In the 18th Dec 16 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
Israel’s
Technion opens its new global cancer research center.
·
Muslim
states of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan welcome Israel’s PM.
·
An Israel
drone can identify hazardous material from far away.
·
Israeli
robots will clean India’s new massive solar park.
·
Huge
numbers of tourists are arriving for the festive season.
·
Ancient
“Free Zion” coin discovered in Jerusalem.
·
Click here
to see the 11th Dec newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Ruthfully
Yours, Janglo
and United
With Israel with additional feature on Health.
Also (TY Sandra) available in German
and (TY Karen) available in Portuguese.
Please pass relevant links onto German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking readers.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Technion opens new
integrated cancer center. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel
inaugurated the Technion Integrated Cancer Center (TICC) in Haifa. The center is a first-of-its kind hub for
global cancer research, which will expedite the discovery of new diagnostic
tools and treatments through a collaborative “bench-to-bedside” approach. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/220756
Israeli wins $25,000 neuroscience award. (TY Karen) Israel’s Dr.
Gilad Evrony was awarded the Eppendorf and Science Prize for Neurobiology by Science
magazine and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr Evrony sequences and analyzes the genomes
of individual brain cells to detect mutations.
First US medical center to use Israeli hi-tech
scanner. I
reported previously (Dec
4) that the US FDA approved the P-ARTIS innovative upright CT proton
scanner from Israel’s P-Cure. Now the Northwestern Medicine Chicago Proton
Center will be the first in the US to use it for patients being treated for lung
cancer.
Facebook screens live brain surgeries
from Israeli hospital. More than half a million viewers have been
watching live broadcasts on Facebook of Israeli brain surgeons at Soroka
Medical Center in Beersheba removing a benign tumor. The purpose was to promote
the work at the new brain center.
Israel’s first health informatics
program. The
Jerusalem College of Technology and the University of Toronto have jointly
developed Israel's first degree program in the field of health informatics.
Health informatics involves managing and analyzing data to support the best
treatment for patients.
1,000 new defibrillators. In what may be the largest
purchase of defibrillators ever made in Israel, volunteer emergency medical
services (EMS) organization United Hatzalah recently purchased 1,000
defibrillators - one for each of its volunteers. The aim is that no one in Israel will die from
a treatable cardiac arrest.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Jerusalem to distribute Xmas trees. Jerusalem’s Municipality continues its tradition of distributing free
Christmas trees to the capital’s Christian residents. On Dec. 20, 150 trees
will be distributed at the Jaffa Gate Plaza upon presentation of a valid ID
card. Christian areas will be decorated and assistance given for fairs etc.
Islam in Israel – facts and figures. (TY Bennett) Excellent
summary of Israel’s 1.454 million Muslim population. E.g. It highlights just
how free religion is, with a 500% growth in the number of mosques since 1988
(from 80 then to 400 now).
Why is Israel treating wounded Syrians? (TY BIG)
This video was produced by Mohammad Magadli & Mohammad Al-Kassim. It features Moslems who cannot understand why
Israel is treating Syrian wounded.
Twice as much water for Jordan. (TY Bennett) Israel’s national
water carrier Mekorot is to build a new pipeline from Lake Kinneret (Sea of
Galilee) to Jordan. It will provide Jordan with 100 million cubic meters of
water annually, roughly double the volume Israel currently supplies to the
kingdom.
Hands-free Smartphone reaches 1200
users.
Latest news on Israel’s Sesame Enable smartphone for the disabled (see previous) is
that it now has reached more than 1,200 customers globally, including in Saudi
Arabia and Lebanon, in the three years since it was set up. See video of the phone’s paralyzed co-founder.
Helping Ugandan children. Project TEN, a project of
the Jewish Agency for Israel, has set-up its third volunteer center in Africa. Partnering with a coalition of organizations,
the center in Namulanda, Uganda (between Kampala and Entebbe) will focus on
education, healthcare, agriculture, and the arts.
Israel welcomes new Turkish Ambassador. Mekin Mustafa Kemal Okem presented
himself to Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem and officially assumed
the post of Turkey’s first ambassador to Israel in five years. He hailed a “new beginning” in bilateral ties
and called the Jewish state Ankara’s “partner and friend.” http://www.timesofisrael.com/taking-up-post-turkish-envoy-hails-new-start-with-friend-israel/
What Israel can do for Rajasthan. (TY Karen) Israel’s MASHAV
has three centers of excellence in the Indian State of Rajasthan. They are working on producing high-quality
seedlings, intensifying cultivation, better irrigation and fertilization.
Israel can also help increase milk production, crop shelf-life and pest
control.
PM visit to Muslim Azerbaijan. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu
and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed bilateral agreements governing
tariffs, agricultural cooperation, and to advance further cooperation in
science, technology, health, trade, and other economic matters. http://www.thetower.org/4292-netanyahu-israels-ties-with-azerbaijan-symbolize-muslims-and-jews-working-together/
PM visit to Muslim Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan President Nursultan
Nazarbayev said that his country has requested Israel's help in training its
special forces as part of cooperation in the fight against terror. He also expressed
his country's desire to increase cooperation with Israel in the fields of
agriculture and technology.
Israeli help for the world. Excellent article featuring
the latest work by Israel’s MASHAV provide agricultural training to hundreds of
thousands of people from 130 countries. The second link is to Israel21c’s stunning
online exhibition, showcasing Israel’s humanitarian aid work around the world.
Generating healthcare solutions for poor
in India. The Pears Challenge, run by the Pears
Program for Global Innovation at Tel Aviv University, is focusing on creating
affordable healthcare solutions for low and lower-middle income Indians. The winners of the 2017 challenge will be
flown to India to meet investors and clients.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Israel’s Cyber Conference. The biennial International
HLS & Cyber Conference in Tel Aviv featured the top Israeli security and
cybersecurity companies. It attracted
thousands of delegates from 80 countries, including a delegation from South
India, comprising government departments and private companies.
New security technology from Elbit. Israel’s Elbit Systems presented
its new Emergency Scenarios Virtual Reality (VR) Trainer for emergency response
teams at the Homeland Security and Cyber Conference in Tel Aviv. It also
unveiled GroundEye, which provides data and high resolution imagery for crises monitoring.
Energy professor wins top Israeli award. Professor (Emeritus) David
Faiman of Ben Gurion University has been given the David Ben Gurion award for
his life’s work researching and promoting renewable energy. The prize is awarded to those whose “actions
fulfill David Ben-Gurion’s vision and follow his legacy.”
Nevada and Israel sign landmark deal on
water innovation.
Nevada’s WaterStart public-private joint venture and Israel’s National
Technological Innovation Authority signed a memorandum of understanding on
water-use innovation, to pave the way for Israeli water companies to set up
facilities in the arid state of Nevada.
Drone identifies
hazardous materials. Israel’s Laser Detect System (LDS) has
developed the SpectroDrone that can identify explosives and other hazardous
materials from several meters away. The system uses a multi-wavelength laser,
range-finder, high resolution camera and an algorithm and can be placed on a
UAV, robot or vehicle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-yC6ihdmbg
Facebook conference in Israel. Facebook is holding its
first Israeli developer conference, to help creators of Israeli technologies
develop their products in line with the social network’s plan to create a
connected world. Over 600 Israeli
developers are attending, along with Facebook officials, engineers and product
managers.
A coke bottle that takes a selfie. Coca-Cola Israel and
Tel-Aviv based creative agency Gefen Team have designed a Coke bottle that
takes a selfie photo of the drinker. The
novel device easily attaches to a half-liter Coke bottle. It then senses the
exact moment the bottle reaches a 70-degree tilt, the ideal angle for taking
selfies, before snapping a photo. http://nocamels.com/2016/11/coke-coca-cola-selfie-bottle/
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Gett a ride share in New York City. Commuters in New York City
can now use their Israeli Gett app to request a “Gett Together”. For $3 they
will be picked up by a professional driver and dropped off along set routes
during designated commuting hours. Other
passengers using the same route may share the vehicle.
$4.5 million order for aircraft
communications.
Israel’s ORBIT Communication Systems received a $4.5 million order from
one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers for development and supply of
prototypes of an advanced system for the management of aircraft audio
communication. Follow-on orders are expected.
New delicious variety of pomegranate. The "Wine" (Yayin) pomegranate is a new strain of the
ruby-red fruit developed by Israeli farmers at Zamiri Nurseries of Moshav Yesud
HaMa’ala. They are juicy, tart yet sweet.
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/yes-we-have-sweet-edible-pomegranates-just-in-time-for-rosh-hashanah/2016/09/24/0/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab0medHdGJU
Israeli robots to
clean Indian mega solar park. Israel’s Eccopia is to install its water-free,
robotic solar panel cleaning system at the 10,000-hectare 2,255 MW Bhadla Solar
Park being constructed in Rajasthan, India. Dust storms reduce solar panel efficiency
by 40%. The Eccopia system will also
save over 1.5 billion liters of water.
Fixing your English. Israeli startup Mailfixer is
a real-time, editing service created to help non-native English speakers
communicate better. Send in your text
and within five minutes, someone is working to turn the text into a quality
document. www.mailfixer.com
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Jaffa clock tower seals restored. Tel Aviv municipality has
restored the original marble seal of Sultan Abd al-Hamid II on the landmark 1903
Jaffa Clock Tower. The seal was one of
four on the structure and the only one that has survived the passage of time.
In 2001, three glass replicas of the seal were installed to take the place of
the three marble plaques that did not survive.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/221660
Hundreds of thousands
of tourists.
Israel’s Tourism ministry expects around 120,000 tourists to Israel in
December, of whom half are Christian. On
Dec 24, the ministry will offer a free shuttle for pilgrims travelling between
Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Tourists and pilgrims at Rachel’s Crossing will be
greeted with a small gift in the spirit of the holiday. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4892732,00.html
Jerusalem is one of the best places to
travel to.
(TY Janglo)
Travel & Leisure magazine has included Jerusalem in its list of top places
to visit in 2017. It writes “Jerusalem
has now emerged as a culinary force to rival Tel Aviv”. It recommends the
Mahane Yehuda Market and the new boutique Brown Jerusalem Hotel.
Ashley Blaker comes to Israel. (TY Janglo)
Ashley Blaker, comedy writer, producer and the UK’s only Orthodox Jewish
comedian, makes his first Israel comedy tour.
Star of the sell-out UNGEFILTERED tour and producer of UK’s hit TV program
“Little Britain”, he will perform from Jan 1 - 5 in Netanya, Yad Binyamin, Beit
Shemesh, Jerusalem and Raanana. http://www.ashleyblaker.com/israel/
THE JEWISH STATE
Jerusalem Monopoly game. (TY Bennett) A new version
of the favorite board game Monopoly is being launched. Jerusalem Monopoly will be in the shops in
time for the 50th anniversary of the re-unification of Jerusalem. It may even be available in time for
Hanukkah.
Ancient “Free Zion”
coin unveiled. Israel’s Culture and Sport Minister
Miri Regev unveiled a coin discovered during a recent excavation of a road in
Jerusalem. The coin was one of a series minted during the Jewish revolt against
the Romans in 67 CE. Regev noted that Israel re-unified Jerusalem in 1967 and
its 50th Jubilee is next year. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Free-Zion-coin-minted-1967-years-ago-unveiled-475062
Cousins re-unite at Yad Vashem. Sisters Henia and Rywka
Borenstein made Aliya in 1948, believing that their entire family had been
wiped out in the Holocaust. But their cousins Fanya and Gennadi had made Aliya
in 1990 and have just been re-united, thanks to the Borensteins’ testimony in
the Yad Vashem database.
161211
In the 11th Dec 16 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
Enzyme
discovery by Israeli scientists leads to death of cancer cells.
·
Sturdy
plastic Israeli wheelchairs are being delivered to needy children.
·
Israelis
save a Japanese trekker buried by landslide in Nepal.
·
Israeli
students can biodegrade plastic waste and generate energy.
·
November
was a record month for tourists to Israel.
·
Charitable
couple rewarded with first baby after a 30-year wait.
·
Click here
to see the 4th Dec newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Ruthfully
Yours, Janglo,
IsraPundit and United With Israel
with additional features on Health,
Inclusiveness
and Culture.
Also (TY Sandra) available in German
and (TY Karen) available in Portuguese.
Please pass relevant links onto German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking
readers.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Key enzyme discovery
in fight against cancer. Israel Technion researchers have found that the
ubiquitin enzyme RNF4 binds to oncogenic proteins to give cancer cells longer
lives. Increased levels of RNF4 have
been found in colon and breast cancer patients.
Removing or inhibiting RNF4 leads to the death of cancer cells.
Success in Sickle-Cell Disease trial. Israeli biotech Gamida Cell published
positive results in its Phase I/II trial of NiCord, for the treatment of
Sickle-Cell Disease (SCD). All the patients that completed the trial were free
of SCD symptoms.
Full remission in Leukemia treatment
trial.
Israel’s BioSight has reported that in treating patients with its
Astarabine leukemia treatment, three patients with late-stage leukemia achieved
full remission to date. Good results were also reported for older patients over
80.
Sleep disorder treatment for autistic
kids.
Israeli biotech Neurim (featured
Nov 20) has signed marketing agreements for its new Rx PedPRM treatment for
sleep disorders in children with autism spectrum disorders and neurogenetic
diseases. Kuhnil will market Rx PedPRM in Korea; Aspen in Australia and New
Zealand.
Portable blood test for malaria. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Sight Diagnostics (SightDx) (see here) in collaboration with
the US Army Medical Research Directorate Kenya (USAMRD-K) is developing a
portable malaria and complete blood count (CBC) reader. It will be calibrated and tested in clinical
trials at the USAMRD-K Field Station in Kisumu, Kenya. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sight-diagnostics-ltd-and-the-united-states-army-announce-a-joint-collaboration-598337901.html
14 more hearts mended in Tanzania. Israeli surgeons from Save a
Child’s Heart were back (again)
in Tanzania, fixing another fourteen young, faulty hearts. The Israelis worked with
a German team from Berlin’s Deutsches Herzzentrum during the five-day medical
mission.
Device to keep track of insulin doses. Israel’s Insulog is a device
to help diabetes patients keep track of their insulin doses and prevent
accidental overdoses. It snaps onto most types of disposable insulin pen,
monitors and logs the dose and sends data to a smartphone app. It displays details of the last dose to the
user.
Insulog is funding on Indiegogo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vscMWDcjlA
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
10% of public servants are new
immigrants. 10%
of public servants in Israel and 12% of police officers are immigrants who
arrived in Israel less than ten years ago.
7,496 out of some 75,000 workers in Israel’s public health system have
made Aliyah in the last decade (10%), and 4,191 in the last five years.
Wheelchairs of Hope
are rolling out.
I reported on the child-friendly Wheelchairs of Hope previously (Jun
2014). The first shipment of 250 plastic
wheelchairs for children in institutions in Israel and the Palestinian
Authority is to be sent this month, with a batch for residents of the refugee
camps in Syria soon to follow.
Bringing light to Tanzanian village. I have reported previously (here) on
Israel’s humanitarian organization Engineers without Borders (EwB). Now the Tel Aviv University chapter of EwB
has installed a solar electricity generator and storage batteries for the Nkaiti
village medical center in Minjingu, Tanzania.
Israel participates in NATO field
exercise.
(TY Bennett) Israel has participated in its first NATO field exercise
for six years during the wide-scale drill held in Montenegro to evaluate the
readiness and capabilities of NATO to face natural disasters. The Israelis
included IDF, Fire and rescue and Zaka rescue teams.
Closer ties with India. Israel’s President Reuven
Rivlin and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed their countries’
increasing security cooperation and called to deepen their economic
relationship. President Rivlin spent a week visiting India, to mark 25 years of
diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and New Delhi.
Israel, Greece, Cyprus agree on pipeline
and rescue force.
Ministers of Israel, Greece and Cyprus met in Jerusalem and agreed to
push for a pipeline to Europe, which wants to reduce dependence on Russian gas.
They also agreed to establish a new regional rescue and emergency services
force.
Israelis and Chabad
save Japanese tourist in Nepal. A rockslide on the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal
buried Japanese solo trekker Akiho Sugiyama. Luckily a group of ex-army Israeli
backpackers, including a medic, heard her cries, treated her and used their
Chabad-supplied satellite phone to organize her rescue via Chabad in Katmandu. http://www.israel21c.org/israeli-backpackers-save-life-of-japanese-tourist-in-nepal/
Japan honors two Israelis. (TY Atid-EDI) The
Japanese government has awarded the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun
decoration to two Israelis. Professor Meron Medzini of the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem and architect Arie Kutz from Tel Aviv University. Both awards were
for fostering good relations with Japan.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Cutting edge electric scooter. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Inokim, based in Moshav Avichail, has launched a new electric scooter -
the Quick 3, which can be folded in 3 seconds and taken on a bus or a train. The
scooter can travel 30 km on a full charge, at a speed of 25 km per hour. It can
be activated and secured by smartphone app.
A lie-detector for machines. The cyber solutions from Israel’s
Aperio alert and take action when hackers try to damage critical
infrastructures, such as electricity grids or water supply networks. They
detect anomalies, such as a wrong noise or temperature, in an apparently otherwise
perfectly working device.
The world’s first vehicle to vehicle
network.
Israel’s Nexar has come a long way since I’ve been reporting it. (See here.) In addition to its “bad
driver” reporting function, it now says it has created the world’s first
vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network that aims to detect dangers on the road and
prevent collisions.
Medal-winning
technology to biodegrade plastic waste. A research team from Ben Gurion University of
the Negev has won a gold medal at the worldwide synthetic biology competition
iGEM, held at MIT. The students’ genetic engineering technology (PlastiCure_BGU)
breaks down plastic waste and releases energy.
Technion to tackle pollution in China. A recent workshop at Israel’s
Technion presented the latest research cooperation between the Technion and
Shantou University to help solve China’s severe ecological challenges. It will
increase dramatically when the Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of
Technology (TGIT) is completed.
30 million Euros for nanotech. Israel and Germany have set
up a three-year, 30 million Euro plan to promote joint nanotechnology
initiatives. The program will support joint projects and aims to boost
cooperation between companies and research centers in the nanotechnology sector
in Israel and Germany.
