·
Israeli
scientists have identified the gene that causes deadly heart rhythm problems.
·
A blind
Israeli woman is serving in the Israeli Air Force.
·
5000 Tanzanians
have clean water thanks to an Israeli boy’s Bar Mitzva present.
·
An Israeli
radiation protection vest has begun NASA space trials.
·
Skoda, Jaguar
Land-Rover and Porsche announced new Israeli partnerships.
·
Israel has
a new world champion kickboxer.
·
15,000
Israelis have helped excavate an ancient Jewish village in the Galilee.
·
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ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
US approval for H. pylori
treatment. The US FDA has given approval for Israel’s
Redhill Biopharma to market its RHB-105 (Talicia) treatment for the treatment
of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori). It follows successful Phase 3 trials, as reported
(here)
previously. H. pylori affects some 2 million US patients.
Turning mosquitos against
themselves. As reported previously (see here) there are several Israeli innovations developed to help reduce
numbers of disease infecting mosquitos. Now Ben Gurion University scientists
have discovered and activated bacteria in the male mosquito that is poisonous
only to mosquito larvae.
Genetic
cause of atrial fibrillation. Scientists at Ben
Gurion University have found that common (mostly night-time) atrial
fibrillation (heart rhythm problems) is caused by a mutation in a gene (KCND2).
They are now developing an anti-arrhythmia medication, based on their findings.
It could save 200,000 lives each year.
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/on-way-to-cure-israeli-researchers-discover-gene-causing-afib/2019/11/05/ https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCGEN.118.002293
Detecting and treating
prostate cancer. For Men’s Health Awareness Month, here
are 7 Israeli startups focused on detection and treatment of prostate cancer. Two
have not been reported here previously. They are Keren Medical’s anastomosis
device for bladder operations; and UC-Care’s ultrasound tumor tracking tools.
Relieving pain for
pancreatic cancer patients. (TY WIN &
I24 News) Doctors at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center have managed to substantially
reduce the pain suffered by cancer patients. Radiation is targeted at a nerve
behind the pancreas. After 3 weeks, the patient is strong enough to embark on
further cancer treatment.
The first medical school
in Samaria is open. Seventy students were accepted
into the first class of the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson School of Medicine
at Ariel University. It is the sixth medical school in Israel and the first in
Samaria. US Ambassador David Friedman gave the traditional Hebrew ‘Shecheyanu’
blessing.
Sheba hospital – the Cyprus
connection. Several newsletter articles (see here)
highlight the humanitarian work done at Israel’s Sheba medical center in Tel Hashomer
on behalf of citizens of Cyprus. Another example here is when a Cypriot police
officer was shot in the spine and airlifted to Sheba for successful treatment.
NATO recognizes Israel as
key medical assistance partner. NATO has recognized
the Israeli Navy as a key medical-assistance partner in the Mediterranean following
a drill held last month practicing emergency evacuations of personnel. “Crystal
Sea 2020” involved the United Kingdom, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND
GLOBAL
Blindness not a barrier for IDF officer. Ori was born blind, but that didn’t
stop her from fulfilling her dream of serving in the Israel Defense Forces. She
overcame all odds and drafted into the Israeli Air Force. After 18 months’
service, Lt. Ori was awarded a medal of excellence.
Female Chief Intelligence Officer. Major General “N” is the first female
officer in IDF history to lead an intelligence division at a command level. IDF
Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi appointed her as Chief Intelligence Officer for the
IDF regional command.
IDF soldiers save Arab woman injured in car accident. (TY TPS) An Arab woman was hit by a car driven
by a Palestinian Arab in the Jordan Valley. IDF soldiers rushed to the scene,
gave her initial treatment and evacuated her by helicopter to the Hadassah
Hospital in Jerusalem for further medical treatment.
Miss Congeniality is an inspiration. Israel’s Noy Ben Artzi was chosen by her
fellow 53 competitors to receive the title Miss Congeniality at the Miss Asia
Pacific pageant held in the Philippines. She inspired five-year-old Filipino
Angela Briana Alforque to dress as Miss Israel at her Manila school’s United
Nations Day.
Ukraine to open Jerusalem
innovation center. The Ukrainian government has announced
that it will open an innovation and investment center in Jerusalem. “The office
will be equivalent of a diplomatic office and be a part of the Ukrainian
embassy in Israel,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
Israeli chief of UN
business intelligence. Natalia Nadal is the first
Israeli to be elected to serve as the Chief of the United Nations’ enabling and
outreach service. She will oversee the UN business intelligence operation, in
charge of improving relations between the UN and the various companies it
engages for products and services.
Water from the air for Colombia. Christian Pastor Andrés
Suárez is general manager of the Alliance Project with the State of Israel in
Colombia. He has arranged for the installation of a WaterGen GEN-M atmospheric
water generator in El Talento, Colombia to demonstrate its benefit to towns
with no access to clean water.
