I was prompted into
writing my first blog of 2016 by yet another appalling report on the BBC World
Service The
Science Hour 27/3/16. Just after
the Jewish festival of Purim, the Biased Broadcasting Corporation erased the
name of Israel,
Jews
and Israeli companies
from a program discussing the use of genetics to improve the drought resistance
of wheat to feed a hungry world. So I decided to write the following “megillah”
to unmask some of the global activities that Israel has been performing to
benefit the world in the last three months.
Medical
Ruti Alon, co-chairman of this year’s
IATI-Biomed Conference, highlighted that Israeli research is present in between
25%
and 28% of the world’s successful biotech-based solutions. E.g. Exelon for Alzheimer’s, Doxil for cancer
and Copaxone for Multiple Sclerosis.
In the field of cancer research, the RosettaGX
Reveal diagnostic test for thyroid
cancer from Israel’s Rosetta Genomics is now approved for use in all 50
US states. Another recent BBC report
obscured the fact that “innovative” US immunotherapy, which cured 27 of 29
“no-hope” leukemia
patients, was developed from the research of Weizmann Institute Professor Zelig
Eshhar.
Israel’s MobileODT has the potential to save
millions of lives with its smartphone-based cervical cancer detection technology. Launched only last May it has been used 6000
times in 20 countries. MobileODT even
donated 20 of its Enhanced Visual Assessment (EVA) cervical cancer screening
devices to healthcare providers in Kenya where on World Cancer Day (4th Feb),
they were used to screen over 700 Kenyan women.
The device was demonstrated at the Innovation Showcase during the recent
AIPAC Conference.
More than 100 million patients annually
require manual ventilation - the largest reason for admission into intensive
care. The Israeli-invented Pocket BVM (Bag
Valve Mask) portable ventilator
has already treated thousands of people at disasters, such as in the Nepal
earthquakes and saved US
soldiers in Afghanistan. Meanwhile,
Israel’s Hospitech
Respiration has just received US FDA clearance for its
AnapnoGuard 100 intubation system.
Israelis are working on treatments and
systems that will have bring relief to hundreds of millions of patients. Firstly, Israel’s Teva is developing a peptide
for the treatment of migraine,
that affects 36 million people in the United States and 10% of people
worldwide. Secondly, researchers at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem are working to freeze
organs in order to preserve them for later transplant using ice-binding
“antifreeze proteins”
that protect frozen cells from expansion damage when they thaw out. Finally, Israeli startup Intensix is trialing
an Intensive
Care Unit patient monitoring system that gives an early warning of
impending sepsis and organ failure responsible for killing 30% of ICU patients.
Israel’s global impact is evidenced by the
World Bank matching top Israeli health technology innovators with interested
healthcare providers in
India to address the rise in non-communicable chronic diseases there. In another example, the MASHAV organization
of Israel’s Foreign Ministry is shortly to begin training medics from the underdeveloped
southwestern regions of China. And Israeli startup 6over6’s has developed the GlassesOn
smartphone app to help those needing
spectacles in developing countries where there is a shortage of
opticians and optometrists.
Humanitarian Aid
Israel21C has produced a map showing the top 83 locations where Israel offers
aid to people in need around the world. And
“Israel is only one call
away” must be the ultimate video to show that Israel is more than just
another country. Earlier this year we
heard that Natan-International
Humanitarian Aid (a network of Israeli disaster relief organizations
and civil society organizations) is treating
migrants in Serbia. And this video shows the IsraAID rescue team of
doctors and nurses, both Arab and Jewish, at work on the Greek island of
Lesbos.
Israel has recently provided food and
assistance to flood victims in Paraguay,
Kenya,
and even the United
Kingdom (England
and Scotland). But the British Broadcasting Clowns seem to
have missed that.
Israel also helps citizens of countries
that have no diplomatic relations with the Jewish State. Such as the
2,000
Syrian war wounded who have been treated in
Israeli hospitals. 200 or so Israeli
volunteers working for the non-profit Il4Syrians
have even been secretly working in Syria to deliver food, medical supplies, sanitation
kits, baby powder, survival kits and 3000 protective suits for doctors treating
victims of chemical attacks.
In its latest mission, IsraAID
sent search and rescue teams to Taiwan
where many were killed or were still missing in the magnitude 6.4
earthquake.
Recognition of Israeli humanitarian efforts has resulted in the United Nations awarding official consultative status upon the Israeli emergency response organization ZAKA, which will help it to expand its international search, rescue and recovery missions. Israel also hosted hundreds of delegates from 30 countries, plus the World Health Organization, at the Fourth Israeli International Conference on Healthcare System, Preparedness and Response to Emergencies and Disasters. Finally, Liberia’s senate president Armah Zolu Jallah, thanked Israel for its help in wiping out the fatal disease Ebola in Liberia.