Cyclist smart glasses ready for testing. I reported previously (Dec
2015) on the Raptor smart glasses for cyclists, developed by Elbit unit
Everysight. A test program is being
launched for the Augmented Reality (AR) aimed to boost training and enhance
performance, fitness and health.
UK bank uses BioCatch to catch
criminals. Since
January, NatWest, one of the largest banks in the UK, has deployed technology from
Israeli cybersecurity firm BioCatch within its private banking arm Coutts and
for some of its business customers, successfully preventing online fraud and
helping to protect its 14 million customers.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-cybersecurity-tech-helps-natwest-catch-online-crooks/
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
New record for
tourism.
November set a record for the month with the number of tourists visiting
Israel reaching 287,900 - 38% more than in November 2015. 2,651,400 tourists
visited Israel in January-November 2016, 2% more than in the corresponding
period last year. Marketing has targeted Indian and Chinese tourists.
Asian fashion stars advertise Israel. (TY Bennett) Bollywood star
and Indian fashion icon Sonam Kapoor appeared on the cover of the June-July
issue of Harper’s Bazaar Bride, India with the Old City of Jerusalem in the
background. It was one of many initiatives of Israel’s Tourism Ministry to woo
Asian visitors to Israel.
The world’s largest equity crowdfunding
event. OurCrowd,
the world’s leading equity crowdfunding platform, will host the 2017 OurCrowd
Global Investor Summit in Jerusalem on 16 Feb. 5,000 delegates from 60 countries are
expected, promising to make it the world’s largest equity crowdfunding event
and the biggest investor event in the Startup Nation. http://summit.ourcrowd.com/
Another huge Canadian trade delegation. (TY Atid-EDI) The
Mayors of Montreal and Toronto brought an economic delegation of 120 entrepreneurs,
business people and representatives of institutional and community organizations,
to visit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beer Sheva, as well as Ramallah and Bethlehem.
(see
May 22)
New trade route between Haifa and
Jordan. (TY Atid-EDI) Cargo
trains have begun operating on Israel Railways’ new Jezreel Valley railway line
between Haifa and a terminal temporarily sited at Beit Shean. From the terminal, cargo will be taken to the
nearby Jordanian border.
Airline accelerator chooses its first
startups.
Israel’s Cambiu (currency exchange) and Voyjer (travel planning) have
been selected for the Navigator accelerator program set-up by Cockpit
Innovation, the venture arm of EL AL and JetBlue Technology Ventures. Two US
startups and one UK startup have also been selected.
Become an English teacher in Israel. The Ministry of Aliyah is
offering a free course that grants an English-teaching certificate to new
immigrants and returning residents. Those
from an English-speaking country are eligible with any degree. Others need a degree in English.
A social network engine to increase
business.
(TY Atid-EDI)
Israeli startup Feelter has developed an algorithm capable of analyzing text
from numerous social network conversations in real time. It then brings to a company’s site all the relevant
product information to help customers decide whether to make a purchase.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Latest Israeli stamps. (TY Jacob Richman) Israel has issued
some beautiful, culturally-enhancing postage stamps depicting mosaics, King
Solomon’s ships, tourism in Jerusalem and ex-President Yitzhak Navon.
December events in Israel. December activities in
Israel include Hamshushalayim in Jerusalem (first 4 weekends); Jerusalem Jazz
festival (14-16); US singer Ryley Walker (15th); plus Hanukkah, Xmas and
Sylvester. https://www.touristisrael.com/things-to-do-in-israel-in-december/3088/
Justin Bieber concert date. The Justin Bieber concert is
now officially scheduled for May 3 at Tel Aviv’s HaYarkon Park. Bieber has sold
some 100 million records, making him one of the world’s biggest selling
artists. The excitement can be too much
for some, as this video of his 14/4/11 Tel Aviv entrance demonstrates.
3 Ju-Jitsu medals. Three Israelis won medals at
the Ju-Jitsu World Championships in Poland.
Ron Cohen won silver in the men’s under-62 kg event; Nadav Mandil won
bronze in the same event; Evyatar Paperni won bronze in the under-69kg
category.
Israel hosts MMA world title fight. (TY Nevet) Tel Aviv was the venue for a Bellator
Mixed Martial Arts World Welterweight clash - the first time that an MMA world
title has been fought in the Middle East.
Douglas Lima from Brazil beat Russia’s Andrey Koreshkov. The fight was
broadcast to 140 countries. Great PR video!
http://www.mmanews.com/bellator-164-results-from-israel-douglas-lima-kos-andrey-koreshkov-to-regain-welterweight-title/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVw3XSCESgM
THE JEWISH STATE
Over a million participate in global
Shabbat. The
global Shabbat Project connected over 1 million Jews in 1160 cities spread over
94 countries. In Israel alone, 163 cities and towns took part in special
events. These included pre-Shabbat challah baking activities, as well as
post-Shabbat Havdalah and musical ceremonies.
Donut burgers for Hanukkah. (TY Janglo)
All Burger King chains in Israel will be serving donut burgers specially for
the holiday of Hanukkah. The burger will be called "SufganiKing," a
play on the Hebrew word for donut, "sufganiyah."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4889021,00.html
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4889021,00.html
First child after
30-year wait.
(TY Janglo)
For the past 27 years, Rabbi Yitzhak and Sima Peretz prepared food for patients
and their families who had to stay in Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital over the
Sabbath. The whole hospital then celebrated when Sima Peretz gave birth to a
daughter after 30 years of childlessness.
IDF orphans celebrate bat/bar mitzvot. There are 3000 IDF orphans –
children of a parent killed whilst serving in the IDF or Israeli police. The non-profit organization IDF Widows and
Orphans is present at important junctions in their lives. They make sure they
have a great celebration of their bat/bar mitzva.
161204
In the 4th Dec 16 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
·
Israeli
micro robots can help avoid brain surgery.
·
Israeli
startups won the top 3 prizes at an international medical trade fair.
·
Israeli
NGOs helped wheelchair users hike across the Negev desert.
·
Israel’s
new Ambassador has arrived in Turkey.
·
Israeli recycled
paper is the eco-friendliest in the world.
·
An Israeli
automobile 3D vision system can see even in thick fog.
·
Top businesswomen
led Israel Day at the NY Stock Exchange.
·
Nov &
Dec highlights include two Ethiopian-Jewish festivals.
·
Click here
to see the 27th Nov newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Ruthfully
Yours, Janglo,
IsraPundit and United
With Israel with additional features on Health,
Inclusiveness,
Technology
and Culture.
Also (TY Sandra) available in German
and (TY Karen) available in Portuguese.
Please pass relevant links onto German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking
readers.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Micro robots to clean
pipes in the brain.
Israel’s Microbot develops miniature robots for cleaning drainage pipes
in the body, for example in the urethra or the brain thereby removing the
necessity for surgery to replace them. Microbot has just completed its merger into
Nasdaq-listed US company Stem Cell.
US approval for upright proton therapy. Israel’s P-Cure has received
US FDA approval for its image-guided proton therapy solution that treats
patients in a comfortable upright position. Patients to benefit from this
clinical breakthrough will initially be those treated for cancers of the lung,
breast, chest, the head and neck, and lower torso. http://www.israel21c.org/making-proton-therapy-available-to-more-cancer-patients/
Huntington’s treatment gets US approval. (TY Atid-EDI)
The SD-809 (deutetrabenazine) treatment by Israel’s Teva for Huntington disease
has been approved by the US FDA.
Israeli tech for disabled displayed in
London.
Israeli charity for the disabled, Beit Issie Shapiro, organized an event
at Google’s London campus in which Israeli firms explained their technology for
empowering the disabled. This included the Sesame phone, robots for autistic
kids and smartphone navigation of wheelchairs.
MDA’s underground blood center breaks
ground. (TY
Sarah) I reported previously (3
Apr) on the huge $25 million donation to help fund Magen David’s new
underground blood services center in Ramla. The groundbreaking event for the
state-of-the-art rocket-proof site took place on Nov 17.
Yad Sarah and United Hatzalah build
closer ties to save lives. Shift managers from Israel’s emergency
response organization United Hatzalah visited medical charity Yad Sarah’s
Jerusalem headquarters to gain a better understanding of their operation. http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/485739/yad-sarah-and-united-hatzalah-increase-cooperation-to-save-lives.html
Top three medical
prizes. Israeli
startups took the top honors in the App Competition, during Medica, the world’s
leading annual medical trade fair. UpRight won €2,000 for its app and device to
optimize posture, Biop Medical came 2nd with its cervical cancer testing
device. TytoCare came 3rd with its
telemedicine solution.
Anglo-Israel cardiovascular conference. Tiberias is hosting the 6th Anglo Israel Cardiovascular Symposium - a
two-day international conference of notable cardiologists and heart surgeons
from Israel and the UK. One of the symposium founders - Dr. Romeo Vecht – was
previously the cardiologist for the King of Jordan.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Disabled cross the
Negev. 75
Canadians were among the participants of the 9th annual cross-Negev hike for
the disabled, organized by OneFamily and Paratrek. Hikers included those who had suffered
multiple gunshot wounds and brain injuries, blind hikers and (for the first
time) wheelchair users.
Ethiopian-Israelis are closing
educational gaps.
There are currently 141,200 citizens of Ethiopian origin in Israel. Of
those graduating from high school, 89% took the matriculation tests compared
with the national average of 94%. The
dropout rate of 1.21% was slightly lower than the 1.4% among all Jewish
students.
Scholarships to mark Sigd. Israel’s Science, Technology
and Space Ministry has announced that is marking the Ethiopian-Jewish holiday
of Sigd by allocating scholarships totaling some NIS 1.8 million to Ethiopian
students. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Education-system-marks-both-Sigd-holiday-and-day-of-expulsion-from-Arab-countries-and-Iran-474120
Parachuting beyond the glass ceiling. Two decades after Ronit
Budette became Israel’s first female parachuting instructor, 20 women have enrolled
in the IDF Paratroop Brigade’s instructors course. Ronit was inspired by seeing
the historic images of paratroopers reconquering the Western Wall from Jordan
in 1967.
Israeli firms are socially responsible. Israel has just held its
first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Experience Conference. The Maala
CSR Index - set up to promote social and environmental innovation - comprises
98 Israeli companies that employ 310,000 with $94 billion sales – about one-third
of Israel’s GDP.
Israel’s Heron completes first mission
for Germany in Mali. Germany is currently in charge of the UN
peacekeeping intelligence unit in Mali and successfully completed its first
mission using an Israeli-made Heron 1 drone. Germany has leased 3 Israeli
Aerospace Industries Heron drones for $100 million.
Israel’s new Ambassador
to Turkey. After
five years, Israel and Turkey have resumed full diplomatic ties. Eitan Na’eh
arrived in Ankara to take up the position of Israel’s new ambassador. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Israels-new-ambassador-to-Turkey-arrives-in-Ankara-474167
Guatemala’s president makes historic
visit. During
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales’ state visit to Israel he and Israeli Prime
Minister signed agreements in agriculture, science, technology and security. He
was honored at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University for Guatemala’s mobilizing of support
for the 1947 UN partition plan that led to the establishment of Israel. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/221087
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Russian PM visits Israeli agro-tech
center. Dmitry
Medvedev and his delegation were more interested in Israeli agriculture
technology than politics on the Russian Prime Minister’s November trip to
Israel. They visited the Volcani Center in Beit Dagan, one of the world’s most
advanced facilities for agriculture research.
Israel to boost solar energy production. (TY SDM)
Israel’s Public Utility Authority is to issue more than 1,000 megawatts of fresh
solar energy development quotas. It is to ensure that Israel achieves its goals
of making 10% of the country’s electricity supply renewable by 2020.
$4 million for joint US-Israel renewable
energy projects. The BIRD (Binational Industrial
Research and Development) Foundation announced $4 million grants for five joint
Israeli-US renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Israeli beneficiaries
are BrightSource, CelDezyner, Solview, Waves Audio and the Technion. http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-bird-to-invest-4m-in-renewable-energy-projects-1001160818
Water summit in Las Vegas. The BusinessH2O Summit in
Las Vegas on Dec 12 features Governors, CEOs, academics and a veritable “who’s
who” of Israeli water experts. They will
discuss best practices in corporate water stewardship and public policies to
address the growing demand for water.
The world’s most
eco-friendly paper.
One of the Israeli companies highlighted at the CSR Experience
Conference (see above) is the Hadera Paper company, producer of the world’s
most recycled & environment-friendly paper. Repaper is made entirely of wastepaper and free
of cellulous or any polluting chemicals.
AT&T’s Israeli TV app. US telecomms giant AT&T has
launched DirectTV - a new TV project, in which content from 120 channels is
streamed to the web. The app (for Apple and Android in the US) was developed by
AT&T’s Israel R&D center, which was formed when AT&T took over
Israeli startup Interwise in 2007.
Your computer can really help you. Israeli startup Ai Type
offers computer users personal assistance based on keywords in the messages
they type. For example, type “I have to
collect my kids early” and Ai Type can offer to connect you to a cab
company.
Israeli app for team-building. Israeli startup Strayboots
provides mobile experiences for corporate team building, group adventures and
city exploration. It has set up scavenger hunts and other activities in over 50
cities worldwide and is used by more than 1000 companies, including Microsoft,
Google, Amazon and Nike.
Israeli tech is worth its weight in
diamonds.
Assessing a diamond’s color and clarity used to be a laborious and
subjective manual process. Now Israel’s Sarine Technologies has developed
machine learning technologies to automatically and objectively grade the
clarity and color of stones, far more accurately than the human eye. http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-tech-lets-diamonds-true-color-and-clarity-shine-through/
Autonomous cars need a
deep view.
Israeli startup Oryx Vision has raised $17 million to build a depth
sensing solution for autonomous vehicles. Its “coherent optical radar” is based
on a long-wave infrared laser and nano-antennas that receive light waves like
radio waves. Unlike alternatives, Oryx’s system can see in fog.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Record private equity investment. 18 deals, worth $1.7
billion, in the third quarter of 2016 raised private equity investment in
Israeli companies in the nine months of 2016 to $3.26 billion. This is more
than the $3.22 billion for the whole of 2015. The 2016 figure includes BC
Partners’ $1.4 billion July buy-out of Keter plastics.
Investing in Israel’s IoT. A group called Israel IoT
Innovations – i3 Equity Partners (“i3”) has been set up to invest $20 million
in Israeli startups developing IoT (Internet of Things) solutions. The consortium
includes Microsoft, China’s HNA, India’s Tata, GE, Qualcomm, Tel Aviv
University and Pitango.
Israel Day at the
NYSE. The America-Israel Friendship League honored
four Israeli businesswomen during the 10th annual Israel Day at the New York
Stock Exchange (NYSE). They were Tzameret Fuerst of Circ MedTech, Karen Haruvi
of Teva, fashion designer Noa Raviv and Liat Mordechay Hertanu of 24me.
Connex delegation to Jerusalem. (TY Sharon) Conexx, a private,
not-for-profit organization, helps US firms identify innovations and R&D
opportunities in Israel, as well as help Israelis establish a successful
presence in South Eastern USA. A Connex delegation came to Jerusalem to meet
some of its start-up community.
Billion-dollar deal is on again. I reported previously (Sep
2015) that Israel’s Valtech Cardio was to be bought by US-based HeartWare
International for over $900 million. Although the deal fell through (in
Jan 2016), now Valtech is to be acquired by US medical giant Edwards
LifeSciences for a staged payment of $990 million.
Frutarom moves into Mexico. Israeli flavors company,
Frutarom, has purchased 75% of Piasa Group, Mexico’s leading local company for
savory solutions, for approximately $20.5 million. It is Frutarom’s eighth acquisition of 2016. http://ir.frutarom.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=185607&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2221247
New flights from Germany. Low-cost airline, Germania will launch direct flights from
Nuremberg to Tel Aviv in Nov 2017, supplementing its routes from Hamburg and
Dusseldorf. The Nuremberg service will operate twice a week, every Monday and
Thursday.
Warren Buffett raises $60 million in
Israeli bonds.
US entrepreneur Warren Buffett hosted an evening with 43 US investors,
each buying at least $1 million in Israeli bonds. Buffett bought $5 million himself, saying, “If
you are looking for brains, energy and dynamism in the Middle East, Israel is
the only place you need to go.”
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Israeli-Ethiopian Arts
Festival warms up Jerusalem. The annual Hullegeb Israeli-Ethiopian Arts
Festival 15-21 Dec will bring a bit of sunshine to a chilly Jerusalem. Hullegeb
means “open to everyone/everything” and the festival is dedicated to creations
by artists of Ethiopian origin in the fields of dance, music and theater.
Guns ‘N Roses are coming back. I reported previously (Jul
2012) when legends of Rock Guns ‘N Roses with Axl Rose were last in Israel
in 2012. They are returning in the summer (probably July 15) and this time are
bringing guitarist Slash with them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUEHQHpofB8
Stranglers in Tel Aviv. English punk-rock band “The
Stranglers” performed some of their classic hits at Tel Aviv’s Charles Bronfman
Auditorium on Nov 17, including “Golden Brown” and “No More Heroes”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkd_acrbDDY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBxYmfsdJM8
Another Israeli TV series goes global. The hit Israeli TV series
“Fauda” will soon be available for streaming on Netflix, which purchased the
rights to it from Israel’s YES satellite TV company. “Fauda” (Arabic for
“chaos”) is about a team of Israeli undercover counter-terrorism operatives.
Crossroads – Janglo Night Run. Crossroads Jerusalem has
organized a night run on Dec 8 to help fund its critically-needed programs and
social services for at-risk, English-speaking youth in Israel. Crossroads
supports the homeless, those struggling with drug addiction and social,
emotional, and educational difficulties and victims of violence/domestic abuse. http://run4crossroads.com/night-run-2/
THE JEWISH STATE
Sigd. Thousands of Israelis (Ethiopians and
others) celebrated the Day of Sigd in Jerusalem. The traditional
Ethiopian-Jewish festival marks the 50th day after Yom Kippur and brings
together a variety of Jewish prayer and customs. http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/celebration-challenges-as-ethiopian-community-celebrates-sigd-festival/2016/12/02/
Another Israeli bus driver story. More anecdotal evidence of
Jewish values exhibited by some Israeli transportation employees. http://israelseen.com/2016/11/23/paula-r-stern-the-bus-driver/
Waze for Graves. (TY Janglo)
Israel’s Ministry of Religious Services is working on a project to make it
easier to locate graves a person might be looking for. They are calling it the
Waze of cemeteries.
