Last week was filled with news comprising
one of Israel’s main goals - to repair the world. But in case you were swamped by negative stories, here are some
of the uplifting highlights.
The saving of innocent life is the top goal
for Israelis. Whilst the death toll in
Syria’s civil war rises, Israel continued to treat hundreds
of Syria’s wounded at its medical centers and IDF field hospital. Meanwhile, the IDF Medical Corps and the
American Air Force Medical Department signed a pact to share and develop
techniques and technologies that will save lives during
humanitarian rescue missions. Away from the battlefield, thanks go to
the anonymous donor who responded to an urgent request on Janglo – one of
Israel’s favorite information boards.
Doctors at Israel’s Beilinson Medical Center transplanted
his kidney into a desperately ill mother of five in Ashdod.
Israel’s humanitarian goals have just
received a major boost at the United Nations.
Israel joined the Western
States UN human rights sub-group and has also been awarded observer
status of the UN Pacific
alliance. It has already begun
to help address global social and humanitarian issues. Israel is simultaneously providing aid to
hundreds of individual countries, such as supporting
Jamaica’s economic recovery by helping turn the island into a global
logistics hub.
Israel’s water technology underpins the
Jewish State’s goal to eliminate drought.
EU’s President totally missed the point that if our neighbors truly
sought peace, there would be ample water supplies
for the whole region. Israel’s brand
new Sorek
desalination plant can produce 624,000 cubic meters of water a day, but
ironically EU
policy prevents European countries working with Israel to build
facilities to treat Palestinian Authority wastewater. Israel is also working to eliminate famine. Take a trip to the Vidor Family Visitors’
Center in Israel’s Arava to see how a
desert has been transformed into the jewel in the crown of Israeli
agriculture.
The goals of Israeli medicine are not only
to save life, but also to alleviate suffering.
Israel’s Medigus is launching its flexible endoscope for the treatment
of acid reflux. The simple outpatient
procedure can benefit over 16
million people with acid reflux who do not respond to medication. And Israel’s LabStyle Innovations is
distributing its Dario blood glucose-monitoring device in Australia, which will
make life much simpler for some of the 1.2
million Australians officially diagnosed with diabetes.
Many see Israel’s goal as a light to the
nations. Former Spanish Prime Minister
Jose Maria Aznar agrees, reporting that Israel
is strategically vital for a secure, prosperous and influential
Europe. And believe it or not, the UK
wants Israel to bring
technology to the Arab world. The UK-Israel Tech Hub has organized the
Go Global Program for Digital Arabic Content Entrepreneurs.
Israeli startup Cyactive certainly has an
ambitious goal – an
end to all computer viruses.
Cyactive detects the core of any virus, because 98% of the code inside a
new virus is copied from existing viruses.
Tel Aviv’s SoftWheel has a well-rounded goal – a
comfortable ride whether in a wheelchair, bicycle or aircraft. But to achieve this goal, SoftWheel has
literally re-invented the wheel. Its
“selective suspension” extends or shrinks the wheel’s hub when encountering an
obstacle, dramatically reducing the shock transmitted.
Four Israelis recently achieved some
spectacular individual goals. Hebrew
University of Jerusalem doctoral student Yossi Kabessa won the Singapore
Challenge gold medallion and $100,000 at the Global Young Scientists
Summit in Singapore. He designed a system to detect dangerous materials in
large water supply systems. Weizmann
Professor Yair Reisner won one of Israel’s
Rappaport prizes for his leukemia treatment using stem cells from
incompatible donors. The other winner
was Dr. Yaakov Nahmias from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who discovered
that the grapefruit molecule naringenin can block viruses. But the goal
that wowed the sports world is the one scored by Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer player
Barak Yitzhaki. He performed the
famous bicycle
kick to perfection.
Finally, it’s everyone’s goal to try and stay in good health. Anyone planning to make a new life in the
Jewish State will be happy to hear that the cost of fruits and vegetables in
Israel are lower - sometimes significantly lower - compared to prices of fruits
and vegetables in the United States and Western Europe. With Israeli technology, we can all hope to
achieve the goal of a long
and fruitful life, as enjoyed by Rabbi Zechariah Barashi, who at 114 is
the oldest Jew in the world. Rabbi
Barashi’s mind is a sharp as it was in 1936 when he immigrated to Israel from
Kurdistan. He says, “I have had the
fortune of living in Jerusalem for 75 years. I’m in heaven.”
Israel can help us all reach our goals.
Michael Ordman writes a free weekly
newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.
For a free subscription, email a request to
michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