Agriculture and Water
Although the BBC is too intoxicated to see
it, Israel really is feeding
the world, as anyone visiting the Agricultural Research Organization’s
Volcani Center, in Beit Dagan near Tel Aviv will testify. Israel’s NRGene
has assembled more than 80 complete genomes over the past 12 months, which will
result in better crops and benefit billions of lives. Despite its location close to Gaza, Israel’s
Phytech has developed crop
sensor technology that is used in the biggest farms in the US, Brazil and
Australia.
In developing countries, Israeli
organizations and companies are teaching desert
farming to Nigerians; using cutting-edge seed technology to vastly
increase the productivity
of Ethiopian farmers and building a huge
dairy for South Sudan on the Israeli model already in use in Vietnam, China,
the US, Russia and India. In 2016 Israel
is initiating 14 micro-irrigation projects in the Indian
state of Haryana, northwest of Delhi.
In the developed world, Israel’s IDE
Technologies has now begun operating at its Carlsbad, California site – the largest
desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere. Israeli organizations
and companies are at the center of California’s plans to stem its droughts and
secure the future of its water supply.
Also in California, the 17,000 acre Conaway Ranch in Woodland will be
the first
US rice grower to use Israeli drip irrigation. And despite the European Union not
recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, it has engaged
Jerusalem’s water company, Hagihon, in its 4-year project to improve governance
and social awareness of water environmental challenges.
Social and Environmental
Israelis deserve much praise for their work
to improve the prospects of the disadvantaged in the world. Jerusalem’s Alyn Hospital, just held its
first-ever Makeathon,
for developers of technology projects that have global social benefits – with
particular emphasis on the disabled. Meanwhile,
Israeli accelerator A3i is developing ‘ability’
technology to help millions with disabilities. And Israel’s LivinGift has offering
zero-interest loans to social
impact enterprises from all sectors, including health, education,
animal protection, social impact technologies, environment, and support for
disadvantaged populations.
On 29th March 2016 the Society for the
Protection of Nature in Israel stages a race with a difference. Champions of the Flyway is
a bird race for conservation in Israel’s migration hotspot of Eilat. The 2015 event raised $60,000 to help stop
illegal trapping of birds in Cyprus and the 2016 race will help protect birds
in Greece. Finally, please see this recent
video of Israel’s unique Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center that is a prime
example of Israel’s work to save endangered species.
Security
Many countries are now
recognizing Israel as being an essential for their security. Kenyan President
Uhuru Kenyatta has just announced that he has been entrusted by Ethiopia,
Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan to
form an alliance with Israel to rid their countries of the jihadist
Islamic State, Al Qaeda and their affiliates.
Millions of Parisians and Belgians used Facebook’s Israeli-developed Safety
Check app to let friends and family know they were safe following the recent
deadly terror attacks. And the world is
waking up to possible threats from ships reporting a
fake identity. Israel’s Windward
tracked 34 such ships last year that left or entered the territorial waters of
Libya, Syria and Lebanon.
With $3.3
billion of exports, Israel is the world’s second
largest developer of cybersecurity solutions, after the USA. Cybertech
2016 in Tel Aviv was the second most attended cybersecurity event of
the last 12 months. There are 300
Israeli cybersecurity companies, led by Checkpoint which has a $14.2 billion
valuation. One Israeli cybersecurity specialist
CYREN has sensors in 200 countries. In the UK it protects
thousands of public WiFi installations and was recently accredited as a
"Friendly WiFi" approved provider by the Council for Child Internet
Safety.
Technology
“Israeli technology is improving the world”
said Bill
Gates to the 2,000 people attending Microsoft Israel’s “Think
Next” event in Tel Aviv. And
even in the last three months the number of Israeli innovations with global
impact are just too many to include here in any detail.
Computing:
-
Exciting
activities in Cloud computing by Revello
Systems, OwnBackup,
and GigaSpaces.
Smart Systems:
-
The VUZE camera from
HumanEyes and SteamCC’s Ripple
Maker won at CES
in Las Vegas.
Others:
-
Tel Aviv’s
FoodTech
Nation conference showcased Israeli storage and production innovations.
Outer Space:
-
Helping NASA
fly to Mars, Europe to study Venus and satellites to help alleviate global drought.
-
SkyFi, which is building nano-satellites
to provide almost limitless communication across the globe.
Finally
If you want to get a glimpse of what Israel
has done for the World, simply travel through Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport and
view the exhibit,
between customs and the departure hall, of 60 posters showcasing Israeli
developments and discoveries that have influenced the world. Follow the “Israel Is On It” media campaign
by Untold News to raise
awareness of the one tiny country whose citizens are curing cancer,
making the ocean drinkable, freezing cancer tumors, preventing hospital
infections, stopping airport terrorism, and changing all our lives for the
better.
And sign up for
my newsletter.
Michael Ordman writes a free weekly
newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.
www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com
and a searchable archive www.IsraelActive.com
For a free subscription, email a request to
michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