Haredi schools are going green. (TY Janglo)
Jerusalem Municipality and non-profit Leshomra, have launched the “Our Garden” education
program in 20 Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) schools. Based on Torah values, it teaches core environmental
concepts, such as not littering, recycling, composting, and water conservation,
as the children plant, tend and harvest vegetables in their own schoolyard
mini-farm. http://leshomra.org/
A Muslim woman at the Kotel. (TY Janglo)
Let’s hope that this kind of video helps bring a new perspective to the
conflicts at this holy site. https://www.facebook.com/StepUpforIsrael/videos/1277994638910039/
Winter finally arrives. After many prayers, Israel
has had a few consecutive rainy days.
There was even snow on Mount Hermon.
It may be connected to this editor’s visit to the Bob Dylan exhibition
at Tel Aviv’s Diaspora Museum where he heard “Knocking on Heaven’s Door”,
“Blowing in the Wind” and “A Hard Rain’s Going to Fall”. http://www.timesofisrael.com/first-snow-on-mount-hermon-as-winter-weather-finally-arrives/
Judea rediscovered. University of Haifa
researchers have discovered a massive rectangular stone inscribed with the name
Gargilius Antiques, and states that he was Rome’s Prefect of Judea. He ruled during
the period leading up to the outbreak of the Bar Kochva revolt in 131 CE.
Later, the Romans renamed Judea “Palaestina”.
161127
In the 27th Nov 16 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
·
Israeli
researchers have found a protein that stops cancer from spreading.
·
An
Ethiopian Jew is the first to become an IDF colonel.
·
Normally anti-Israel
UK Guardian and CNN have praised Israeli startups.
·
An Israeli
solar-powered system reduces desalination costs by 90%.
·
Daimler
(Mercedes Benz) is opening an Israeli R&D center.
·
Beersheba
beat Inter Milan twice in the Europa soccer league.
·
An Israeli
bus driver made an unscheduled route change to save a life.
·
Click here
to see the 20th Nov newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Ruthfully
Yours, Janglo
and United
With Israel with additional features on Health,
Inclusiveness,
Technology
and Jewish
State. Also (TY Sandra) available in German
and (TY Karen) available in Portuguese.
Please pass relevant links onto German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking readers.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Protein H1.0 stops
cancer cells re-activating. An international study led by scientists from
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Crick Institute in London has revealed
that cancer stem cells survive even after aggressive treatments. However, they need
low (or zero) levels of a DNA-packaging protein H1.0 to re-activate.
Tiny barcodes record effectiveness of
cancer treatments.
Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute have developed nano-packages
of different anti-cancer treatments that are tagged with synthetic DNA
sequences. Released into the bloodstream and collected 48 hours later, they
identify which treatments are most effective.
Automatic analysis of mammograms. (TY Atid-EDI)
I reported previously (here) on
Israel’s Zebra Medical and its computer algorithms that can detect
osteoporosis, cardiac disease, liver disease etc from X-rays, CT scans and MRI
scans. Now it has developed a new
algorithm that detects breast cancer from mammograms.
AIDS treatment eliminates 97% of the virus. (TY Nevet) Scientists at Kaplan Medical
Center in Rehovot have developed a treatment called “Gammora” that kills
between 95-97% of the AIDS virus in laboratory tests. The Kaplan AIDS clinic is
the largest in Israel, caring for 1,400 patients.
A remedy for damaged knee cartilage. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Regentis Biomaterials is shortly to conduct a Phase III clinical study
of GelrinC, a new treatment for focal cartilage defects in the knee. GelrinC is
poured into the lesion in a minimally invasive procedure and converted into a
solid implant using ultra-violet light.
A blood test for Parkinson’s. Israeli startup BioShai is
developing the world’s first simple blood test for the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s
Disease (PD). The PDx test measures changes in molecules associated with PD and
can lead to more precise treatments and a higher quality of life for the
patient. http://www.israel21c.org/worlds-first-blood-test-to-aid-diagnosis-of-parkinsons/
Ultrasonic comb to kill headlice. Israeli startup Parasonic (from
Nazareth incubator NGT3) has developed a comb device that destroys lice and
lice eggs with ultrasound waves, without any chemicals. The device is said to produce
results after a single five-minute combing and is scheduled to go into
production within one year.
19 graduate Hadassah’s international
medical program.
(TY Karen) 19 students joined the 845 graduates of 41 courses of the
International Master of Public Health program run by the Hadassah-Hebrew
University Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine. They include students from 96 different
countries.
$14 million for MDA. American Friends of Magen
David Adom raised a record $14 million at a fundraiser in Los Angeles. Maurice
Kanbar, creator of SKYY Vodka, donated $5 million. The money will help build a
new-state-of-the-art, underground facility that will store and process blood
donations to the MDA.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Ethiopian-Israeli beauty queen
publicizes Israel’s diversity. 25-year-old Yityish ‘Titi’ Aynaw was crowned
Miss Israel in 2013. On her fifth
speaking tour of the USA, the Ethiopian-born Israeli emphasized that the world
must learn how “unique and diverse” the Jewish state is. She is currently
studying international relations at the IDC Herzliya. https://www.algemeiner.com/2016/11/04/ethiopian-israeli-beauty-queen-world-must-learn-how-unique-and-diverse-jewish-state-is/
Ethiopian-Israeli to
become IDF Colonel.
Avraham Yitzhak will be the first colonel of Ethiopian descent in IDF
history when he becomes chief medical officer of the IDF Southern Command.
Yitzhak came to Israel in 1991, graduated in medicine at Ben Gurion University
and was the first Ethiopian-Israeli combat doctor.
Three women promoted to Colonel. Three IDF lieutenant-colonels
have been promoted to full colonels including Liron Donal - the first woman
to command a Home Front district (Dan) which includes Tel Aviv. Carmel Wahabi
is the first Druze Israeli to lead an IDF court as head of the army’s Court of
the General Staff. Olga Polyakov becomes chief medical officer
for Home Front Command.
Guide dogs can heal too. Noach Braun ran Nov 6 New
York City Marathon to raise awareness about the lifesaving role guide dogs play
in healing. Braun co-founded the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind in 1991
and ran the marathon tethered to a blind runner.
US Christian Zionists give $2 million to
Israeli charities.
John Hagee Ministries distributed more than $2 million to Israeli and
Jewish charities at the 35th annual “Night to Honor Israel”. Keynote speaker, former
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said, “If Israel is not
secure, the United States is not secure”.
Hollywood raises $38 million for the IDF. American Friends of the IDF
(FIDF) held a star-studded gala for 1200 guests in Los Angeles to honor IDF
soldiers. The event raised a record $38 million, to provide benefits and
educational opportunities for IDF soldiers.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/219800
New Rio mayor celebrates by visiting Israel. Marcelo Crivella, winner of
the election for mayor of Rio de Janeiro, expresses his love for Israel at
every opportunity. He celebrated victory by flying to Israel with a delegation
of family and friends, where he met mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat and discussed
cooperation.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Let’s talk to each other again. Want a phone-free family
meal, or just a break from constantly checking messages and emails? Purchase an
Israeli Pause. The sleek metallic box blocks Wi-Fi signals, calls, texts and
emails for up to six phones. Enjoy quality family time, or an office meeting
without interruptions.
Diapers from
jellyfish. (TY
Nevet) I reported previously (May
2014) on Israel’s Cine’al and its technology to turn jellyfish from
dangerous pest into super-absorbent material. Its eco-friendly solution has now
attracted the interest of normally anti-Israel UK news media The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/nov/01/jellyfish-tampons-diapers-hydromash-environment-israel
CNN discovers Israeli
that reinvented the wheel. CNN’s Oren Liebermann has written about three
Israeli Innovations that will revolutionize the planet. They are Softwheel’s wheel with built-in
suspension, Mobileye’s autonomous vehicle technology and Aquarius’s replacement
for the combustion engine. (video is of Softwheel).
Technion students win international
biology gold medal. (TY Nevet) A student team from Israel’s
Technion Institute won a gold medal at the iGEM international synthetic biology
competition, hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their "Flash
Lab" chip contains E. coli bacteria that detects pollutants, metals etc.
http://mfa.gov.il/mfa/innovativeisrael/sciencetech/pages/technion-student-team-wins-gold-medal-in-igem-international-biology-competition-3-november-2016.aspx
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=37723
Safer, cleaner fuels. Tel Aviv’s 2016 Israel Fuel
Choices Initiative Summit featured silent electrical, cars, buses, bicycles and
even airplanes. It was organized by Israel’s Fuel Choices Administration whose NIS
1.5 billion ($400 million) government budget supports over 200 research groups
and 500 fuel-related startups.
Car mechanic app expands to US and UK. (TY Bennett) I featured
Israeli App Engie previously (see
here) with its ability to diagnose automobile faults and find the best
repair shops. Engie has just received $3.5 million of funds and the U.S. and UK
versions of the product have been added to Google Play.
Now Israelis have reinvented the spoon. (TY Leonie) Two graduates
from Israel’s Technion developed a spoon that their child with motor
co-ordination problems could use without spilling its contents. Now anyone can
buy it. Useful also for the elderly or
anyone suffering from tremor. www.elispoon.com www.elim.co.il
Award-winning aid to analyzing scan
results. The
imaging analysis technology and algorithm from Israeli startup Aidoc
streamlines the workload of radiologists struggling to review the increasing
number of medical scans performed today. Aidoc has just won the 2016 Geektime Techfest startup
competition.
System to avoid mid-air collisions. Israel Aerospace's new Collision
Warning System (CWS) alerts pilots of military aircraft of an imminent potential
collision with commercial aircraft. The
system gives a voice warning and two separate visual display warnings.
Solar powered
desalination.
Israeli startup Tethys has developed a direct solar-powered desalination
system that produces drinking water using energy from direct sunlight.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Unemployment hits another record low. Israel's unemployment rate for
October dropped to an all-time low of 4.5%.
The number of Israelis usually working full time (35 hours per week or
more) rose 9% from the previous month. http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israels-unemployment-rate-hits-all-time-low-1001162120
Israeli exec becomes new Google VP. Meir Brand, CEO of Google
Israel since 2005, has been promoted to Vice President of the company. Google, one of the world’s largest technology
companies, purchased Israel’s GPS app Waze in 2013 and has a large R&D center
in Israel. Brand’s responsibilities include the entire Middle East, Africa,
Russia, Turkey, and Greece. http://www.timesofisrael.com/google-taps-israeli-exec-as-new-vp/
The sixth fastest growing software firm
in the USA. I featured Israeli website
guidebook-writer WalkMe previously (see
here). WalkMe has now been rated the sixth fastest growing software company
in North America by the Deloitte accounting firm, and the 13th fastest growing
overall. It is growing at a rate of 8,085%,
HearMeOut to list on Australian
Exchange.
One of the two Israeli startups that I mentioned (last
week) were planning Australian IPOs this year is voice messaging specialist
HearMeOut. It hopes to become the
equivalent of Twitter for 42-second voice-clip messages on social media.
RBS looks to Israel for ideas. The Royal Bank of Scotland held
a 3-day hackathon (hi-tech development exercise) in Tel Aviv to seek out Israeli
financial technologies that will enable the Edinburgh-based retail bank to
boost services to customers. The “fintackathon” also involved Google and Intel.
Daimler to open
Israeli R&D center. Germany’s Daimler (which includes car
manufacturer Mercedes Benz) is to open a Research & Development center in
Tel Aviv which will focus on car mobility and information services. http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-daimler-to-open-israeli-rd-center-1001159576
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Discovery of the month. (TY Andy) Each month, the
Temple Mount Sifting Project publishes details of one of the items discovered
whilst sifting through the debris that the Muslim Waqf discarded whilst digging
under Temple Mount. October’s find was
the leg of an Iron-age figurine (8th – 6th Century BCE).
Hummus the movie. (TY Avi) Oren Rosenfeld’s
film “Hummus!” focuses on the colorful owners of three Israeli hummus
restaurants and their personal stories. Jalil Dabit, a Christian Arab from
Ramle; Eliyahu Shmueli, a Jew from Yokneam and Suheila al-Hindi, a Muslim Arab
from Acre.
Justin Bieber to perform in Tel Aviv. (TY Janglo)
For the second time in five years, international pop sensation Justin Bieber
will be coming to Israel for a performance at Park Hayarkon, Tel Aviv expected
to take place in May 2017. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4873963,00.html
Yes. (TY
Janglo) My shortest headline ever? Rock
legends Yes have confirmed that they will perform at the Menora arena in Tel
Aviv, on March 7. The concert will feature three of the band’s original lineup -
vocalist Jon Anderson, guitarist Trevor Rabin and legendary keyboardist Rick
Wakeman.
BeerSheba does the
double on Inter Milan. Ben Sahar’s 93rd-minute winner completed an
unforgettable comeback for Israeli soccer champions Hapoel Beersheba, securing
a 3-2 win at home over Inter Milan to keep their Europa league hopes alive. In
September, BeerSheba beat Inter 2-0 at the San Siro stadium.
THE JEWISH STATE
Record number of Brazilians making
Aliya. 700
new immigrants are scheduled to arrive in Israel from Brazil in 2016 - a
45-year record and over three times the annual average. Better economic prospects
is a main reason. Since Israel’s
establishment, more than 15,000 Brazilian Jews have immigrated to Israel.
Another 250 arrive from Ukraine. The International Fellowship
of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) has brought another 250 Ukrainian Jews to Israel.
Many of them had spent months in shelters or forced to live on the streets.
http://www.ifcj.org/news/stand-for-israel/250-Ukrainian-Olim-Arrive-in-Israel-on-Fellowship-Freedom-Flight.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHCA3xnISSc
Israel welcomes Jewish family from Ivory
Coast. One
of the Jewish families escaping rising anti-Semitism in France is that of Amy
and George Camara and their four children. Originally from the Ivory Coast,
they heard much more anti-Semitic abusive remarks from friends who didn’t
realize they were Jewish.
Forget those aches and pains. One of the services that the
charity Ezer Mizion provides to some of its 660,000 “customers” is its program for
the elderly with depression. It relieves not just the patient, but sometimes also
the volunteer caregiver – as this example shows.
Egged bus driver stops
at nothing to save a life. Haifa Egged bus driver Ro’e Levy turned his
#40 bus filled with passengers into an ambulance after a woman passenger lost
consciousness and collapsed. He closed the doors and ‘flew’ to Rambam Hospital.
Doctors said Levy’s actions saved the 43-year-old patient’s life.
Customer finds and returns lost savings
to Eritrean worker.
Eritrean employee of the Bet Shemesh Osher Ad supermarket, Barak Tofsei,
lost the $4700 he had saved up for his future wedding. A customer in Osher Ad
found the packet of money, and together with the security supervisor traced the
owner. He refused a reward.
In the 20th Nov 16 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
An Israeli
treatment can restore damaged livers.
·
The World
Health Organization gave top rating to IDF field hospitals.
·
Two
Ethiopian Jewish women have been appointed as Israeli judges.
·
The UN
overwhelmingly passed an Israeli-sponsored resolution.
·
Intel has
opened its $6 billion Israeli microchip factory.
·
An Israeli
sleep-inducing app won a major international award.
·
Waze has
been launched in South America’s largest city.
·
Aerosmith’s
farewell world tour will start in Tel Aviv.
·
Israelis
celebrated the first Aliya Day public holiday.
·
Click here
to see the 13th Nov newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Ruthfully
Yours, Janglo
and United
With Israel with additional features on Health,
Global
impact, and Technology.
Also (TY Sandra) available in German
and (TY Karen) available in Portuguese.
Please pass relevant links onto German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking readers.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Regenerating liver
function.
(TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s BiolineRX in conjunction with Ben Gurion University, Hadassah Medical
Center and Novartis has developed a novel treatment BL-1220 that can restore
liver function in patients with liver disease and injury. http://www.biolinerx.com/default.asp?pageid=16&itemid=469
Success in trials of tardive dyskinesia
treatment.
(TY Atid-EDI)
I highlighted (Dec
2015) Teva’s SD-809 (deutetrabenazine) treatment for tardive dyskinesia.
The disease causes uncontrollable movements in around 500,000 US patients. The
second Phase III trial of the treatment produced statistically significant
results.
New treatment for Alzheimer’s. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Neurim is conducting a Phase 2 trial of its Piromelatine treatment,
for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The 26-week trial will compare once-daily oral
doses of Piromelatine to placebo in approximately 500 patients diagnosed with
mild AD.
Diagnoses using molecular biomarkers. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s ImmunArray is developing blood-based tests that support the diagnosis
and management of complex acute and chronic immune and neurodegenerative
diseases, including brain injury. It has just received a major investment from
America’s Quanterix Corporation.
Filling a gap in dental services. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s
CephX provides dental and orthodontic practitioners with Cephalometric X-Ray
analyses, image archiving and patient record management – all securely
maintained on the cloud (rather in the dental surgery).
Pomegranate oil to protect the brain. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Granalix has launched GranaGard - a food supplement that prevented
neurodegeneration diseases in clinical tests.
GranaGard, is a submicron (nanodrops) Pomegranate Seed Oil emulsion with
80% Punicic acid - one of the strongest natural antioxidants.
Telehealth device gets FDA approval. I reported previously (Aug
2015) on Israel’s Tytocare and its handheld diagnostic device. The device has been enhanced and Tytocare has
received US FDA clearance for its digital stethoscope that performs enhanced remote
diagnosis of a patient without the physician being present.
GE’s new CT-scanner is a Revolution. GE’s Haifa engineering team
was a major player in developing the Revolution CT (Computed Tomography)
scanner. It exposes patients to only 20% of the radiation of previous models
and the scan takes less than a second. The first Israeli Revolution has been installed
at Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv. http://www.timesofisrael.com/ge-israel-team-plays-key-role-in-new-ct-scanner/
Lifesaving solutions. Israel’s Inovytec develops
solutions for out-of-hospital medical emergencies, to increase patient survivability.
These include the world’s first and only automated oxygen defibrillator, a safe
airway management collar and an ultralight ventilator. It has just received
funds from Germany’s Rohn Innovations.
