Most Americans are aware (hopefully) that
Israel is the only free democracy in the Middle East. But the
Jewish State’s links with the USA - the world’s largest free democracy - go
much deeper than just a sharing of American values. Here are some examples from recent news.
America’s largest corporations have major
development centers in Israel.
Microsoft has even run out of free
space at one of its Israeli sites and has taken out a 10-year
lease on a huge new building in Haifa.
On the other hand, the social media giant Facebook has only just
discovered Israel and freed
up at least 100 million dollars to turn Israel’s Onavo into Facebook’s
one and only R&D center outside of the USA.
US companies have purchased, merged with or
conducted joint ventures with hundreds of Israeli firms. One joint US-Israeli company, Statasys
manufactures 3D printers. If you are
visiting the UK in the near future, why not enjoy the fascinating free
exhibition of Stratasys’ 3D models at the London Science Museum? In a joint venture, Israel’s
Elbit and the US company Rockwell Collins have been confirmed by the
Pentagon as the sole suppliers of their helmet mounted display systems for
America’s free-flying
F35 pilots.
Electronic gadgetry was freely on display
at Israel’s offshoot of the massively popular Las Vegas Consumer Electronics
Show. “CES
Unveiled - Tel Aviv” established Israel’s hi-tech hub as one of only
four cities outside of Las Vegas to have staged a CES event.
Huge quantities of free
energy will be transformed into electricity for US consumption shortly
when Israel’s BrightSource turns on its 377-megawatt solar thermal farm in the
California desert. On a far smaller
scale, Israeli start-up Nova Lumos’s pay-as-you-go, mobile-based solar energy
system will give you the
freedom to generate cheap solar power wherever the sun shines. Nova Lumos won Ernst & Young’s “The
Pitch” and will now receive mentoring from computer
giant IBM.
In the medical arena, Americans and
Israelis have a free and open relationship. Researchers at Sheba Medical
Center and Weizmann Institute together with North Carolina’s Duke University
have identified the genes responsible for two serious neurological disorders in
children. The discovery will hopefully
keep future generations free
of such severe genetic diseases.
The US Food and Drug Administration has just approved another Israeli
device - the robotic
laparoscope from Medical Surgery Technologies. This keyhole surgery
vision system gives the surgeon much more freedom
to operate by replacing a hand-held video camera.
Next, we have two more new Israeli medical
innovations to give individuals more freedom.
When ex US Vice-President Dick Cheney was having all his heart problems,
a LVAD (Left Ventricle Assist Device) kept him alive until his heart transplant
op last year. But in order to recharge
the LVAD’s battery, he had to be wired up.
He would have appreciated the wireless
device that Israel’s Leviticus Cardio is
developing to deliver energy to operate LVADs.
Leviticus Cardio has just raised finance through a group of American
investors.
The second new Israeli device is for
diabetics who have to inject themselves with insulin. Israel’s Insuline has developed InsuPad - a
device that frees diabetics to inject at any time - even after meals.
The pad warms the body and allows a lower dose of insulin to be absorbed much
quicker, thus reducing the number of hypoglycemic incidents. US multinational
J&J Lifescan has just signed an agreement to market InsuPad.
Israeli hospitals embody the Jewish State’s
democratic principles. Last week doctors at Hadera hospital freed
a hatpin from the throat of an Israeli-Arab girl. The 16-year-old from Baka al-Gharbiya was
adjusting her headscarf and had put the 3.5cm hatpin temporarily into her
mouth. Unfortunately, something made
her laugh and she swallowed the pin, which lodged in her vocal chords. Meanwhile, more wounded from civil war-torn
Syria received free
treatment in Israeli hospitals last week when two seriously injured
Syrians were brought to Ziv (Sieff) Medical Center in the central Galilee city
of Tzfat.
No free democracy is perfect, but in Israel
there are hundreds of organizations whose purpose is to help the less
fortunate. If you visit our tiny
country from the USA, for example, you may wish to give 90 minutes of your free
time to help Pantry Packers prepare boxes of free food for poor
families.
Finally, here is an idea for US students
about to embark on a career. The IDC
(Interdisciplinary Center) in Herzliya is offering the first ever Israel-based
law degree course for English speakers. It costs $10,950 pa - around 15% of the average fees of a US law
school. It prepares students for the Israeli bar exam but 5-week courses exist
in the USA for those wishing to study for the American bar.
Israel and America - Free to work
together for a better future.
Michael Ordman writes a FREE
weekly newsletter containing Good News stories about Israel.
For a free subscription, email a request to
michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