How a
13-year-old Israeli brought water to 5000 people. Israeli
NGO Innovation: Africa has released this latest video of Lev Ari – a 13-year-old
Israeli boy with “attitude”. Lev relinquished his bar mitzva presents and instead
raised $50,000 to bring solar power-generated clean water to the Tanzanian
village of Sasajila.
Extending rescue
operations worldwide. Israeli international mass
disaster response agency ZAKA Search and Rescue is establishing bases in
strategic cities in North and South America and the Caribbean. The
UN-recognized organization’s missions include Haiti (2010), Nepal (2015), Guatemala
and Pittsburgh (2018).
Israeli EMS model for
Jersey City. (TY WIN) Israeli
Emergency Medical Service United Hatzalah is working with Jersey City USA
municipality to implement a 90-second volunteer emergency response service.
Israeli volunteers are
still helping victims in Paradise. (TY UWI) As
reported (see here) previously,
Israeli NGO IsraAID helped victims of the fires that destroyed the Californian
town of Paradise in Nov 2018. One year later, IsraAID volunteers are still
there, providing trauma relief and other support to Israel’s American friends.
F35s join international exercise. The air forces from the United States, Greece and Italy have been
training alongside Israeli pilots out of the Uvda airbase north of Eilat. It is
the first international ‘Fifth Generation’ exercise held in Israel involving
the latest F-35 advanced stealth aircraft.
Astronaut sees Israel from
space and honors Israeli father. Jewish NASA
astronaut Jessica Meir tweeted photos of Israel from the International Space
Station. She then wrote about her Israeli surgeon father who was an inspiration
to many in her immediate and extended family. See photos (TY Jacob Richman)
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
New fund to pay for fast
internet. Israel’s Communications Ministry is
setting up a fund to finance the deployment of fiber optic cables countrywide.
Money will be given out via a tender process to telecom firms to install fiber
optic cable to improve internet speeds in the Startup Nation.
Technology
to help Skoda make engines. As reported previously
(Jan 2016) Israeli startup Seebo’s tools and technology helps companies develop
smart products. Now, Czech carmaker Skoda is to use Seebo’s AI-based software
to optimize manufacturing processes on its engine production lines.
Super wine. (TY ILTV News) Scientists at Tel-Hai College in northern Israel have
developed “super-wine,” an alcoholic beverage infused with nutritious organic
supplements. Among super-wine’s ingredients is a substance called
“resveratrol,” which is found in plants and is being hailed as a new
“superfood.”
A multi-purpose robotic
arm. On automated production lines, manufacturers
use a different robotic arm for each stage of the process. Not anymore – scientists
at Ben Gurion University have developed and patented a sophisticated algorithm
that enables the design of one robotic arm that can grasp multiple objects.
Identifying which
products can be 3D-printed. Israeli startup Castor develops
3D printing software that automatically scans a company’s parts catalog to
identify parts that could be manufactured using a 3D printer. It results in
fast-produced, lightweight parts that are ideal for the automotive and aviation
industries.
Radiation
vest blasts off. The innovative radiation
protective vest made by Israel’s StemRad has been reported here several times. (see here) It has just been taken to the International Space Station (ISS) where
it will start six months of tests.
Israeli tech reduces motorcycle
insurance premiums. As reported previously (July 2018) the collision
aversion technology from Israel’s Ride Vision protects motorcyclists. Now, Italian
insurance company Sara Assicurazioni will offer Ride Vision’s visual alert
system to motorcyclists it insures to reduce their premiums.
Making Chinese self-driving
cars. Israeli-founded Mobileye (now part of Intel)
is partnering with China’s electric car maker NIO to develop automated and
autonomous vehicles. NIO will engineer and manufacture a “first of its kind” self-driving
system designed by Mobileye and based on Mobileye’s EyeQ chip.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
More gas and oil. Estimates of the recent natural gas
discovery by Energean in the Karish North field, reported (here) previously, have been upgraded by another 25 billion cubic meters (0.9
trillion cubic feet). The new estimate also includes 34 million barrels of light
crude oil.
34 years of economic co-operation. More than 80 officials gathered
at the US Department of State for the 34th US-Israel Joint Economic Development
Group. They discussed risk management for foreign investments; women’s economic
empowerment; quantum information science, artificial-intelligence research and
more.
Education council grant inspires university entrepreneurs. The NIS 6 million from Israel’s Council
of Higher Education to establish the Yazamut 360° center for entrepreneurship
at Ben-Gurion University (see here) has led to 60 proposed new student startups. Nine of these have now signed
formal business agreements.
Israel’s special sauce. Jon Medved, CEO of Israel’s OurCrowd, discusses
the success of his crowdsourcing company and explains why he believes Israeli
food tech companies to be a big investment opportunity. He also recommends
Israeli startups that aim to transform traditional industries.
Can I help you? Israeli startup Mmuze (pronounced “muse”) brings
the advantages of a knowledgeable in-store representative to online retailers. Its
artificial intelligence and NLU (Natural Language Understanding) generate a
virtual shopping assistant, using text, voice, or chat (or a combination) on smartphone
or desktop.