IDF field hospitals
are the best in the world. Israel is the first country to earn the
United Nations’ World Health Organization’s highest ranking for its IDF field
hospital unit. It received “Type 3”
designation, along with some additional “specialized care” recognitions, which
technically made it a “Type 3 plus”.
More power to your hearing. (TY Atid-EDI) I
reported previously (May 29) on the rechargeable hearing aid technology from
Israel’s Humavox. Now leading hearing
technology firm Starkey will integrate Humavox’s wireless charging into Starkey’s
advanced hearing devices. Simply put the
hearing aid in its box to recharge it.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Israel’s first female
Ethiopian judges. (TY Atid-EDI) In a
historic first, two female lawyers were appointed as Israel's first Ethiopian
judges, as the Judicial Nominating Committee named Adenko Sebhat-Haimovich to
the magistrates' court, and Esther Tapeta Gardi to the traffic court. Both were
appointed on their legal merits.
Special school gets new playground. (TY Karen) I featured previously (May
22) Jerusalem’s Ilanot school for children with physical and cognitive
disabilities. Thanks to the Friends of JNF Canada, the kids now enjoy playing
with the new special playground equipment. (The second video shows how the
original looked)
Topol helps sick children. I reported previously (Jun
2012) on the Galilee village supported by actor Chaim Topol that provides
respite for sick children. Here is a more detailed feature about Topol and his charity
work.
Jewish-Druze military academy. (TY Atid-EDI)
60 cadets are studying at the first-of-its-kind joint Jewish-Druze military
academy, which opened in the northern Druze town of Daliyat al-Karmel, near
Haifa. (Druze) Deputy Minister Ayoob Kara said both communities “… sanctify the values
of life, democracy, freedom of expression, religion and movement and this is
what our sons are fighting for ...”
Rambam hospital treats all. (TY Bennett) This video
about Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center came out last year. But I think it is very important to publicize
that Rambam treats Palestinian Arabs from Jenin and Gaza the same as its
Israeli Jewish and Arab patients. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHp3QX7U2Tk
Telling the world about Israel in the
world.
Untold news has been busy publicizing Israeli achievements. Over 4 million have been exposed to its “Israel
Is On It” media campaign in the New York Times. Its latest article is on
Buzzfeed, where millions of millennials go online to get their news.
Innovation:Africa. Further to the article (Apr
3) here is another feature about the non-profit organization
Innovation:Africa, established by Sivan Ya’ari. http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Tech/innovationafrica-Israeli-innovations-saving-lives-in-Africa-469921
US delegation sees Israeli emergency
response. A
delegation led by the chief of the U.S. National Guard Bureau visited Israel to
learn new techniques in emergency response.
Hosted by Israel’s Homefront Command, participants watched a large-scale
exercise in northern Israel and was briefed on the latest Israeli technology.
UN passes
Israeli-sponsored resolution. The United Nations has
approved an Israeli-sponsored resolution “Entrepreneurship for Sustainable
Development,” by 123 votes to 30 (mostly Arab countries). The resolution
focuses on key ways to help remove the barriers facing entrepreneurs and
unleash the talent that is innate in all societies. http://scofieldinstitute.org/123-countries-support-israeli-resolution-un/
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
See what you hear. (TY Atid-EDI) I
reported previously (Sep
2015) about Israel’s Augury that uses vibration and ultrasound to detect
faults in critical machinery. Now another Israeli startup 3DSignals has developed
an ultrasonic acoustic sensor which predicts electro-mechanical failure long
before it causes production downtime.
Intel inaugurates chip
production line.
Intel has inaugurated its $6 billion next-generation chip production
line at its Kiryat Gat facility in Israel.
At the event, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of Intel, “You
are producing a new future. Using technology, you amplify Israel’s power.
Israel is a global technological superpower.”
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-intel-inaugurates-israel-production-line-1001161081
More security for automobiles. (TY Atid-EDI) I
reported previously (here and here) about Israeli startups Arilou
and Argus Cybersecurity that prevent remote electronic carjacking. Now there is
a new kid on the block - Israel’s Karamba, which secures vehicles by locking
down their Electronic Control Units (ECUs).
Generating renewable energy technology. (TY Atid-EDI) The 7th
Eilat-Eilot Renewable and Clean Energy Conference (Nov 27 – 29) brings together
industry, government and investors to review new technologies that will advance
the global transition to renewable energy. The video highlights the last
conference in 2014.
Supermoon over Jerusalem. (TY Sharon) The full moon came to its closest
point (221,524 miles) to the Earth since 1948 (Israel’s Independence), creating
what NASA described as 'an extra-supermoon.'
Unfortunately, a cloudy sky spoiled the visual effect. The next extra-supermoon will be in
2035.
CES award for sleep
inducer. I
reported previously (Jun
13) on the sensor and smartphone app from Israel’s 2breath that helps users
fall asleep and tracks their sleeping patterns. 2breath has just won the
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovation award in Las Vegas, in the fitness,
sports and biotech product category.
Promoting nanotech development with
Germany.
Israel and Germany have set up a new three-year, 30 million Euros plan
to promote joint nanotechnology initiatives and are calling on companies and
entities in both countries to submit proposals for funding for projects in this
field.
IDCBeyond is launched. I reported previously (here) about the new 1-year
program IDCBeyond from the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya. The
program has begun, with 36 students enrolled. They will discuss global
challenges and then move onto venture creation, culminating in the setting up of
new startups.
Printing parts for Airbus. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Stratasys announced that Airbus has standardized on its ULTEM 9085 3D
printing material for the production of flight parts for its A350 XWB aircraft.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Israel gets an all-round A Plus. Fitch Ratings has upgraded
Israel's Long-Term Foreign-and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to
"A+" from "A". It reflects the fact that Israel's external
balance sheet has continued to strengthen. All three ratings agencies now give
Israel an A+ (Fitch, Moody’s and S&P)
2017 natural gas sales worth $1.5
billion. The Bank of Israel is to purchase $1.5
billion of foreign currency in 2017 to offset projected sales of Israel’s
natural gas windfall. The purchases are
intended to stop the Israeli Shekel from appreciating too much.
More Israelis use public transport. (TY Atid-EDI) The number of passengers on public
transportation in Israel rose 7.2% in the first eight months of 2016. Bus usage
was up 6.5% whilst railway use increased by 15.2%. A one percent rise in public transportation use
saves the Israeli economy NIS 400 million per year.
Pango parks up in America. Israeli parking payment
startup Pango has sold its American operations to US company Parking By
Phone. Pango’s technology and app will now
be deployed across the US and Latin America.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-smart-park-firm-pango-sells-its-us-operation/
Jerusalem gets down to business. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat
and Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz have laid the cornerstone for the new
$364 million, 173-acre Jerusalem Gateway business park. It will include nine
36-floor skyscrapers, business centers, hotels, and 70,000 square meters of
leisure and cultural spaces.
Sao Paulo finds Waze. Although Google now owns traffic and navigation app Waze, it is
still an Israeli-run company. Sao Paulo, Brazil (South America’s largest city) is
to use Waze to help manage the heavy traffic tackled by nearly 20 million
people every day. http://www.jta.org/2016/10/25/news-opinion/world/south-americas-largest-city-to-partner-with-israeli-app-waze-to-tackle-urban-mobility
9 Israeli companies in KPMG fintech top
100. Nine
Israeli companies were among KPMG's 100 most promising fintech companies for
2016. They are Payoneer, Ourcrowd, Tipranks,
Lemonade, Innovative Assessments, Paykey, Zooz, Blackswan and DMway
Predicting if a startup will succeed or
fail. Israeli
startup Zirra uses Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to give
investors increased chances of finding a winner. It uses public domain
information such as valuation, competition, risk and success factors,
employees, founders and insights from human experts.
Jezreel Valley railway is running. (TY Atid-EDI) I
reported previously (Sep
11) the completion of the revived Jezreel Valley railway. It is now fully
operational, taking 50 minutes from Haifa to Beit She’an. Many travelers
remember using the original line, until it was closed 65 years ago.
$100 million fund to invest in Israeli
healthcare startups. Marius Nacht, co-founder of Israeli computer
security firm Check Point, has raised $100 million for a new fund to invest in
Israeli healthcare startups. He is hoping for the emergence of another Teva or the
equivalent of a Check Point in healthcare.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Prehistoric stone circle in Golan. (TY Rodger) A series of
concentric stone circles over 150 meters wide in the Golan Heights is up to
5000 years old. Rujm el-Hiri in Arabic, means the "stone heap of the wild
cat". In Hebrew, Gilgal Refaim means "wheel of giants" and refers
to an ancient race of giants mentioned in the Bible.
Top chefs visit Tel Aviv. (TY Nevet) The international culinary
festival “Round Tables by American Express” sent the top chefs from 13 of the
most acclaimed restaurants in the world to Tel Aviv for an entire week, where
they took over the kitchens. http://www.roundtablestour.com/en/
Jewish-Yemeni culture comes alive. (TY Avi) Ravid Kahalani of
popular Israeli band Yemen Blues grew up in Israel surrounded by Jewish-Yemeni
culture. He sings in Yemeni-Arabic and
dreams of performing in Yemen one day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC67Sx-DRI8
Aerosmith’s farewell
tour begins in Tel Aviv. After some 45 years together and countless
hits, Aerosmith, one of rock’s greatest bands, will start their European farewell
tour in Tel Aviv. The cutely named Aero-Vederci Baby! tour, will kick off in
Tel Aviv’s HaYarkon Park on May 17, 2017.
Tel Aviv Jazz Festival. The annual Tel Aviv Jazz
Festival (Nov 25-27) is one of the city’s premiere events, attracting some of
the top established and up-and-coming talent from both the local and
international jazz scene.
Robert Kraft donates $6 million for Jerusalem
sports campus. Robert Kraft, owner of the New
England Patriots and a noted Jewish philanthropist, has donated $6 million to
create the Kraft Family Sports Campus in Jerusalem. Mayor Barkat said the gift
“helps celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jerusalem’s reunification”.
Bychenko skates to Grand Prix bronze. Israeli figure skater Alexei
Bychenko won his first career medal at a Grand Prix event by taking third place
at the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow. Bychenko became the first Israeli to claim a
medal at the European Figure Skating Championships in January.
THE JEWISH STATE
Thousands on Masa Israel programs. (TY Samantha) 12,000 18-30-year-olds are in Israel to participate
in long-term Masa (journey) Israel programs, including gap years, study abroad,
internships, teaching English to young students, and other post-college
initiatives. Many attended a celebratory welcome event in Jerusalem.
Our united tribe. Israel’s immigrant absorption minister, Sofa Landver, writes on Nov
8 - Israel’s first Aliya Day – the new national holiday to celebrate those who
have moved from the Lands of Dispersion, to live in the Startup Nation where Aliya
is the ultimate personal startup.
Nov 20 is Global Day of Jewish Learning. Israeli Rabbi Adin Steinsalz
established the Global Day of Jewish Learning in 2010 to mark the completion of
his 45-year project to produce his commentary on the Talmud. This year, on Nov
20, he invites everyone to join in on-line.
http://www.theglobalday.org/videos/schedule/
Birthright-style tour for business
people. AlmaLinks, a group focused on promoting
ties between the global Jewish business community and Israel, has started
sponsoring its own Birthright-style trip, bringing business executives to
Israel to meet their local counterparts. Its first Diaspora delegation visited
Israel in September.
161113
In the 13th Nov 16 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
An Israeli
treatment for tendon injury has received European approval.
·
Israel is
to train UN Peacekeepers in field medicine.
·
Thanks to
Israel, 8,300 Vietnamese received humanitarian aid.
·
The first
camera for Apple’s smartwatch is Israeli.
·
Israeli
scientists have made a quantum leap.
·
Netafim is
bringing more Israeli irrigation to Central America.
·
See the
new National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel.
·
The first
of the new wave of Ethiopian immigrants has arrived in Israel.
·
Click here
to see the 30th Nov newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Ruthfully
Yours, Janglo
and United
With Israel with additional features on Health,
Inclusiveness,
Technology
and Jewish
State. Also (TY Sandra) available in German
and (TY Karen) available in Portuguese.
Please pass relevant links onto German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking
readers.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
European approval for tendon
pain treatment.
Israel’s CollPlant has been awarded the EU CE Mark for VergenixSTR, a
soft tissue repair matrix for the treatment of tendinopathy (tendon injury or
disease and associated pain).
VergenixSTR is based on CollPlant’s proprietary plant-based collagen
technology.
Causing HIV virus to self-destruct. (TY Bennett) I reported
previously (Feb
7) on the Hebrew University scientists’ peptide treatment for HIV that uses
multiple copies of the virus to make it self-destruct. It has now been tested
on the blood from AIDS patients and has similar results to earlier clinical
trials.
New treatment for cognitive impairment. Israel’s Therapix
Biosciences has developed a unique tablet for sublingual (under the tongue) administration
of THC. A clinical trial of this tablet is anticipated to commence early 2017 for
treatment of impairments in cognitive functioning, including early stages of Alzheimer's
disease.
Israeli-Arab village has highest
percentage of doctors. Israel has 3.4 doctors per 1000 residents (OECD
average is 3.3 per 1000). But for the 24,000
residents of the Israeli-Arab village of Arraba in the Galilee, there are 6
doctors per 1000 residents. Dr. Hatim Kanaaneh is credited with boosting
numbers of local Arab doctors.
Medical incubator opens its doors. I reported previously (May 1)
that Israel’s Chief Scientist has licensed medical incubator MEDX. Now MEDX has been formally launched and plans
to submit 3-4 projects to the Israel Innovation Authority in the coming months.
It will focus on non-invasive medical devices.
Israel’s first exclusive digital health
fund.
Israel’s leading global equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has
launched Qure - Israel’s first exclusively focused digital health fund. The
fund will invest in innovative digital health startups. OurCrowd will work with
Johns Hopkins University to bring novel ideas to market.
Video of Brainstorm’s ALS treatment. New ABC TV video of the
4-year human trials of the stem cell treatment from Israel’s Brainstorm on 26 ALS
patients at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center. 90% have shown positive
change. The patients’ own bone marrow stem cells are extracted, treated and
re-inserted.
El Al flight delayed – to save a life. 15 mins before departure, El
Al flight attendant Nitzan Rabinowitz went to look for her cell phone. At the
train station, an Asian man had collapsed and Nitzan administered CPR until
paramedics arrived. Nitzan never told
passengers why their flight was delayed, but her phone was later found.
IDF to train UN
peacekeeping forces in field medicine. United
Nations peacekeeping forces are to participate in a special emergency field
medicine seminar headed by the Israeli military and local medical professionals.
They will learn the unique methods Israel uses to deal with cases involving
emergency medicine on the ground.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Linked to Life. Israeli charity Ezer Mizion
has set up a What’s App group called Linked to Life. Members post urgent
requests and other members find solutions. Like getting medication from Israel
to LA in 24 hours. Or take a disabled Jerusalem boy’s crutches to Tel Aviv for
repair and return within the same day.
Christians successful in Israel. (TY Hazel) Jonathan Elkhoury advocates for the Christian
Empowerment Council (CEC) in Israel. “The Christian society is one of the
successful minorities in Israel. There are people in high positions in education,
in hospitals, courts - everywhere you look you will find a Christian in a high
position.” http://www.jns.org/latest-articles/2016/9/23/what-you-need-to-know-about-israels-christian-minority
New Scottish parliament pro-Israel
group. Members
of the Scottish Parliament from all parties, with the exception of the Scottish
Greens, will be represented on the ‘Building Bridges with Israel’ cross-party
group, which aims to establish closer cultural, academic and economic links
with the country.
Solar generators for Fiji. (TY Hazel) Fiji has received 12 portable solar generators from
Israel to address the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Winston that had left a
path of massive devastation in the Pacific island nation earlier this year. Fijian
Minister Inia Seruiratu thanked Israel for its work in the reconstruction
process.
Medical aid to
Vietnam. (TY
Karen) The Israeli Embassy to Vietnam sponsored humanitarian and medical aid to
8,300 needy Vietnamese citizens in remote Kon Tum province. The program was
conducted by Family Medical Practice - a chain of clinics in Vietnam founded
and headed by an Israeli physician, Dr. Rafi Kot.
International wildlife award. Rony Malka of the Israel
Nature and Parks Authority received a 2016 Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law
Enforcement Award at the 17th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
Israeli cleantech at the UN. I reported previously (Oct
24) that Israeli companies presented at the United Nations to 700
representatives of African countries.
This article gives more details, and also reports that Israel’s Energiya
Global signed a Memorandum of Understanding to install Liberia’s first ever
solar field.
Beating BDS with facts. Billed as the largest
clearinghouse of its type, this new website has plenty of resources to counter
the lies of those who want to boycott the Jewish State. http://israelandtheacademy.org/
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The world’s largest reverse osmosis desalination
plant. (TY
Bennett) IBA News goes behind the scenes at the Sorek desalination plant, which
produces 20% of Israel’s domestic water.
Israeli cows are taking over the world. Dairy farmers from India to
Italy travel to Israeli kibbutzim to learn how to increase their milk yields.
They hear that happy cows give a lot of milk and discover how to make their
cows happy, from Israel’s Afimilk (Kibbutz Afikim), Netanya’s SCR Dairy and
Akol (Kibbutz Bror Hayil).
The first camera for
the Apple watch.
I reported previously (Jun 26) that Israeli video messaging startup
Glide was working on a new smartwatch project.
It has now announced that it is the CMRA camera for Apple’s smartwatch. You
will be able to take photos and videos with your Apple Watch and integrate
seamlessly with your iPhone. Available
to pre-order. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4rWepfGFuA
How the Ein Gedi scroll was unwrapped. (TY Nevet) Video that explains the science behind the virtual
unwrapping of the earliest manuscript copy of the book of Leviticus, discovered
at Ein Gedi near the Dead Sea.
Technology and Torah. Software company Ravtech in
Bnei Brak outsources its services to Check Point and Citibank. It is staffed by
Jewish ultra-Orthodox married men aged 25 to 35. They first complete a 12-month
course run by Avratech in English, math, computer studies and coding whilst
studying Torah in the morning.
Tire sensor wins top Shell prize. I reported previously (Nov
2012) about the TyreCheck app from Israel’s Neomatix. Now Neomatix has
beaten 218 mobility startups from all over the world to win the €25,000 Shell
Bright Energy Ideas Challenge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ2Ve8kM_Tc
Breakthrough in
Quantum Computing.
