The Hebrew nation have come a long way
since escaping Egyptian slavery. Today’s
oppression comes from those, such as in the BDS movement, who are still in
“de-Nile” about this amazing people.
Here are some phenomenal examples from the last two weeks, that I have
put into a sequence (Hebrew = “Seder”). They parallel the Biblical events we
recall during the forthcoming Jewish festival of Passover. If you are hosting or attending a Passover
Seder this year, you may like to share this article with the other guests.
The Exodus from Egypt was preceded by ten
plagues. Today, Israelis have transformed
the very essence of many of these plagues for the benefit of mankind.
The Nile was turned into Blood
A researcher at Israel’s Ariel University,
has discovered that Gallium Nitrate can rapidly halt
bleeding from deep wounds, without causing dangerous blood clots. Next, in recent trials, 38% of “no-hope”
patients suffering from the blood
cancer acute myeloid leukemia went into complete remission after just
two cycles of the treatment BL-8040 from Israel’s Bioline Rx. Then Magen David Adom received its largest
ever donation - $25 million - to build a new blood
services center in Ramle. We
also heard that surgeons from Israel’s Save A Child’s Heart returned to
Tanzania in March to perform more life-saving operations on the blood-pumping
hearts of African children. And
finally, whilst Israeli doctors in Haifa were repairing the heart of a wounded
Syrian girl, they discovered she had blood
cancer. Israeli secret services then
located a relative with matching bone marrow from “an enemy state” and smuggled
him into Israel.
The Plague of Boils.
There have been several recent
breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of many disfiguring diseases. First, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
researchers can now identify the source of fragmented
DNA caused by cell death. In
tests on 320 patients
they have identified pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis, diabetes, traumatic brain
injury and MS. Then Israel’s Eximo successfully
used its laser system and unique catheters to cure 20 patients of peripheral
artery disease (PAD) without having to resort to leg
amputations. Meanwhile, esearchers
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Israel’s Technion have developed an
enhanced micro-emulsion liquid that protects
the skin (and other organs) against free radical damage. Finally, the focused ultrasound brain surgery
of Israel’s Insightec has been used for the first time in Israel to cure an
Israeli Parkinson’s sufferer of her uncontrollable
shaking.
The Plague of Lice
This was the first plague that Egypt’s
magicians couldn’t emulate, because lice were just too small. Size doesn’t matter for today’s Israeli
scientists. Israel’s Tracense has
developed nanotech
odor technology that can detect explosives, narcotics, stashed cash, banned
metals and toxic liquids. Israel’s Nano
Dimension is a leader in the area of minute
3D printed electronics and has just listed on NASDAQ. Meanwhile, Israel’s XJet has just received a
$25 million investment to help fund its unique nanotechnology
to 3D print metal parts without the need for expensive molds or lasers. Finally, Israeli start-up Phresh has unveiled
a non-toxic
organic powder, which dissolves into the atmosphere to triple the shelf
life of fruit and vegetables
The Plague of Locusts
One of the recent winners of Grand
Challenge Israel was Israeli startup BioFeed, which uses odor to attract
insects to poison that eliminates the Zika
virus carrier without spraying crops.
Admittedly, the insect Aedes aegypti which carries the virus is a
mosquito rather than a locust, but BioFeed’s technology can eradicate many species
of insect.
The Plagues of Wild Animals and
Pestilence
Israelis today are more concerned with
saving wild animals than eradicating them.
Israeli scientists have helped isolate the tilapia lake virus that is killing
both wild and farmed tilapia
fish - an important global food source and essential for freshwater
quality. Even when building roads,
Israel tries to protect its wildlife. It is constructing an eco-bridge over
Highway 1 between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv so that jackals
and hyenas can cross in safety.
And the bond between man and animal could not be closer at the Red Mountain
Therapeutic Riding School, in Israel’s Arava desert, where therapists,
volunteers and 22 beautiful
horses each week give 200 special needs children
and adults increased control of muscles whilst helping their emotional
development.
The Plague of Hail
In contrast to the destructive power of
Biblical hail, Israeli water technology is now sought worldwide. And no wonder, thanks to the un-mistakable
fact that Israel’s wastewater recycling, desalination and conservation allowed
it to escape the eastern Mediterranean area’s worst
drought in 900 years. Israel’s
agriculture minister Uri Ariel recently opened India Water
Week in Delhi, which featured eleven innovative Israeli companies specializing
in irrigation, desalination, water purification, measurement and management for
municipalities and farms. Even the
United Nations is hearing about Israeli
water technology from Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon. And for the second consecutive year, Israel’s
Desalitech has reached the finals of Global Water Intelligence’s Global Water
Award for Breakthrough
Water Technology.
The Plague of Darkness
The fog in Egypt was so thick that Pharaoh
and his people couldn’t see the hands in front of their faces. Today, Israel’s threshold for the six most
carcinogenic or toxic substances listed in the Clean Air Law are more stringent
than European and US standards, making Israel one of the most
advanced countries in terms of environmental regulation. Overseas, meanwhile, Innovation: Africa has connected
104 rural villages in Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Senegal,
Tanzania, DRC and Ethiopia to electricity.
It has brought solar
energy to hundreds of thousands of people. But some Israeli scientists don’t need the
sun in order to see. As with those
working for Israel’s Opgal, the inventors of NDTherm and its Non-Destructive
Testing (NDT) solution that uses thermal imaging to see
faults in machinery and infrastructure.
Splitting the Sea
It would be interesting to imagine how
Israelis today would react to seeing thousands of Egyptian soldiers washed up
on the shores of the Sea of Reeds. First
of all, the Israel Defense Forces would set up a functioning
field hospital within 12 hours of arriving at the site. Israel would have likely prevented many from
drowning by previously training them in water-safety. The Egyptians would probably also have been
equipped with smartphones containing the unique emergency
video app supplied by Israel’s Magen David Adom. But the most fascinating aspect of this
Biblical event is that an Israeli
has replicated it in a very small way.
Professor Lilac Amirav of Israel’s Technion, has just developed a
nanotechnology and solar energy system to split water
into hydrogen and oxygen with 100% efficiency. Moses would have been proud!
40 Years in the Wilderness
The Children of Israel’s marathon 40-year journey
from Sinai to Jericho would probably nowadays take the 70,000 Jerusalem
and Tel Aviv
marathon runners just a few days – even without Waze. With the 3D printers from
Israel’s Stratasys, they can even print their own running
shoes! Certainly the 150 Israel
startups in the field of Smart
Transportation would be able to cut the travelling time even more. But the fastest time would be achieved in any
vehicle using the hydrazine
thrusters built by Israel’s Rafael Industries for the Mars
landing module of the European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission which
blasted off from Kazahkstan on 14th March.
And finally
3,500 years after the Hebrews built storehouses
for Pharaoh, Israelis are still building in Africa. Ghana’s State Housing Company has just signed
a contract with Israel’s IDM International to build 20,000
housing units. The project will ease the massive housing problems
facing Ghanaians. And it took an Egyptian - journalist
Ramy Azizto - to publicly praise Israel’s freedom, in that it has built the
only true democracy in the Middle East and is open and accepting of religious
and ethnic minorities.
There is nothing that can compare with the
plague that finally convinced Pharaoh to release the Hebrews – the killing of
the firstborn of Egypt. But if anyone wonders
about the plague of frogs, I left that to the end with this short video
that shows the indispensability of Israeli technology. It will really make the BDS idiots hopping mad!
Happy Passover!
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
