Balkan state in tackling devastating
forest fires that have spread across the country’s coast. A new heatwave in the
region is expected to cause further wildfires.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
New species of butterfly discovered. Israeli researchers have
identified a new species of butterfly, named Acentria’s fritillary (Melitaea
acentria) unique to northern Israel, Lebanon and Syria. The first new species
in 109 years is believed to have arisen through natural hybridization (inter-breeding)
between two other species.
Breeding fish in
artificial seawater. Israeli aquaculture startup Latimeria breeds
fish in water that has been desalinated and then has salt added. The innovative process avoids pumping seawater
in and out, saving electricity, minimizes water leakage and stops the
introduction of harmful bacteria.
Google translates
using AI for Hebrew. You may have noticed
an improvement in the accuracy of translating Hebrew into English using Google
Translate. Google has moved to neural
machine translations (Artificial Intelligence) for Hebrew and Arabic, resulting
in more natural suggestions.
Organic rosemary solutions. Israel’s Frutarom has
developed an extract from organic rosemary that reduces oxidation and thus
increases the shelf life of other foods. Frutarom worked with Israel’s Hishtil
Nurseries to produce the rosemary variety. Rosemary also has health benefits as
anti-oxidants absorb damaging free radicals.
The next generation of microscope. Israeli startup Scopio Labs develops
digital microscopes, based on computational imaging breakthroughs. These dramatically
improve research into cancer, hematology, cytology etc. while powering academic
studies and treatment development. Scopio has just raised $7 million of funds.
What’s wrong with
the system? (TY Atid-EDI) Israeli
startup Loom Systems uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and system logs to
discover and prevent problems in digital systems. It is an automated, machine-assisted log
analysis tool, capable of correlating cross-applications events and providing
the root cause in real time.
Medals at Chemistry Olympiad. Israeli secondary school
students won 3 medals at the 49th International Chemistry Olympiad in Thailand.
Ron Solan, Rina Sevostianov and Ofir Shmool won a silver and two bronze medals,
respectively, at the contest which attracted teams from 76 countries.
System to prevent jamming. Israel Aerospace Industries
(IAI), and Honeywell Aerospace have agreed to jointly develop an advanced GPS
Anti-Jam navigation system. The
operation of many navigation systems relies on uninterrupted availability of
satellite-based navigation and timing. (See here for other
Israeli systems.)
Best video ad distributor. For the 2nd year running, Israel’s
Woobi has won a Bully Award for Innovation. Earlier in the year, Woobi won the Best
Video Distribution Platform award at the Digiday Video Awards in New York. Woobi's
programmatic video ad-tech solutions targets ads to users’ individual
interaction patterns.
Improving corn yields. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Kaiima
Bio-Agritech is working with Beck's, the largest family-owned retail seed
company in the United States, to produce high-yielding varieties of corn
(maize). Kaiima’s proprietary non-GMO platform called EP™ boosts the efficiency
of essential food and feed crops.
Satellites on the
move. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s
Elbit Systems is to provide the Israeli Ministry of Defense with dozens of
satellite-on-the-move (SOTM) systems. The systems can be installed on a variety
of platforms and are unique in their small footprint and its advanced tracking
capabilities. http://ir.elbitsystems.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=61849&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2270638&ind=0
An all-electric
airplane. Israel’s
EViation Aircraft unveiled its Alice Commuter electric plane at the Paris Air
Show. It can carry 9 passengers plus 2 crew up to 1000km using a Li-lon - 980
kWh energy pack. EViation saved hundreds of thousands of dollars and months of
time by 3D printing prototype parts and machine tools.
Using AI to train your sales team. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Gong.io
(a Gartner “Cool Vendor”) has launched its Real-Time Conversation Intelligence
platform for sales teams. Gong uses artificial intelligence and machine
learning to analyze sales conversations and help train sales and customer
service staff.
Food security conference. International celebrity chef
Assaf Granit and Israeli First Lady Nechama Rivlin were among the 350 delegates
to a conference in Rehovot on food and nutrition security.