(TY Nevet) Researchers from Israel’s
Technion working in quantum computing, have built a device that can produce
large clusters of entangled photons (light particles) on demand. It is a major
step to developing quantum super-computers and fast super secure Internet
communications.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Happy hour in Jerusalem. (TY Sharon) Community-based
non-profit “Made in Jerusalem” puts on end-of-month “happy hours”, uniting entrepreneurs,
job seekers, funders and hi-tech supporters. The October event featured Glide,
CareNav, uChange, MatchLynx, Talklet and Leadlike. Later, a Tech &Torah
session took place.
The right image for eBay. When eBay bought Israel’s Corrigon last week for $30 million, it
acquired its advanced image identification algorithms. These allow web users to
home in on an image and find it elsewhere (e.g. to buy a product or protect
copyright) even if the images have been colored, cropped or modified.
The new “Oslo Agreement”. An agreement to promote startups, the first of its kind, has been signed
between the Oslo International Hub and its Tel Aviv equivalent, Impact HUB Tel
Aviv. Israeli-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce and the Norwegian-Israeli Chamber
of Commerce are also parties to the agreement.
Flights to Mumbai and Hong Kong. India’s largest airline, Air
India, is to launch new flights to connect Tel Aviv and Mumbai, starting in
2017. Hong Kong airline, Cathay Pacific,
will begin flights between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv in March 2017. Both services
will compete with El Al and should result in lower fares.
$250,000 prize for relevant advertising. Tel Aviv-based startup
Comprendi won a $250,000 award at the Twitter #Promote Ads API Challenge in San
Francisco. Comprendi’s technology enables advertisers to change ads in real
time based on factors such as sports results, the weather and trending topics.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-comprendi-gets-twitter-nod-for-its-ad-tech/
http://comprendi.net/
Australia encourages Israeli IPOs. Five Israeli companies have
listed shares on the Australian stock exchange since January 2015, including
Sky and Space Global (satellite comms) and Weebit Nano (data storage). At least
two more plan to launch by end 2016 including Dragontail Systems (restaurant
technology).
Buying into irrigation
in Costa Rica. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Netafim has acquired 60% of the Costa Rican irrigation company RyM. It
will become part of Netafim Central America and help bolster Netafim’s status
in the region, while targeting states such as Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua,
Guatemala and El Salvador.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Israel’s Campus for
Archaeology. (TY Sharon
and Israel21c) Jerusalem’s Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the
Archaeology of Israel will constitute the largest center in the world for the
presentation of the archaeological heritage of the Land of Israel, including
all its cultures.
Japanese try Israeli snacks. Tour guide and Newsletter
subscriber Pamela
Levene sent some Israeli snacks to Japan for video bloggers Satoshi and
Shinich to taste. Some of their
reactions to these unusual (for them) products were very amusing. Please “like” their video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm8bzV0145M
Things to do in Israel this November. November concerts in Israel
include Chemical Brothers (12th), The Stranglers (17th) and Air Supply
(24-26th). Sophia Loren presents (25th) and Lord of the Dance starts (28th).
The Hula Valley Bird Festival (20-27th) features tours, photography seminars,
and a scientific conference.
Bird-watching in Tel Aviv. (TY Pamela
Levene) KKL-JNF held a ceremony at the newly constructed Bird-watching
Center in Yarkon Park’s Rosh Tzippor Forest. The 7.5-acre park will open this Spring.
Taking the Aliya story to Jo’burg. Actors Grant and Daniella
Crankshaw are taking their hit show “Together, Against the Odds" on an
international tour. They will perform and
sing their hilarious tale of how they met, married and made Aliya in
Johannesburg on Nov 24 and 26. They also plan to tour the UK, Australia and the
US. http://www.desert-rose-productions.com/international.html
THE JEWISH STATE
What the Waqf allowed Israel to dig up. With minimal publicity, the
Islamic Waqf has permitted the Israel Antiquities Authority to conduct limited scientific
excavations on Temple Mount over the past decade. At a conference at Hebrew
University, archaeologists presented new details of olive pits, animal bones
and pottery fragments dating to the time of the First Temple. http://www.timesofisrael.com/archaeologists-reveal-first-solomons-temple-era-artifacts-ever-found-on-temple-mount/
The stone that beat the Romans. (TY Avi) In the Western Wall
(Kotel) is a 2000-year-old stone that measures 40 feet long by 12 feet high by
14 feet deep. It weighs 600 tons - the equivalent of two 747 jumbo jets
including passengers and luggage. The
Romans tried to destroy it, but couldn’t – and it is still there today.
The day the Dead Sea scrolls were
recovered. Hebrew
University Professor Eliezer Sukenik purchased the Dead Sea scrolls from an
antiquities dealer in Jerusalem on Nov 29 1947.
As he was examining them that evening, his radio was broadcasting the UN
vote on the partition of Palestine. What
amazing timing!
That “Bayt al-Makdis” inscription. Readers asked me for a photo
of the Arabic inscription mentioning the Beit Mikdash (Jewish Temple) that was
discovered in the wall of the Mosque of Umar in Nuba, near Hebron. This article shows the inscription that
proves early Moslems knew the origin of the Dome of the Rock.
Israelis pray for Syrians. (TY Karen) On the eve of Yom Kippur, some 1,500 Israelis gathered
in Beersheba, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, the Golan Heights and other places, to
pray for the people of war-torn Syria.
Jerusalem’s Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue to
be rebuilt. The 144-year-old Tiferet Yisrael
Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City was destroyed by the
Jordanian army in the 1948 War of Independence. Now the Israeli government has
approved funds to restore it to its former splendor.
ICEJ sponsors new wave
of Ethiopian Aliya.
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) is sponsoring the first
wave of renewed Ethiopian Aliya. It has given $500,000 for flying in 523
Ethiopian Jews, plus another 104 Jewish immigrants due to make Aliya soon from
France and the Ukraine. Please see video.
Halleluya.
Leonard Cohen, who passed away last week aged 82, was a firm supporter of
Israel and visited several times. Arab
Christian Lina Mahoul won the “Voice of Israel” in 2013 with his song “Hallelujah”. The videos are from concerts in London and in
front of 50,000 fans at the Ramat Gan stadium in Tel Aviv in 2009.
161030
In the 30th Oct 16 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
An Israeli
hospital has a unique control room to monitor operations.
·
A Jewish-Arab
women’s choir won an anti-racism award in Turkey.
·
Israel
hosted an OECD education innovation conference.
·
An Israeli
eco-friendly pesticide is saving global banana plantations.
·
Foreign
investment in Israeli hi-tech is soaring.
·
Israel’s
Oscars entry is a Bedouin drama, entirely in Arabic.
·
A
2800-year-old wine shipping document has the earliest non-Biblical reference to
Jerusalem.
·
Click here
to see the 23rd Oct newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Ruthfully
Yours and United
With Israel with additional features on Technology
and Entertainment.
Also (TY Sandra) available in German
and (TY Karen) available in Portuguese.
Please pass relevant links onto German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking
readers.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
A cockpit for
surgeons.
The state-of-the-art control system installed in the Head and Neck
Operating Room at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center is the first of its kind in the
world. Like a computerized cockpit
system, a semi-circular wall of screens project the surgeon’s movements as he
excises a tumor in the patient’s neck.
Philips uses Israeli tech to make
scanners safe. (TY Atid-EDI) I
wrote previously (Jun
26) about SafeCT-29 from Israel’s Medic Vision. Now Philips HealthCare has selected SafeCT-29
to make their CT and PET/CT scanners compliant with US XR-29 regulations
regarding safe levels of radiation.
An answer to jet lag? (TY Hazel) Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have
discovered a link between the level of oxygen breathed by mice and their
ability to adapt to a shift in daylight hours.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/shift-in-oxygen-levels-can-reduce-jet-lag-israeli-study-finds/
Pilates can help recover from a heart
attack. A
study at the rehabilitation institute at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot has
shown that the Pilates physical fitness system can strengthen the body
physically and emotionally after a heart attack. The exercises help reduce patients’
body-mass index and boosts confidence.
A call for help from cows in labor. (TY Atid-EDI) The
AfiAct II cow monitoring system from Israel’s Afimilk will now send an alert to
the dairy farmer when its sensors detect a cow experiencing a prolonged
labor. Nearly half of first-calf
Holstein cows in the U.S. require intervention from a farmer or veterinarian
during labor. http://www.afimilk.com/news/afimilk-introduces-automatic-calving-alert-service
360-degree colonoscope now has extras. (TY Atid-EDI) I
reported previously (Jan
2015) on the Aer-O-Scope® 360-degree disposable colonoscope from Israel’s
GI View. It has now been upgraded to enable surgeons to take biopsies and
remove polyps. The new colonoscope has just received FDA clearance.
Smart patch to relieve migraines. (TY Atid-EDI and PRNewswire)
Israeli startup Theranica Bio-Electronics has developed Nerivio Migra - the
first of its “smart patches” delivering neuromodulation therapy - to provide
migraine relief. A recent study of 86
patients at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center showed promising results.
Teva and IBM to expand alliance. (TY Eli) Teva and IBM are to significantly expand their existing
global e-Health alliance using the IBM Watson Supercomputer’s Health Cloud to
develop new treatments and improve the management of chronic diseases. It aims
to streamline the long process of bringing new therapies to market.
Complex treatment of rare defect
restores infant’s speech. A multi-disciplinary team of Israeli doctors
at the Vascular Anomalies Clinic at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center performed
an advanced procedure called Sclerotherapy to save a 2-year-old boy born with a
venous malformation that had spread to his windpipe.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
My Home. (TY
Steve) For the first time, in the documentary My Home, we see life in Israel
through those rarely heard from - the Israeli-Arab citizens who would never
live anywhere else. Those Arab minorities who change the false narrative that
Israel is an apartheid state, that minorities can’t succeed, that they have no
rights.
Program to boost Bedouins in high-tech. Ten male and 10 female Arab students have been selected to take
part in Bridgetech - a pre-academic program that aims to increase participation
of Israel’s Bedouin populations into the country’s high-tech ecosystem.
Arabs who do National Service. (TY Hazel) Another article
about the 4,500 non-Jews doing Sherut Leumi (National Service) in Israel.
Seventy percent are Muslim, the rest being Druze, Christian or Circassian.
Jewish-Arab women’s
choir wins international award. The Rana Choir, a
mixed Jewish-Muslim-Christian women’s chorus from Jaffa, received a 2016
International Hrant Dink Foundation award in Istanbul, Turkey. The foundation
awards “people and organizations working for a world free of discrimination,
racism and violence”. http://www.israel21c.org/jewish-arab-womens-choir-wins-international-award/
Israel expands Gaza fishing zone. From Nov 1, Israel is
increasing the fishing zone for Gaza fisherman from six to nine nautical miles
“to facilitate increased activity in Gaza Strip’s fishing sector, which is an
[important] source of income”. The expansion is conditioned on Gazans not
exploiting it to smuggle or penetrate Israel’s territory. http://www.bicom.org.uk/news/israel-expands-gaza-fishing-zone-50-per-cent/
Israeli member of Malawi parliament. (TY Karen) David Bisnowaty
was born in Israel and served in the IDF.
Last year he was elected by a big majority to the parliament of Malawi.
He says that Malawi has always had very strong ties with Israel. Israel was the first country to send doctors
and agricultural people to Malawi unconditionally. https://www.algemeiner.com/2016/09/28/israeli-born-malawi-parliament-member-actions-not-words-will-change-africa-for-the-better/
http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/interviews-and-profiles/god-has-sent-us-the-jew-from-judah-to-help-us-an-interview-with-malawis-israeli-mp/2016/09/28/
Israeli architect to receive US Lifetime
achievement award. (TY Nevet) Israeli-born architect Moshe
Safdie – whose works, including Yad Vashem, span the globe – will be honored for
lifetime achievement at the 2016 National Design Awards by the Cooper Hewitt
Smithsonian Design Museum in New York.
PM and President meet East Asia’s faith
leaders. (TY Nevet)
A delegation that included Hindu gurus, Buddhist monks and Shinto priests met
with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin on the first
day of a Jerusalem conference designed to deepen Israel-Asia ties. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Israeli-leaders-meet-with-leaders-of-Eastern-faith-traditions-467559
Israel hosts OECD
Education Conference. For the first time, Israel hosted the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Global
Education Industry Summit. More than 30 delegations from around the world
attended the two-day event, which focused on innovation in education.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Israel can solve the world’s water shortage. (TY Avi) From California to
Africa, there is a global water shortage. Israel - one tiny country in the
middle of a desert, has found remarkable solutions. Can its success be
replicated? Businessman and New York
Times bestselling author Seth Siegel explains.
Disability tech displayed in Australia. (TY Hazel) A delegation of Israeli start-ups developing
technologies to assist people with disabilities are showing their products and
services in Sydney Australia. They include Paratrek, Sesame Enable, NiNiSpeech
and yooocan. (I reported Paratrek,
Sesame and NiniSpeech previously)
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-startups-display-disability-tech-in-australia/ https://yooocan.com/
4 Israelis in top 100 cloud companies. (TY Nevet) ForeScout, Sisense, WalkMe and
SMS Assist are the Israeli representatives on the first-ever Forbes 2016 Cloud
100 - the ultimate list of the top 100 private cloud companies in the world. Companies
are recognized by customers and peers for financial growth and excellence.
Saving the banana. (TY Atid-EDI) The
most destructive and costly disease threatening worldwide banana production is Black
Sigatoka. Timorex Gold® non-chemical fungicide
from Israeli-managed Stockton Group controls this disease, plus many others. The eco-friendly fungicide is based on the
Melaleuca alternifolia plant extract. http://www.stockton-ag.com/timorex-gold-effective-against-black-sigatoka/
3D printed dress “Oscillation” shakes
fashion world.
Fashion leader threeASFOUR and designer Travis Fitch used a 3D printer
from Israel’s Stratasys to produce ‘Oscillation' - an elaborate and intricate
dress as the centerpiece of threeASFOUR's ‘Quantum Vibrations' collection for New
York’s Fashion Week.
Helping farmers keep track of crops. (TY NoCamels)
Israel’s FieldIn won second prize for startups at the International AgriVest
Conference held at the Weizmann Institute of Science, for its technology that
increases the efficiency of growing crops by reducing overall use of pesticides
and eliminating spray mistakes..
Streaming video to Facebook. I’ve reported previously (see here) on Israel’s LiveU that
provided video streaming tech for the Olympics, World Cup soccer, UK elections
etc. Now LiveU has developed Solo - a wireless product that allows content
providers to broadcast high-quality live video directly to Facebook Live. http://www.timesofisrael.com/facebook-integrates-liveu-tech-to-boost-content/
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Businesses grow in 3rd quarter. The Bank of Israel’s Companies
Survey for the third quarter of 2016 indicates that, further to the previous
quarter, the business sector grew rapidly. The positive picture is reflected in
all the large industries - manufacturing, services, trade, transport and
communications.
Surging investment in
Israel defies global trend. Ambassador Yoram
Ettinger writes that Israeli hi-tech companies raised $1.19 billion during Q3
2016, the second highest quarterly amount in ten years. In the first nine
months of 2016, Israeli hi-tech companies raised $4 billion, 27% higher than
the same period in 2015.
Large Israeli exits. Ambassador Ettinger also
reports the acquisitions of Israeli companies EndoChoice for $210 million,
BlazeMeter for $100 million, FireLayers for $55 million and Corrigon for $30
million.
More avocado please. (TY Israel21c) Israel exported 60,000 tons of avocados in 2015.
Demand is even higher this year and 70% of this year’s 100,000-ton yield is
earmarked for export, shipped in refrigerated containers to reach Europe in 4-5
days. Varieties include Ettinger, Pinkerton, Hass, Fuerte, Reed, Galil, Lavi
and Moti.
Israeli agro-tech company valued at $2.8
billion. (TY
Nevet) Israeli crop protection
company Adama Agricultural Solutions is to be sold by its Chinese owner ChemChina
to a firm it controls. The new owner, Hubei Sanonda, is paying about 18.6
billion yuan ($2.8 billion) for Adama, which has 4% of the Chinese agrochemical
market. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-adama-m-a-sanonda-idUSKCN11J1Z3?rpc=401
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Music and Ethics. Musethica is an international nonprofit that advances classical
music education and brings music to special audiences that otherwise do not
have the chance to encounter it. Its 3rd International Chamber Music Festival
takes place from Oct 28 to Nov 5 across Israel at venues such as schools for
disabled children, hospitals, homes for the elderly and social organizations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pTPAPvy9b4
Israel’s first
Arabic-language foreign Oscars entry. (TY Bennett) For
the first time, a film entirely in Arabic will represent Israel at the Academy
Awards (Oscars). “Sand Storm”, a family drama set in the Bedouin community, won
six Ophir Awards (Israel’s top film competition), including for best film.
Tel Aviv Piano Festival. (TY Jerusalem Post) More
than 150 top Israeli and international pianists will perform at the annual Tel
Aviv Piano Festival from Nov 9 to Nov 12. The largest concerts will be held at
the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. http://www.itraveltelaviv.com/events/tel-aviv-piano-festival/
http://www.pianofestival.co.il/
THE JEWISH STATE
The earliest
non-Biblical mention of Jerusalem. The Israel Antiquities Authority has
recovered a papyrus from the time of the 1st Temple (7th century BCE) documenting
a wine shipment from Na’artah to Jerusalem. This is the earliest extra-biblical
source to mention Jerusalem in Hebrew writing. The papyrus was written by a
woman administrator in the Kingdom of Judah. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/219379
Exiled Spanish & Portuguese Jews are
returning home.
The Aliya to Israel of some of the 100 million plus Bnei Anusim (descendants
of Sephardi Jews forced to convert to Christianity) could be larger than the
return of the “lost tribe” of Ethiopian Jews. Many are discovering their Jewish
roots and connecting with Israel.
Unearthing the 2900-year-old gate of
Lachish. (TY Karen) The Israel Antiquities
Authority’s has now fully excavated the 8th Century BCE (1st Temple period) Lachish
city gate near Mount Hebron. They say that it may prove King Hezekiah’s
Biblically-recorded efforts to abolish idol worship in the region.