Helping “Americanize” Israeli products. (TY Nurit) Newsletter subscriber
Nurit Greenger’s latest article describes the work of Fusion LA - the first
Los-Angeles based education accelerator for Israeli startups. Its goal is to
commercialize their products with investment, office space, mentoring and
networking opportunities.
Tech for Jaguar-Land Rover. Jaguar Land-Rover is partnering
with Israeli startup Fleetonomy to launch JLR’s new premium electric chauffeur service
Havn. Fleetonomy’s AI fleet management mobility technology is behind the new up-market
smartphone app ride request for a Jaguar I-PACE taxi. https://www.ridehavn.com/
Porsche feels its way into Israel auto
technology. As
reported previously (see here) Israel’s Tactile Mobility develops software that allows cars to “feel”
the road. German car maker Porsche has
made several Israeli investments (see here) and has now made another, leading a $9 million funding round into
Tactile.
Isracard chairman is also a drone entrepreneur. As reported previously (24th Mar) Israel’s Tevel Aerobotics has developed an autonomous drone that can
pick fruit. Tevel’s chairman Eyel Desheh is also chairman of Isracard, the credit
card spinoff of Bank Hapoalim. This article explains both why and how he does both
jobs.
ObeserveIT exits for $225 million. Israeli-founded cybersecurity
company ObserveIT identifies insider cybersecurity threats. Nearly half of its
150 employees work at its Tel Aviv R&D center. It has just been taken over
by US cybersecurity company Proofpoint Inc for $224 million – Proofpoint’s third
Israeli acquisition.
InMode becomes a Unicorn. By now readers will know that a Unicorn in
financial terms is a company worth over $1 billion. When Israel’s InMode Aesthetic
Solutions was last reported here (10th Jun) it was close to launching on NASDAQ. It launched in August and its value
has since soared to more than $1 billion.
Helping Europe sell to the Chinese. The online payment processing
technology from Israel’s Credorax is licensed in all 32 European Union
countries. Credorax has now partnered Chinese mobile payment services WeChat
Pay, Alipay, and UnionPay, allowing European retailers to accept payments from
Chinese customers.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Richard
Branson haggles in the Jaffa flea market. Virgin
Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson continued to enjoy his recent stopover in
Israel. Having formally launched Virgin Atlantic’s new London to Tel Aviv direct
service, he embarked on a business “venture” at Jaffa flea market to conduct
some Middle Eastern negotiations.
Schug
is global culinary trend of 2019. (TY UWI) The spicy Israeli condiment schug (or zhoug) has been named by Forbes
magazine as the top global culinary trend of the year. The Yemeni hot sauce has
experienced a 129% increase in social mentions in the US from 2017 to 2018.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2019/02/13/zhoug-is-the-new-sriracha-and-other-trends-discovered-by-ai-food-tech-startup-tastewise/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1354&v=jcfcZh1ataM
Tel
Aviv night race attracts 25,000 runners. (TY UWI) 25,000 Israelis flocked to Tel Aviv to take part in the annual 10
km (six mile) Tel Aviv Night Race – a road race that culminated in a dance
party and pizza feast!
Gold and three silvers for Israeli kickboxers. Yulia Sachkov finished first in the Under 52kg class for K-1 style
kickboxing at the world championships in Bosnia. Israelis Shir Cohen, Daniella
Pashayev and Or Moshe won silver in their classes at the World Association of
Kickboxing Organizations competition in Sarajevo.
THE JEWISH STATE
Zubin
Mehta gave Israel his heart. Indian-born Zubin Mehta gave his final concert as musical director of
the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. The blog article gives amazing examples of
the maestro’s love for Israel.
Maccabees
defend Israel on campus. The Maccabee Task Force launched in 2016 to counter anti-Israel attacks
at six universities in North America. Today it is active at 80 US universities
and is targeting at least 20 more US campuses plus 11 universities in six European
countries.
Rebirth
through Aliya. Aliya
Day on 5th Nov triggers a personal reflection by Anna Krycer on the blessings
of living in Israel. She highlights the independence of young children; 2400 active
centenarians hosted by President Reuven Rivlin; the passion and diversity of
its citizens, the amazing food and “only in Israel” events.
Thousands excavate ancient Jewish Galilee village. Over the past year, 15,000
Israelis have worked with the Israel Antiquities Authority to uncover the 1800-year-old
Jewish Galilee village of Usha. Among the finds are ritual baths (mikvaot), oil
and wine presses, plus evidence of the local manufacture of glass and iron tools.
“Footprints”
of Joshua’s conquest of Canaan. (TY i24) Archaeologists have uncovered six “sandal-shaped” sites where
the ancient Jewish tabernacle rested during the Joshua-led conquest of Canaan
by the Children of Israel. Each contains a priestly “footprint” domain, a
tabernacle/altar area and an amphitheater for the Israelites.