Analyzing feed at US dairy farms. I reported previously (several times) on Israel’s Consumer
Physics and its SCiO handheld food analysis spectrometer. Now Cargill Animal Nutrition will be sending
the SCiO to US dairy farmers to help them check the nutrition of dry forage and
deliver a more consistent diet to their animals.
Retrofitting solar to old buildings. KKL-JNF, the Ministry of
Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Construction and Housing, have
launched “Easy to Breathe” - a national environmental program. Old public
housing buildings, commencing in Beit She’an and Safed, will be renovated and
retrofitted with solar power.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Airport taxi
monopoly ends.
Travelers are now able to order taxis using the Gett app after landing
at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport, ending Hadar-Lod Taxi’s monopoly on airport
taxi services. Also, taxis bringing
passengers to the airport can now wait to pick up arriving passengers, even
those who haven’t pre-booked.
A better detector. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s IDenta has been inundated with orders for its detection kits for
explosives and banned substances. The UK (Manchester and London), the US,
France and Israel recently placed orders for thousands of kits. Earlier
customers include Thailand and Wizz Air.
http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/international-drug-explosives-detection-company-identa-corp-has-sent-very-large-order-otc-pink-idta-2131603.htm https://www.youtube.com/embed/CvNDxS5-k1U?rel=0
Israelis find oil in California. Israel’s Modiin Energy has
found signs of oil during its preliminary drilling of the Mountain View project
in Kern County, California. It now proposes production tests, to estimate the
rate of production and the size of the reservoir in the prospect. Modiin is
also testing at the nearby GrapeVine project.
CyberArk acquires Conjur. (TY Atid-EDI) Israeli
cybersecurity “giant” CyberArk has made yet another overseas acquisition by
purchasing Massachusetts-based Conjur. Conjur’s revolutionary technology secures
Development / Operations and increases CyberArk’s business prospects within the
DevOps arena.
SodaStream’s Homoschlepiens ad. Watch Mayim Bialik (star of
“The Big Bang Theory”) in her new commercial for Israel’s SodaStream. She humorously demonstrates how buying water
and fizzy drinks in plastic bottles “makes no sense”. https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z-yfuSnUz6Q?rel=0
Study for a degree in Law or Business in
English. I
reported previously (Feb
2016) about the opportunities to save a fortune in fees by studying for a
Law or Business degree in Israel in English, and then finishing your qualifications
in the USA. Israel’s College of Law & Business is holding its 2017 Open
House on 2nd Aug.
Start-up Nation meets Wall Street. New York City’s NEXUS: Israel education and networking conference,
coordinated by American Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, brought
together over 300 scientists, attorneys, venture capitalists and others to
discuss Israel’s latest high-tech advances. See the amazing agenda.
http://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/start-up-nation-meets-wall-street/ https://www.nexusisrael.org/agenda/
SAP’s new Israeli HQ. I reported previously (July
2015) on software giant SAP’s Israeli R&D center and its attraction to
the Startup Nation. SAP has shown its faith in Israeli technology and economy
by building and moving into its new $67 million Ra’anana headquarters - the new
home for its 800 R&D employees.
$35 million exit for Camtek. I reported previously (Sep
2014) on some big orders that Israel’s Camtek had landed for its
semiconductor inspection modules. Now
Camtek has sold its whole Printed Circuit Board (PCB) business to China’s
Principle Capital fund. Camtek’s Israeli-based and global operations remain
intact.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Discover Africa in
Jerusalem. (TY
Janglo)
See the treasures of Africa during the months of July and August at the
“African Nights” experience in the Botanical Gardens of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem Wine Festival. (TY Janglo)
At this year’s Jerusalem Wine Festival (Aug 7 – 10) you can learn about Israel's best and most interesting
wineries, and drink a lot of great wine in the Israel museum's beautiful
gardens. Tickets include unlimited tastings. On Tue and Wed, tickets include
entrance to the museum.
Ice Cream Day. For the first time, Israel
joined America’s celebration of Ice Cream Day on 16th July. Buza and Iceberg
chains promoted black coconut ice cream. Iceberg also sold flower-flavored ice
cream and Vaniglia offered malabi with rose water. The Anita chain even gave a
free ‘Doggy Cream’ sorbet to any visiting canines.