Recreating the sound of the High Priest. (TY Avi) I reported
previously (in 2011)
about the discovery of a garment bell that a High Priest would have worn on his
robes when administering in the Temple’s Holy of Holies. The sound of all 72 bells has now been
recreated, so you can hear exactly what it would have sounded like on Yom
Kippur 3000 years ago. http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/miracle-for-the-first-time-ever-listen-as-a-high-priest-enters-the-holy-of-holies/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVcOIdkGEjE
Niece of Fatah founder tattooed “Israel”
on her back.
Sandra Solomon is the niece of Saher Habash, one of the founders of the
Fatah party. Born in Ramallah, raised in Saudi Arabia, moved to Canada and
converted to Christianity. She now loves the State of Israel so much, she had
“Israel” in Hebrew tattooed across her shoulder blades. http://www.timesofisrael.com/niece-of-arafat-confidant-so-loves-israel-she-had-it-tattooed-on-her-back/
The rains have arrived. Three days following
commencement of the prayers for rain, thunderstorms arrived in Israel. Whilst
central areas experienced scattered showers, the south had flash floods and
strong rain that temporarily closed Eilat airport. 32 mm of rain fell in Eilat,
10 mm more than the yearly seasonal average.
1000-year-old Muslim inscription
confirms site of Jewish Temple. Archaeologists have located a 10th century CE
inscription above a mihrab-prayer niche in an active mosque in the village of
Nuba, near Hebron. It states that the original name of the Dome of the Rock was
Beit al Makdas (in Arabic), Beit Hamikdash (in Hebrew) or Temple (in English). http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/ancient-muslim-inscription-confirms-dome-of-the-rocks-jewish-temple-origin/2016/10/28/
161023
In the 23rd Oct 16 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
Europe
gives patent to innovative Israeli treatment delivery system.
·
An African
American joins the Israeli army.
·
Israel gives
water, energy and agricultural help to Egypt.
·
Israel is
training Kenyans to build a smart city near Nairobi.
·
Israel is
the second most innovative country.
·
Jerusalem’s
botanical gardens gets global acclaim.
·
Thousands
of Christians visit Jerusalem to celebrate Tabernacles.
·
Click here
to see the 16th Oct newsletter on IsraelSeen
and United
With Israel with additional features on Technology
and Entertainment.
Also (TY Sandra) available in German
and (TY Karen) available in Portuguese.
Please pass relevant links onto German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking
readers.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Controlled release
innovation gets European patent. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Intec has received a European patent for its Accordion oral treatment delivery
system. Designed to improve efficacy and safety of any oral treatment, Accordion
utilizes an efficient gastric retention and specific release mechanism. Intec
itself has incorporated Accordion into its Parkinson’s, insomnia and gastric
ulcer treatments.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160906005739/en/Intec-Pharma-Granted-European-Patent-Accordion-Pill%E2%84%A2%E2%80%93Carbidopa http://israelactive.com/?s=Accordion
Rosacea treatment is safe and effective. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Foamix has reported good results from the Phase II trials of its FMX103
treatment for papulopustular rosacea. The condition, suffered by millions, is characterized by facial redness from
inflamed lesions. http://www.foamixpharma.com/
500 aneurysms successfully treated. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Rapid Medical has announced its 500th successful operation to treat
life-threatening aneurysms (swellings of arterial wall) using its Comaneci
Adjustable Remodeling Mesh. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rapid-medicals-comaneci-adjustable-remodeling-mesh-exceeds-500-successful-aneurysm-treatments-592723241.html
An easier thyroid cancer test. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Rosetta Genomics thyroid cancer diagnostic test (“RosettaGX Reveal”)
can now be performed from a sample on the ThinPrep slides popular with
clinicians. Previously, the sample had
to come from a thyroid Fine Needle Aspirate (FNA) biopsy.
Dispelling myths about celiac disease. A team of Tel Aviv
University researchers has analyzed the medical records of 10,000 Israeli teenagers
with celiac disease. The findings show no evidence of clinicians’ belief that
sufferers are likely to be underweight or below average height.
A decade of IDF bone marrow donations. It is now ten years since
the Ezer Mizion bone marrow registration booth became an integral part of the
IDF recruiting station. Since then, 1100 IDF soldiers have donated their stem
cells to cancer patients worldwide. Many
of those saved told their stories at an event honoring the donors.
13 miles in an Israeli bio-suit. (TY Geoffrey) Paraplegic Claire
Lomas completed the UK’s Great North run in an exoskeleton from Israel’s
ReWalk. Claire, who is 16-weeks
pregnant, took five days to complete the 13.1-mile race. (The BBC, of course, doesn’t
mention that ReWalk is Israeli.)
Combined PET/MRI scanner. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Aspect
Imaging has launched a brand new integrated simultaneous PET-MRI that combines
PET and MRI modalities. The system is based on Aspect’s compact MRI plus the SimPET
system from Seoul National University’s Department of Nuclear Medicine.
GSK markets Israeli growth formula for
children.
Multinational GlaxoSmithKline signed an agreement with Israel’s
Nutritional Growth Solutions for GSK to produce and market Horlicks Growth+,
developed by Schneider Children’s Medical Center for enhancing height and
weight in underdeveloped children.
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israels-ng-solutions-signs-child-formula-deal-with-gsk-1001157015
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Israel is amazing. (TY IsraPundit) Italian
journalist Giulio Meotti writes that Israel today has what most of Western
countries don’t have, in terms of economic growth, security, internal dynamism
and optimism. He recommends that we should
all move to Israel. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/19600
An African-American in
the IDF. The
inspiring story of 23-year-old Avi Rosenblum - born to African-American Christian
parents in the United States. He was adopted by Jewish parents in California and
is now a soldier in the IDF.
International lawmakers tour Hebron. (TY Sharon) Twenty members of parliament from
countries throughout Europe, Africa and Latin America attended the 5th annual
Israel Allies Foundation in Jerusalem. During Succot they toured Eastern
Jerusalem and the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron.
UK PM hails UK-Israel ties. In her Jewish New Year
greeting, British Prime Minister Teresa May praised the relationship between
the UK and Israel, in particular - bilateral trade, scientific research,
security cooperation and shared values. She also said that she was determined
to stamp out boycotts of Israeli goods and events.
First visit by PM of Luxembourg. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Luxembourg Prime Minster
Xavier Bettel in Jerusalem – the first visit to Israel of a Prime Minister from
the tiny European state. They discussed increasing bilateral trade, which nearly
doubled between 2014 and 2015.
Israel meets Africa at the UN. (TY Bennett) Israeli Prime
Minister Netanyahu held a summit at the United Nations with the leaders of over
15 African countries. Afterwards, Israeli companies presented their
technological developments to dozens of African ambassadors, senior UN
officials and representatives from the private sector. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Benjamin-Netanyahu/Netanyahu-meets-with-African-leaders-on-sidelines-of-UNGA-talks-Israeli-innovations-468511
Israel’s economic help
for Egypt.
(TY TIP)
Recent improved relations between Israel and Egypt has initiated new projects
in which Israel will assist Egypt’s fragile economy. These include desalination, irrigation, solar
energy and agriculture. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4867417,00.html
Indian troops are “as good as the IDF”. Israel’s Defense Forces are the standard for professionalism and
valor. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in praising his country’s Special
Forces paratroopers after operations against terrorists, said proudly that the
Indian troops were as good as the IDF.
60 years of helping other nations. In 1957, Israel launched the
Foreign Ministry’s MASHAV (the Hebrew acronym for Israel’s Agency for
International Development Cooperation). Since then, 270,000 in 132 countries have
received training in agriculture, public health, education, women’s empowerment
and more. And (TY Karen) an article about MASHAV’s project in Uganda for Youth
at Risk. http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Tech/Tell-us-how-you-made-Israel-470231
http://www.ofri.org.il/Article-451,1314-Alternative-Learning-Imparting-Skills-through-Tailoring-The-MASHAV-Perspective.aspx
Heroes to Heroes. U.S. female war veterans with
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are receiving healing in Israel. Heroes
to Heroes, a New Jersey-based nonprofit, organizes trips to Israel that provide
emotional and spiritual healing for groups of 10 vets. They meet former IDF
women who have been through rehabilitation.
The Pakistan Israel Alliance. Pakistani 'Muslim Zionist'
Noor Dahri launched the Pakistan Israel Alliance (PIA) at the Glasgow Friends
of Israel Conference in Scotland. The PIA seeks to build bridges between
Pakistanis and Israelis, and between Muslims and Jews. Also a recent
interesting article from Noor.
Earthquake-proof desks for Taiwan. Israel has donated 117
tables that provide shelter during earthquakes to schools in the Taiwanese city
of Tainan that was struck by an earthquake earlier this year. The tables were
designed by an Israeli student and his teacher at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy
of Arts and Design.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Israeli bees are doing OK. While global honeybee
populations have declined, Israeli bees are holding steady. Reasons include Israeli research into Colony
Collapse Disorder, boosting bee immune systems, developing nectar-rich plants,
Israeli Honey Board support for beekeepers, eradicating Varroa mites and
planting 100,000 seedlings to give bees a varied diet. http://www.israel21c.org/how-israel-is-saving-the-honeybees/
Sidekix expands to 60 cities. (TY Hazel) When I reported
previously (Jun 19)
on Israeli urban on-foot iPhone navigation app Sidekix, it was available in 15
cities. Today it can be used in 60
cities in the US, UK, Europe and Israel and is growing at a rate of about five
cities per month. An Android version is also planned.
The world’s smartest building. Intel Israel is building what it claims will be the world’s
smartest building. The 34,000-square-meter R&D center in Petach Tikva will
contain thousands of smart sensors to control security, lighting, climate, recycling,
parking, presentations, restaurants and coffee for 2500 employees.
Heat-resistant apricots. Israeli scientists at Israel's
Agricultural Research Organization (better known as the Volcani Institute) have
identified a genetic mechanism in apricots that controls temperature
sensitivity. Starting with apricots, they are now developing varieties of crops
that thrive in temperatures where previously they couldn’t even grow. http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/science/1.746880
Helping build a smart
city in Kenya.
(TY Atid-EDI,
NoCamels
and Karen) Tel Aviv municipality has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
the Government of Kenya to collaborate on the $14.5 billion development of Konza
- a new “techno city” in south-eastern Kenya. Kenyans will train at three Tel
Aviv Global initiatives. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4864885,00.html
Artificially Intelligent marketing. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israeli marketing analytics developer Datorama provides an end-to-end marketing
analytics solution for business users. Its Marketing Integration Engine uses
Artificial Intelligence (AI) to connect online and offline data. Datorama has
just raised $32 million to fund more R&D.
Add any A/C appliance onto the Internet. (TY Atid-EDI) I reported
previously (Jun
2014) about Israel’s Sensibo which allows you to control your
air-conditioning from any location. Now
it has launched Sensibo Inside that allows OEMs and distributors to turn any A/C
appliance into a smart IoT (Internet of Things) device.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160913005286/en/Sensibo-Announces-Launch-Sensibo-Partnership-Blue-Star https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E-TeU3H3C4
Less air and water pollution. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection has reported reductions of up to
52% in the emissions of air pollutants by 540 of the biggest enterprises in Israel
between 2012-2015. The flow of pollutants into the Mediterranean also
dramatically decreased between 2012-2015.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
The 2nd most
innovative country.
(TY Israellycool)
Business Insider has rounded up the 15 highest ranked countries in the world
for innovation, based on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness
Report on the state of the world’s economies.
Based on this, tiny Israel is ranked second in the world!
Cofix opens first Russian coffee shop. (TY Dan) Israel’s
“everything at 5-shekels” coffee shops are about to take Russia by storm. Moscow’s first Cofix charges just 50 rubles for
any menu item. The average price for a cup of coffee in Russia is 200 rubles (245
rubles at Starbucks). Cofix plans to open 1000 Russian shops.
Samsung opens NEXT Tel Aviv office. Samsung Global Innovation
Center has opened a “NEXT” branch in Tel Aviv to invest in Israeli early-stage
technologies and software developers. The South Korean conglomerate has set up similar
offices in South Korea, San Francisco and New York in order to stay ahead of
competition.
$250 million to invest in Israeli
medical tech.
Chinese IT corporation Neusoft and Israeli-Chinese private equity fund
Infinity Group are jointly to set up a $250 million fund to invest in Israeli
medical technologies over the next three years. They will also provide access
to Chinese clients and the Chinese equivalent of the US FDA. http://www.timesofisrael.com/chinese-israeli-fund-to-invest-250m-in-med-tech/
Calling tourists from India and China. Visitors to Israel from
India and China rises by 10-13% each year. But Israel’s Tourism Ministry wants
more than double the 40,000 Indians and 47,000 Chinese by 2018. Its $1.6
million campaign in India portrays Israel’s uniqueness, culture, lifestyle and
haven for vegetarians.
Funds flow in for Israeli startups. (TY Atid-EDI) In just
a two-week period, the following Israeli startups raised a total of $217
million. WSC Sports ($12m); Datorama
($32m – see above); Cato Networks ($30m); Claroty ($32m); CTERA ($25m);
Applause ($35m); Optimove (20m); Totango ($8m); Tipalti ($14m); Zeekit ($9m);
Unfortunately, there isn’t sufficient space here for more details of what these
startups do.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
A model for public
gardens. (TY Geoffrey) The Social and Environmental
Hub at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens is unique. Israeli co-founders Lior
Gottesman and Adi Bar-Yoseph travel to international conferences to speak about
public gardens as agents of social empowerment.
World swuggling record. (TY Hazel) Over 10,000 participants took part in the annual
open-water Sea of Galilee Swim. That wasn’t a record – but Shahar Cohen’s
backstroke to cover the 3.5-km distance while juggling three balls, was
sufficient to break the world “swuggling” (swimming while juggling) record.
Israeli drama goes to Brooklyn. (TY ILTV) The co-creator of Friends, Marta Kauffman, is turning hit
Israeli TV drama series “Shtisel”, into “Emmis” and setting it in Brooklyn,
USA. The US version will be shown on Amazon Prime. It will closely resemble its
Israeli parent, but will do more to explain Orthodox ritual to non-Jewish
viewers. http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-hit-drama-shtisel-heads-to-us/
Brazilian dance comes to Israel. The Opera House, Tel Aviv is hosting the Israeli Premiere of "Baila
Brazil" from Nov 2 – 5. The Balé de rua ("Street
Ballet" in English) dance company, founded by three friends from the
slums and favelas, is wowing audiences all over the world in a show pulsating with
Brazilian soul. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_76fRzyxQo
39th Kinneret bike race. The annual “Round the Kinneret”
(Sovev Kinneret) bike race takes place on Nov 5. The complete course is 65km,
but shorter courses can be done. http://igoogledisrael.com/events/sovev-kinneret/
THE JEWISH STATE
Happy Succot from the IDF. This IDF commander knows
what the Jewish festival of Succot means.
A giraffe ate my lulav. Melanie Lidman, from the
Times of Israel Lulav and Etrog African Delivery Service, tried to take a
selfie, holding the four species at the Giraffe Center near Nairobi, Kenya. As she
was grinning into the camera and handing out food pellets, a giraffe deftly
plucked out the myrtle and willow branches.
9 beautiful Israeli sukkot. They may be “temporary”
dwellings, but these sukkot are something special. President Rivlin’s, Waldorf
Astoria Jerusalem, Inbal Jerusalem, Kibbutz Lotan, Kibbutz Tirat Zvi, Aish
HaTorah Jerusalem, Tel Aviv municipality, Samaritan community and Holon
municipality.
Ex-anti-Semitic leader to make Aliya. I wrote previously (Sep
2013) that Csanad Szegedi, former, vice-president of Hungary’s anti-Semitic
Jobbik party, discovered he was Jewish, abandoned Jobbik and visited Israel. He
is now making Aliya. http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Former-antisemitic-Hungarian-MP-who-discovered-Jewish-roots-to-make-aliya-468386
Where the Romans breached Jerusalem’s
wall. (TY
JNi.Media) Archeologists have been excavating the site for the new campus of Jerusalem’s
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. In the remains of the wall surrounding
Jerusalem, they found weapons and scores of sling stones that the Romans fired
from catapults 2000 years ago.
Thousands of pilgrims
visit Israel.
The Feast of Tabernacles attracts huge numbers of Christian pilgrims who
fulfil the Biblical command that all nations should go up to Jerusalem to
celebrate the festival. This year the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem
brought numerous foreign government officials to Israel, along with 5,000
Christian pilgrims. http://www.timesofisrael.com/thousands-march-in-jerusalem-in-support-of-israel/
A sukkah on a camel. Thanks Sharon for sending this
report on the scenes in Jerusalem during Succot (Tabernacles) but especially
for the picture of a sukkah (tabernacle / booth) on a camel.
Children fall from windows – land in
sukka booths. In two separate incidents in the
Israeli city of Elad, two children fell from windows in their houses and were
saved by the sukkahs (Tabernacles – ritual booths) that their neighbors had
built in the apartment below.
161016
In the 16th Oct 16 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
Israeli
researchers have discovered a key trigger for secondary cancer.
·
Israeli
hospitals are now treating sick Syrians as well as wounded.
·
Israel’s
work in gender equality has been recognized by a key UN organization.
·
Israeli engineers
have built the first of a new generation of speed boat.
·
Shanghai
hosted the first GoforIsrael conference outside Israel.
·
Queen
rocks Tel Aviv.
·
3D scans
reveal the text of Leviticus in a 1500-year-old burnt Dead Sea scroll.
·
Click here
to see the 9th Oct newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Ruthfully
Yours and United
With Israel with additional features on Health
and Sport,
. Also (TY Sandra) available in German
and (TY Karen) available in Portuguese.
TY also to Norbert for translating my blog “Israel is in Europe too“ into French. Please pass relevant links onto German,
Portuguese and French-speaking readers.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Beating cancer’s
resistance to treatment. Researchers at Israel Technion have
discovered how the cancer sufferer’s own body fights the treatment, strengthens
tumors and causes them to spread (metastasis). Now they are working on various
ways to inhibit the body’s response to anti-cancer treatments.
New metabolic way to resist viruses. New international research,
led by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has discovered which of the body’s metabolic
processes viruses rely on. It should lead to treatments that target the genetic
switches (protein receptors in cells) that sense and control those processes.
Defective gene causes Alzheimer’s. (TY Jeffrey & Nevet) Researchers from Tel Aviv
University say that in laboratory tests they have successfully treated the
defective gene ApoE4, responsible for 60% of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/in-israel/education-and-society/israeli-researchers-may-have-found-alzheimers-treatment-24047
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/218678
Fighting obesity with plate designs. Israeli entrepreneur Dror
Tamir and his wife Dr Liat Zivan have developed a low-tech idea for reducing
levels of obesity. “Plate my Meal” is a set of 5 plates for children, showing
which foods to serve at various mealtimes and for snacks. In English, Hebrew,
Arabic or Persian.
100 million UK prescriptions. (TY Hazel) UK Under-Secretary
of State for Health David Mowat said that if Israeli produce was boycotted, it would
put 100 million National Health Service prescriptions at risk. “Banning these
supplies would most likely cause significant shortages of some medicines
important for patient health”
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Global race to save boy’s hand. Surgeons managed to
re-attach the finger of a little boy who suffered an accident in Northern
Israel. But they needed a medical
instrument that was not available in Israel to finish the procedure. Via Israeli charity Ezer Mizion a volunteer
brought the device from New York and the boy’s hand was saved. http://www.ezermizion.org/blog/linked-to-life/
Israeli hospitals
treat sick Syrians. (TY Hazel) Up to now, Israeli
hospitals have treated thousands of Syrians who have been wounded in their
civil war. Israel has now decided to extend treatment to internally-displaced
Syrians who need basic medical care. 42
Syrian children from Quneitra arrived at hospitals in northern Israel.
Israeli utopian designs hit London. (TY SDM)
"Utopia by Design” is the theme of the first London Design Biennale. “AIDrop”
from Yaniv Kadosh of Israel’s Shenkar College employs self-rotating units to
drop cartons of supplies over disaster zones. Sharona Merlin’s “Louder” comprises
speakers for the deaf that translate sound into visual textures and floor
vibrations. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4851733,00.html
http://www.londondesignbiennale.com/participants
(Click on Israel in second link)
Drink wine to support charities. Israel’s socializing, fundraising
concept “Wine Wednesday” has raised over $21,000 in Israel for women’s
empowerment, at-risk youth, the disabled and other social causes. Now it’s gone
global with 15 cities hosting Wine Wednesday events – all donating the $10
entrance fee to the specific charity.
How Israel became the global center of
veganism. Israel
is the most vegan country on Earth, with a full five percent of its population
eschewing all animal products - more than double that in 2010. There are over
400 “vegan-friendly” restaurants. Even the IDF offers animal-free food, boots,
and berets to vegan soldiers.
US Police delegation visits Israel. 52 police officers from 7 US states spent a week in Israel. They trained
with Israeli units, saw Israel’s state-of-the-art police academy, and held a
ceremony at Jerusalem’s 9/11 memorial. They included members of Police Unity
Tour – formed to honor police who made the ultimate sacrifice.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/US-police-delegation-visits-Israel-to-learn-counter-terrorism-techniques-hold-911-ceremony-467277 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSObYsI0Mhc
Miami innovators in Israel. (TY Dan) A delegation of
influential Miami entrepreneurs and leaders in the tech start-up community has
just visited Israel with AJC Project Interchange (American Jewish Committee),
to learn from the country's thriving tech and innovation sector, while sharing
best practices and making connections.
Understanding China’s Parliament. (TY Dan) Knesset Speaker
Yuli Edelstein signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China’s Zhang Dejiang
- chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. They
pledged to strengthen cooperation between parliaments and to share knowledge in
fields such as legislation and the environment.
http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/76003/high-ranking-chinese-official-signs-memorandum-understanding-visit-israel/#Ywu4TYaSJwSAuirt.97
Agreement with UN
women. Israel has signed a cooperation agreement
with United Nations Women - the world body’s institution for the empowerment of
women. Ambassador Danny Danon said Israel will, “now receive the international
recognition we deserve for our leadership in gender equality”.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Water from air – using less energy. (TY SDM and NoCamels.com )
Scientists at Israel’s Technion have designed a low-energy system for
harvesting safe drinking water from air. It uses a liquid desiccant to separate
water vapor from air and then condenses just the vapor. It saves up to 65% of
the energy of current systems.
http://nocamels.com/2016/09/drinking-water-from-air/ http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.6b01280
Breaking the waves. Researchers at Israel’s
Technion and Israel’s Sela Ltd. have rewritten engineering rules to build the
Dganit - a boat that is lighter, faster, more durable and uses less fuel. The
design stops waves from the “slamming” effect that causes stress. Combined with
a polyurea coating, it allows the use of thinner plates.
Intelligent video analysis. Israeli video analytics startup
Agent Video Intelligence can help monitor cities, infrastructure, transport and
stores. Its sensors automatically analyze, detect and search massive files of video
data through its cloud interface. Agent Vi has just received $7m funding to
help it expand in Asia and Europe.
Rothschild Blvd becomes Innovation Blvd. Trendy Rothschild Boulevard
was transformed into “Innovation boulevard” on Sep 27 as part of Tel Aviv’s Digital-Life-Design
(DLD) conference. It showcased interactive and virtual reality displays,
robots, talking trees, video and street art, music tech and 3D textiles.
Smartphone repairer does home visits. Israeli startup MOBILAB gets
you a trusted technician to fix your smartphone at home or the office. Use their
app (if your phone is still working), or their website. Available in Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Bnei Brak
and Givatayim, it will soon expand to the rest of the country and maybe internationally.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-app-brings-smartphone-repair-to-the-home/
http://themobilab.com/
(Hebrew-only site)
Helping Panama save water. A delegation of Panama’s
water sector decision makers came to Israel to see its technology and strategy
for making best use of its water resources.
They were most impressed with Israel’s central control of water and also
focused on Israel’s water reclamation, treatment and purification systems.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Economy is growing faster. The estimated growth of Israel’s economy has been revised upwards
again. Growth in the second quarter is
now calculated at 4.2% (revised from 4%).
Exports of goods and services increased by 13.7%. Private consumption
increased by 7.2% and investments in fixed assets soared 13.4%.
Maryland delegation to Israel. (TY Bennett) Maryland Governor
Larry Hogan led a trade delegation of around 25 private-sector representatives
to Israel. Successful business transactions included a partnership with
Cyberbit for a cybersecurity training center in Baltimore that will employ
about 100 people.
Your story becomes art. Israeli startup Dreame
allows you to commission your own work of art from a professional artist, based
on a personal story (real, imaginary or a dream) or photo that you submit. You select from Dreame’s network of 500
artists across 60 countries who e-mails you the JPG image within 10 days.
100 Israeli hi-techs
at Shanghai conference. 100 Israeli companies attended the
GoforIsrael 2016 conference in Shanghai, China. Matching Israeli R&D with
Chinese manufacturing was seen as a win-win scenario. It was the first time in
its 16 years that the conference was held outside of Israel.
Haifa to Acre, by cruise ship. Israel’s Ministry of Tourism
has spent NIS 11 million upgrading the ports of Haifa and Acre and has
inaugurated a new mini-cruise liner service between them. The service leaves Acre at 10am and 3pm,
returning from Haifa at 11am and 4pm.
The ship can carry up to 200 passengers.
Find your lost fortune. (TY Janglo)
The Bank of Israel has a new website, Har Hakesef2, which lets you search for
lost bank accounts and pension funds.
Enter your Teudat Zehut number, and then fill in the date that it was
issued and a few other identifying questions. You can do the same for relatives
that have passed away.
Why do multinationals use Israel for
R&D? (TY
OurCrowd)
Top executives from Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other multinational
companies recently gave their reasons for choosing Israel for their Research
& Development centers. They included the Israelis’ creativity, talent,
problem-solving, chutzpah, and “magic”.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Reasons to love Israel in the fall
(autumn).
(TY Janglo)
Israel21c has produced a compilation of uniquely Israeli things to enjoy at
this time of year. It features apples
& honey, migrating birds, hiking, biking, the first rains of the season,
perfect sunsets, restful Jewish festivals, and entertaining festivals of
culture. Enjoy!
Science Fiction festival. The 20th Icon Festival for
Science Fiction, Fantasy and Role-Playing takes place in Tel Aviv on 18-20
October. Guests include British Sci-Fi author Charles Strauss and actor John de
Lancie who plays Q in Star Trek. http://2016.iconfestival.org.il/about/en/
Queen’s Tel Aviv
concert. (TY
Janglo)
Rock legend Queen and new front man Adam Lambert played Tel Aviv's HaYarkon
Park in front of 50,000 fans. The concert was a KILLER! There are many youtube videos of the concert
available, but this one (TY Scosash) captured a unique event – Brian May
playing Hava Nagila!
Sophia Loren’s Tel Aviv show. (TY SDM)
Italian actress Sophia Loren is coming to Tel Aviv’s Mann Auditorium on Nov 25
as part of her one-woman worldwide tour. The 81-year-old Loren will share
memories of her Hollywood career and her life in Italy, play clips of her
favorite scenes and answer audience questions.
The Eilat International marathon. Register now for Israel’s
unique Desert Marathon, taking place in Eilat on Nov 18. http://desertrun.co.il/en/
THE JEWISH STATE
Hispanic pastors in support of Israel. Around 160 pastors from the Hispanic
Israel Leadership Coalition (HILC) went to the Israeli Embassy in Washington to
“strategize practical ways to help the Jewish state”, and to “witness for
themselves the great miracles that God has wrought, just as the Bible
promised."
Yom Kippur features on new Israeli
stamps. (TY
Jacob) Israeli stamps issued in September include Yom Kippur poem, Parables of
the Sages, Israel-Bulgaria joint issue on bird migration and Seasons in Israel.
Californian meets Israeli blood brother. Leukemia sufferer Jacob had
5 siblings, but none was a suitable bone marrow match. Through Ezer Mizion’s
International Jewish Bone Marrow Registry, he found a donor - Israeli Royi
Horowitz - a perfect stranger. Read the moving account of when Jacob met Royi.
1st century gold coin found in
Jerusalem. A
rare 56-57 CE gold coin, bearing the image of Roman Emperor Nero, was found by
archeologists from University of North Carolina at Charlotte on Mount Zion, Jerusalem.
It was found in ancient rubble outside the ruins of the first-century Jewish
villas that the team were excavating.
Deciphering a burnt
ancient scroll.
The text of a burnt scroll unearthed in 1970 in Ein Gedi by the Dead Sea
has now been deciphered by researchers in Kentucky and Jerusalem using high
resolution 3D scanning. Without
unwrapping, the scroll contains the Torah book Leviticus – its text unchanged
for at least 1500 years.
211 immigrants arrive from Ukraine. Following an increase of hostilities on the Russian-Ukrainian
border, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) brought a
flight of 211 new Ukrainian immigrants to Israel. It is the 19th flight sponsored
by the IFCJ since hostilities broke out in 2014.
161009
In the 9th Oct 16 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
Israeli
scientists can prevent fatal infections by “fooling” the bacteria.
·
A
Druze-Arab school is Israel’s top high school for the second year in a row.
·
The day
after Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti, Israelis were there saving lives.
·
Israelis
rescue survivors buried under rubble by detecting their cellphones.
·
Israeli
scientists have produced hydrogen fuel from algae.
·
Masada is
the atmospheric venue for the Tamar music festival.
·
A group of
US Jews were inspired into action by an encounter on Mount Herzl.
·
Click here
to see the 2nd Oct newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Ruthfully
Yours, Janglo
and United
With Israel with an additional feature on Entertainment.
Also (TY Sandra) available in German
and (TY Karen) available in Portuguese.
Please promote the terrific work of these volunteers by passing their links
onto German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking readers.
Page Down for details on these and more
good news stories from Israel. Thank You
to all who have sent me links to many of these positive news articles. Please
use IsraelActive to search the
archives.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Fighting bacteria with
decoys. Scientists
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered how bacteria bind with
immune system receptors to cause an immune storm, leading to sepsis or fatal
toxic shock. The scientists have
designed new peptides that act as decoys, stopping the bacteria from binding
with the receptors.
Preventing painful operations. The US FDA has just approved
the Aqueduct 100, from Israel’s Aqueduct Medical. The device alleviates the pain
and potential complications that millions of women experience from cervical
dilation prior to intrauterine procedures. It avoids anesthesia or an operating
room environment.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-aqueduct-gets-fda-nod-for-cervical-device/
http://www.aqdmedical.com/
Europe approves suturing system. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Gordian Surgical received CE clearance for its TroClose1200™, an
innovative system for inserting surgical instruments into the abdomen and
for the stitching of abdominal wall incisions during keyhole surgical
procedures.
Israelis win Columbia U’s Horwitz prize. Columbia University’s 2016
Horwitz Prize goes to Howard Cedar and Aharon Razin of the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem and America’s Gary Felsenfeld for their work on how molecules can
regulate the structure, behavior, and activity of DNA. Their research formed
the epigenetics field of biology. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/217497
Echocardiogram project wins research
award. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s DiaCardio and South Carolina’s VidiStar have won a South
Carolina-Israel research and development award. They will jointly develop a
fully-automated echocardiogram (echo) examination and reporting system.
Recognizing autism in the genes. Researchers at Ben-Gurion
University have discovered that autism genes have the distinct characteristic
of being exceptionally long. The study provides a tool to help identify
additional autism genes, and from there hopefully to be able to diagnose autism
earlier.
Mayo Clinic and IDC entrepreneur
program. US
nonprofit medical practice and research center Mayo Clinic is joining forces
with the IDC Herzliya to develop new medical technologies. The one-year
full-time IDCBeyond graduate program includes studies in technology,
biomedicine, globalization and sustainability.
Treating selective mutism. (TY Chani) The charity Ezer
Mizion organized a workshop into the subject of selective mutism – where
children refuse to speak or only with their immediate family. Hundreds of parents, teachers and therapists
attended, hearing from experts who achieve results using unique or tailored
methods. http://www.ezermizion.org/blog/selective-mutism/
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Ethiopian-Israelis bring their dreams to
life. (TY Sharon)
In 2002, there were only four Ethiopian-Israelis working in the Israeli
high-tech scene. Today, over 400 young Ethiopian-Israeli professionals are
pursuing careers in Israeli high-tech firms, thanks to training by Tech-Career -
an NGO founded on Kibbutz Nachshon.
Perlman inspires $2 million for
disabled.
When Israeli violinist Itzhak Perlman donated his $1 million Genesis
Prize to disabled projects, it inspired a matching $1 million grant from the
“Breaking Barriers” program of the Jewish Funders Network. Another $1 million
was donated by Roman Abramovich.
http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/New-3-million-fund-for-Jewish-people-with-disabilities-honors-Itzhak-Perlman-467533 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3UJLGZW9dA
Druze school comes top
again. (TY Atid-EDI) For
the second year in a row, the Galilee Druze town of Beit Jann achieved the
highest rate (99%) of students passing the high school matriculation exam. The
Arab village of Abu al-Hija, outside Karmiel, came in second.
BBC features Haredi in hi-tech. (TY Eli) The BBC has
highlighted the increasing number of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews who
are proving successful in Israel's tech start-up sector. Quite positive for the BBC.
Citi invests NIS 1.5 million in
Israeli-Arab startups. (TY Bennett) The Citi Foundation is investing
around NIS 1.5 million in PresenTense Israel, a company that encourages social
entrepreneurship and technology in Israel’s minorities and the disabled. It
will help PresenTense’s programs for Israeli-Arabs in Haifa and Jaffa.
Getting together – over backgammon. (TY Karen) Israeli Jews and
Palestinian Arabs participated in a 4-night backgammon (or “shesh besh”)
tournament in Jerusalem. 150 attended
the first night and even more on the second.
Different perceptions of the rules caused endless light-hearted
disputes, but no conflict.
A Palestinian Arab doctor shares his
experiences.
Wisam al-Jamal, a Palestinian Arab doctor from Hebron, writes about his work
in an Israeli hospital.
How an Afghan baby came to Israel. Yehia (nicknamed Yaya) is
the 16-month-old son of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan and is a walking
miracle. Pediatric cardiologists from Israel’s Save a Child’s Heart performed a
complex eight-hour operation on Yaya on July 31. The story of Yaya’s journey to
Israel is fascinating.
Building horticulture in Rwanda. (TY Dan) Israeli Foreign
Ministry’s MASHAV (Agency for International Development Cooperation) is
constructing the Rwanda-Israel Center of Excellence for Horticultural
Development near Kigali. It will serve as a hub for agricultural training, using
Israeli farming technologies.
Israelis in Haiti rush
to help victims of Hurricane Matthew. Responders
from Israeli aid organization IsraAID and local partner Prodev rushed to help
survivors of Hurricane Matthew that devastated Haiti. They were the first to
provide food and water for 200 children at Cite Soleil in Port-Au-Prince.
Thanks from Louisiana flood victims. (TY Karen) The ten-person team from IsraAID was the only foreign
organization in Louisiana aiding flood victims.
They related the gratitude of Louisianans for Israel’s role in recovery
efforts, especially that they had come such a long way to help them.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Your phone can save
your life. (TY Dan) When a Tel Aviv garage
collapsed, rescue workers used Res-Q-Cell from Israel Aerospace Industries to
detect trapped victims by locating their cellphones. The system sends out signals that activate
and detect cellular devices, even when cellular networks collapse.
Making sense of security. (TY Dan) Israel’s Lisa Dolev
of Qylur Intelligent Systems, is the inventor of the Qylatron – a security
scanner with multiple sensors that was used at the Rio Olympics. Visitors scan
their ticket and put their bag into one of five cubbyholes. If the bag is safe,
they collect it at the other side of the barrier.
360-degree body scanner. Meanwhile, (TY Dan) the
EasyCheck system from Israel’s Camero will detect any illegal objects concealed
on a person. No need to remove coats,
shoes etc.
Purifying water in the Philippines. (TY Dan) The San Fernando
Water District in the Philippines supplies clean and safe water after it
adopted Israeli ultraviolet water technology worth $4 million. The UV systems
from Israel’s Atlantium (see
here) purify water far better than chlorine at lower cost with no chemical
residue.
Smart lighting in Montreal. (TY Atid-EDI) The T-Light
communications platform from Israel’s Telematics has been selected to be
implemented for a control and monitoring solution for 132,500 street lights in
the city of Montreal. In addition to lighting control, its sensors will detect
snow, water pipe leakage and sewage overflow.