Ex-IAF medic is Miss Israel. Rotem Rabi, a native of
Jerusalem, has been crowned the new Miss Israel. Rabi served as a medic in the
Israel Air Force, and although currently working as a model, she hopes soon to
join the Israel Police investigative division. Rabi will represent Israel at
December’s Miss World in China.
The Galilee’s
secret pastoral hotspot. (TY Avi)
Known as the Princess of the Galilee, Rosh Pina is home to a mix of natural,
cultural, historic and entertainment hotspots. A beautifully restored, northern
village, Rosh Pina is just the place for a leisurely and relaxing
vacation. https://www.youtube.com/embed/_qKbHL5-qrQ?rel=0
Radiohead’s 27-song concert. Radiohead showed their
loyalty to 47,000 Israeli fans in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park with their longest
concert in 11 years. The band’s first
international success was in Tel Aviv in 1993.
Spectacular end to Maccabiah Games. International supermodel Bar
Refaeli was the MC for the closing ceremony of the 20th Maccabiah Games - entitled
“Higher. Better. Together.” When Natan Sharansky told the audience passionately,
“We all will build our home together,” the crowd began to chant “Am Yisrael
Chai!”
Maccabiah upgrade of Jerusalem sports
facilities. The
Jerusalem municipality has invested tens of millions of shekels to establish
and upgrade sports facilities across the capital for the Maccabiah Games and
afterwards to serve the wider public. New facilitates support ice hockey and track
and field competitions for the first time.
Race you up Mount Hermon. On July 28, athletes can
take part in the first-ever Mount Hermon Run – the ascent of Israel’s tallest
mountain, in Northern Israel. There are three race categories: Nordic walking,
running and extreme mountain running. The race begins at an altitude of 1,600
meters and finishes at 2040 meters.
THE JEWISH STATE
More finds in the City of David. (TY Janglo)
This is part 2 of the two-part documentary in which Erick Stakelbeck tours the
City of David in Jerusalem with City of David Foundation Directory Ze’ev
Ornstgein to discover the top ten archaeological finds that prove the ancient
Jewish Biblical claim to Jerusalem.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/tG1LCJhGsJM?rel=0
And here is the link to Part 1 in case you missed it.
And (TY IsraPundit)
recently the Temple Mount sifting project discovered remains from a mikveh
(ritual bath) that existed right underneath the current site of the Al Aqsa
Mosque.
What Jews ate in Jerusalem 2000 years
ago. Following 3 years excavating an ancient
landfill in the City of David, Tel Aviv University has published that 2nd
Temple Jerusalemites kept kosher. They dined primarily on sheep and goats, with
much fewer cows and chickens. They ate plenty of fruit and vegetables, but no
pork or shellfish. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Jerusalem-excavation-reveals-diet-of-ancient-Israelites-during-Second-Temple-period-494148
Six-day-War
mini-series. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of
the Six Day War between Israel and the surrounding Arab countries, here are 12 very
short videos of the dramatic events in June 1967 that transformed the State of
Israel. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-DNOnmKkUaagpJX65dCjPHf2gzdZ9LqR
“Celebrate Israel”
parade. I
know it’s late, but I must include an article about the 40,000 US supporters of
Israel who marched, sang and danced along Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue on June 4th to
show their support for the Jewish State.
Earlier, the Empire State Building was lit up in blue and white – the
colors of the Israeli flag.
Israel Book Week. The 56th annual Israel Book
Week featured book fairs in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Rishon Lezion, while book
stores offered discounts all across the country. For the first time, Jerusalem
hosted both the Hebrew Book Week fair and the International Book Fair at the
same time. 7,600 books were published in 2016.
Students uncover reservoir in Kingdom of
Israel.
High-school students have exposed a huge 2,700-year-old water system
near Rosh Ha-Ayin. They also found remains of vessels used to draw water from
the reservoir. The reservoir would have been in the Kingdom of Israel, which
was conquered by the Assyrians in 720 BCE.