Speeding up fast food delivery. (TY Dan) The Algo Dispatching
System from Dragontail Systems is a "super manager" used by Pizza Hut
and Israel’s Burgeranch chains. It determines when orders should be made and
delivered, rather than purely on a first come first served basis. Dragontail intends to list on the Australian
ASX market. http://www.afr.com/technology/israeli-restaurant-tech-company-dragontail-systems-targets-asx-ipo-20160824-gr0cc4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEqFvajBAF0 http://www.dragontailsystems.com/
More effective drone photography. (TY Atid-EDI)
Drones are increasingly being used for aerial photography and Israel’s Datumate
has developed the tablet app Datufly to save up to 80% of field surveying time
and eliminate follow-up site visits.
Two million better eyes. I reported on Israel’s
GlassesOff several times previously. (see here) The number of users
of the GlassesOff’s app has just reached 1 million users globally. The app
reduces “vision-age” on average by 8.6 years.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/app-trains-your-brain-to-dispense-with-reading-glasses/
IBM Alpha Zone’s 5th class. I included previously (see here) articles about IBM’s
Alpha Zone accelerator. Its fifth class offers a 20-week program to help Israeli
startups build solutions for the enterprise market. It will focus on cloud, big
data & analytics, mobile, Internet of Things and solutions powered by
cognitive computing,
100 schools to study space science. (TY Atid-EDI) Ramon
Space Lab program, which ran as a pilot in 12 Israeli schools last year, will be
rolled out to 100 Israeli schools in the current year. Thousands of Israeli
middle school students will study space science and some will launch
experiments at the International Space Station.
Global STEM conference in Jerusalem. The Israel Sci-Tech Schools,
a network of science and technology educational institutions in Israel, will
hold an international conference in November in Jerusalem to focus on
correcting global deficiencies in the education of science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Hydrogen from algae. (TY Nevet) I’ve previously reported articles
about Israelis producing hydrogen fuel.
Now Tel Aviv University’s Dr. Iftach Yacoby has genetically altered
single-celled algae, which naturally emit hydrogen throughout the day, allowing
the organism to increase its efficiency to five times its natural ability.
Look who’s working with Israel. Israeli scientists are
reportedly participating with colleagues from Pakistan, Iran, Egypt and Jordan
on a $100 million project in Amman to develop the Middle East’s new particle
accelerator - the Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications (known
as SESAME).
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Another record currency reserves. Israel’s reserves of foreign
currency increased in September by $789 million to a new all-time record of
$98.415 billion.
More investment in Israeli Wi-Fi chips. Tens of millions of Wi-Fi
chipsets from Israel’s Celeno are used by service providers in home gateways,
routers and set-top boxes to deliver Wi-Fi speed, coverage and reliability. (See here) Celeno has just raised
$38 million to fund R&D and raise global presence.
Underwriting cybersecurity insurance. Israeli startup Cybewrite is
helping to underwrite the new business of cyber-insurance - policies that cover
companies in the event of a cybersecurity breach. Cybewrite’s cloud-based
platform estimates the risk to the insurer, decides the type of coverage to offer
and the premium to set.
Israel wines featured. (TY Nevet) The wines of Israel feature in
the October issue of The Wine Spectator.
http://www.winespectator.com/magazine/show/id/53591
http://www.winespectator.com/magazine/show/id/53587
The drone race is on. (TY Dan) There are close to
40 Israeli commercial drone startups – most of which were established in the
last three years. This excellent article
summarizes the different categories and companies.
Turning pubs into offices. Daniel Rubin and Doron Maman
have launched PubHub at Rosa Parks Bar in Tel Aviv. The night-time bar is converted into
co-working office space during the day. Their second location at planned to
open early November. http://www.geektime.com/2016/09/12/tech-on-tap-pubhub-is-converting-tel-avivs-night-time-bars-into-daytime-office-space-for-lean-startups/
Nano Dimension to open new factory. (TY Atid-EDI) I’ve
reported (here) on
Israel’s Nano Dimension and its amazing nano-inks and 3D printers. It is to open a new production facility,
co-located at its HQ in Ness Ziona, that will increase its commercial growth.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Tamar festival of
music. The
annual Tamar Festival (Oct 17-20) near the Dead Sea is one of Israel’s largest
music festivals. It features sunrise
concerts on the top of Masada and a free concert at Kibbutz Ein Gedi. There are also hikes, tours and children’s
activities. http://www.tamarfestival.com/tamar-festival
Rockefeller exhibits Ashkelon treasures. The often overlooked
Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in Eastern Jerusalem is featuring an exhibit
entitled “Ashkelon: A Retrospective 30 Years of the Leon Levy Expedition”. It
displays, for the first time, marble statues, coins, jewelry, figurines, and
pottery from the 5000-year history of Ashkelon. http://www.imj.org.il/exhibitions/presentation/exhibit/?id=1103
Jerusalem’s Hebrew Music Museum. Laurent Levy and Eldad Levy
(from the tribe of Levy) both had a vision of creating an interactive,
state-of-the-art museum in the heart of Jerusalem that would celebrate Jewish
music. Five years ago they met and started planning the museum. Today, it attracts 1000 visitors a month.
Craig David’s comeback continues in
Israel. 2016
is proving a busy year for singer Craig David. In April he performed in Tel
Aviv and made his first visit to Jerusalem. Craig’s manager Colin Lester is a
board member of the charitable organization Creative Community for Peace that
promotes the arts in Israel and counters BDS.
THE JEWISH STATE
A Native American Jew in the IDF. Benjamin Barmeyer of Texas,
22, of Native American descent, is among the diverse pool of young people from
abroad who have chosen to join the Israel Defense Forces.
The cost of a Jewish education. (TY Janglo)
While a top-quality Jewish education in Israel typically costs around $1000 per
year, day school tuition in the US is a lot more – many over $30,000 per child. It’s enough to make you want to go on
Aliya. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jJF9icyyd5jMqY-pm06QbJqqAKXe0b9X-1-DOzbo4yk/htmlview?sle=true
An inspirational
encounter. (TY
Avi)
A group of American Jews were visiting Mount Herzl where many young Israeli
soldiers are buried. Their Rabbi
explained how devastating it is for parents to lose a child. Then they came
across the mother of fallen soldier Erez Deri and her story inspired them into action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1g8JlG3aRQ
Research prize on Jews from Muslim
countries.
Israel is launching an annual NIS 150,000 prize for research into the
history of the 850,000 Jews that fled Arab lands and Iran and settled in the
newly founded State of Israel. It will be awarded on Nov 30 – the day after the
UN 1947 partition plan that triggered the mass exodus.
Welcome to the home of the Jewish
People. A
quirky, humorous video summary of the various civilizations that have laid
claim to the Land of Israel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrBEImNCHFo
121002
In the 2nd Oct 16 edition of Israel’s
good news, the highlights include:
·
Israeli
scientists have found the gene vital to preventing ALS.
·
The first
Arab to be appointed legal advisor to an Israeli ministry.
·
An Israeli
leads the fight against wildlife poaching in Africa.
·
An Israeli
company has developed the fastest ever computer storage.
·
In the
last two years the UN doubled its purchases from Israel.
·
Morrissey
gave two acclaimed concerts in Israel.
·
The Israel
Museum is exhibiting artifacts from the Valley of David and Goliath.
·
Click here
to see the 25th Sept newsletter on IsraelSeen,
Ruthfully
Yours, Janglo
and United
With Israel with features on Health,
Global
Impact and Technology.
Also (TY Sandra) available in German
and (TY Karen) available in Portuguese.
Please promote the terrific work of these volunteers by passing their links
onto German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking readers.
Page Down for details on these and more
good news stories from Israel. Thank You
to all who have sent me links to many of these positive news articles. Please
use IsraelActive to search the
archives.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
The gene that protects
against ALS.
Researchers from Ben-Gurion University have discovered the gene MIF that
stops the protein superoxide dismutase (SOD1) from misfolding and then killing
motor neurons, leading to ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) or Lou Gehrig’s
disease.
Lupus treatment works in lower doses. (TY Atid-EDI) I
reported previously (Mar
2014) about hCDR1 from Israeli biotech XTL for treating Lupus (Systemic
Lupus Erythematosus – SLE). Trials have found many cases where low dosages of
hCDR1 are more effective than high ones. XTL have filed new US and European
patents.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/xtl-biopharmaceuticals-announces-new-patent-filing-in-us-for-lupus-drug-hcdr1-589846971.html
http://lupusnewstoday.com/2016/09/08/xtl-biopharmaceuticals-granted-european-union-patent-for-lupus-drug-hcdr1
Successful trials of Tennis Elbow treatment. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Collplant has reported positive results of trials of its Vergenix STR
treatment for inflammation of the elbow tendon - commonly referred to as tennis
elbow. Most of the 40 patients reported
less pain and disability - far better than those just on steroids.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/collplant-reports-positive-final-extended-clinical-trial-results-with-vergenixstr-for-treatment-of-tendinopathy-590460101.html
http://www.collplant.com/
Keeping a watch on Huntington’s disease. Israel’s Teva is to work with
Intel Corp. to develop a wearable device combined with a machine learning
platform to try and improve treatment for Huntington’s disease. A smartwatch and smartphone will continuously
measure the severity of the motoric symptoms.
Predicting heart attacks and strokes. (TY Atid-EDI) I
reported previously on Israel’s Zebra Medical Vision which can identify
patients at early risk of osteoporosis, cardiac disease, liver disease etc.
Zebra has just announced its development of two new software algorithms that
predict cardiovascular events.
A liquid biopsy for cancer. (TY Karen) An interview on
ILTV Daily with Dr Alan Schwebel, President and CEO of Israel’s BioView, which
I reported on previously (see
here). Dr Schwebel describes Bioview’s scanning system for early detection
of cancer cells and identification of the most appropriate treatment.
App connects cancer sufferers. Mobile app “Belong” was
developed by Israeli entrepreneurs who had lost family members to cancer. The app (iOS or Android) allows patients to
share vital information whilst reducing feelings of loneliness and anxiety. It
also provides tips, questions for doctors, and info on medical procedures.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
IDF academic scholarships. (TY Janglo) (TY Janglo)
From October, the IDF will award full academic scholarships to combat soldiers,
immigrants, minorities and the underprivileged upon their discharge. They will be funded from donations to the
IDF. It is hoped to eventually extend the scholarships to all service
personnel.
Jews and Arabs play soccer for peace. A soccer camp for Israeli children
(50 Jews and 50 Arabs) featured a tournament in which the kids were split up
into six different teams, each representing a “world cup” country. The
tournament was all the more unique for being held in the Israeli-Arab town of
Baqa al-Gharbiyye.
First Arab legal
advisor to Government ministry. (TY Karen) 34-year-old Christian Arab Maron
Halifah from Haifa is to become the legal advisor to the Ministry of
Development in the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee, making him the first
Arab ever to occupy the position of a legal advisor in a government office.
Syrian girl goes home after cancer
treatment. (TY Bennett) I reported previously (Apr
10) about the secret operation to get a blood marrow donor for a Syrian
girl being treated for cancer in Israel.
The six-year-old girl has now recovered and has been released from
hospital. http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/08/israeli-doctors-save-syrian-girl-after-security-services-smuggle-out-family-bone-marrow-donor/
Helping Christians and Yazidis in Iraq. (TY Bennett) Israel humanitarian organization IsraAID is operating
in the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI), supporting displaced Christians and
Yazidis living in camps and temporary shelters.
They are distributing blankets, mattresses and other emergency supplies.
Honduras to fight crime with Israeli
tech. President
Juan Orlando Hernandez of Honduras said his country has signed an agreement
with Israel for “cutting-edge technology” to help his army fight organized
crime. Hernandez said the agreement will
be used to battle “the highest levels of crime in the last 15 years.”
UN exhibition of Israeli tech for
Africa. 10
Israeli companies are presenting their innovations to help Africa at a special
exhibition at the UN. They include a portable greenhouse, polluted water
detection technology, a device to produce water from air, solar tech to pump
water and cancer diagnosis technology.
The first visit from the “Forbidden
Kingdom”. (TY
Dan) Lyonpo Yeshey Dorji of Bhutan is the first minister from South Asia’s
“Forbidden Kingdom” to visit the Jewish State.
He attended the graduation of Bhutanese students from the apprenticeship
program of Israel’s AgroStudies and also visited several Israeli farms. Bhutan has
no formal diplomatic relations with Israel.
http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Environment/Bhutanese-minister-Diplomatic-relations-with-Israel-are-possible-466889
Hunting African
wildlife traffickers. I reported previously (Nov
2014) on Israel’s Dr Bill Clark combating poaching in Kenya. Now another
Israeli, Ofir Drori, has launched the EAGLE network and put 1300 poachers
behind bars in Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Benin, Togo, Guinea, Senegal,
Uganda and Madagascar.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
US-Israeli energy center. The United States Department
of Energy is to establish a US-Israel joint energy research center in 2017. Jonathan
Elkind, a DOE official, stated that the center will build on the “extensive
engagement that already exists between our two countries through the US–Israel
Energy Dialogue”.
Iron Dome to protect US forces. (TY Atid-EDI) Rafael
Advanced Defense Systems and Raytheon, its US partner for Iron Dome production,
are working to transform the combat-proven Israeli interceptor into a fully US
system defending forward-deployed US forces from cruise missiles, UAVs,
rockets, artillery and mortars.
Technology for US special forces. (TY Dan) The Florida-Israel
Business Accelerator (FIBA) is to collaborate with the United States Special
Operations Command (SOCOM) on the production of innovative technologies. These
include components, material combinations, simulations, and systems. Also (TY Atid-EDI) FIBA
received $1 million from the State of Florida to attract and develop Israeli
startups in the Tampa Bay area.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160827005003/en/Florida-Israel-Business-Accelerator-Announces-Agreement-United-States http://www.fiba.io/press/the-florida-israel-business-accelerator-receives-1-million-in-funding-from-the-state-of-florida-to-help-attract-and-develop-israeli-startups-in-the-tampa-bay-area/
Robotics program in 300 schools. (TY Atid-EDI) Some
300 elementary schools in Israel will be adding robotics to their curricula for
the 2016-2017 school year under a new initiative by the Education
Ministry. Students will learn how to
code and will receive hands-on experience in operating robots of various
types.
International Robotics prize. I reported previously (May
15) on the success of a Binyamina High School in the FIRST Robotics contest
in the USA. The students then went to
compete in Shanghai where they finished second of 57 international teams with
their robot that balanced on a beam and scored balls into goals.
A smart app for learning English. Israeli startup LinguisTech Solutions. has launched EZSpeak, which
helps users learn to speak English quickly and pronounce it correctly. EZSpeak analyzes the user’s speech and creates
a personalized learning program. LinguisTech is targeting the Chinese and
Spanish-speaking markets.
Superfast storage. (TY Atid-EDI) The amazingly
performance of Flash Storage DSSD has been superseded by Israel’s Plexistor
using breakthrough technology. Labelled
as Software Defined Memory, Non Volatile Memory and Persistent Memory over Fabric
(PMoF). Plexistor’s PMoF Brick achieves staggering speeds.
Using spinach to generate fuel. (TY NoCamels.com) I reported
previously (Apr
10) that Technion-Israel scientists used sunlight to split water into
Hydrogen and Oxygen. They have
progressed further and developed this into a bio-photo-electro-chemical (BPEC) cell,
using a simple membrane extract from spinach leaves.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160922085743.htm
http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12552
Intel uses its Israeli brains. Intel Corp.’s display at the
DLD Tel Aviv Innovation Festival featured futuristic technology from virtual
reality headsets to drones. Maxine
Fassberg, CEO of Intel Israel, said “Intel is the connection between (these)
brains that work daily on futuristic developments and Israel’s ecosystem of
innovation.” http://www.timesofisrael.com/intel-displays-technologies-as-part-of-strategy-shift/
Israelis prompt Apple to boost iPhone
security. Apple has fixed a security weakness in
its mobile operating system, iOS 9.3.5. that was revealed by Israel’s NSO
Group. The flaw allowed malicious
software to track calls and contacts, collect passwords, read texts and emails,
record calls and trace the whereabouts of the user.
Infiltrating the cyber underworld. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s Intsights Cyber Intelligence monitors the dark web to detect potential
attacks, delivering its threat intelligence platform to a substantial number of
leading global enterprise companies in the retail, telecom, manufacturing and
financial sectors. Intsights has just raised $7.5 million of funds. http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-cyber-security-company-intsights-raises-75m-1001149325
Delphi and Mobileye driverless car
partnership. Auto parts and electronics company
Delphi Automotive is joining with Israeli software maker Mobileye to develop a
platform for a fully autonomous car. They
promise to demonstrate the technology at January’s Consumer Electronics Show
and be ready for production in 2019.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Increases to welfare, culture and
science budgets. (TY Atid-EDI)
Israel’s government approved the two-year 2017-2018 state budget setting it at
454 billion shekels ($118 billion) for 2017 and NIS 463 billion ($120 billion)
for 2018. It includes a series of growth
incentives to increase competition and reduce the cost of living.
Israel’s economic growth and global
economic integration. Ambassador Yoram Ettinger’s
latest report makes inspiring reading. http://theettingerreport.com/Overseas-Investments/Israel%E2%80%99s-economic-stability-and-global-economic-in.aspx
Always on the move. (TY Atid-EDI) A
record of 3,623,800 Israelis traveled abroad between January-July 2016 - 14.6%
more than the same period last year. A record 3,350,400 traveled through Ben-Gurion
Airport - 15% higher than in 2015. http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=35601
Huge rise in UN
purchases from Israel. (TY Bennett) The United Nations acquired
goods and services from Israel totaling $91.8 million in 2015 - double the
amount it spent in 2013. 29% of Israeli goods were medical equipment and 17%
were IT and communications equipment. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/UN-aide-services-from-Israel-doubles-in-two-years-464570
Trade with Japan is booming. (TY Dan) Bilateral trade in
goods between Israel and Japan in the first seven months of 2016 rose to $1.4
billion from $1.1 billion in 2015. Japan is Israel's fourth-largest market in
Asia.
Innovating with Italy. (TY Dan) The Innovation
Center of Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo has signed a partnership
agreement with Israel’s Bank Leumi to share commercial and technological expertise
and projects. An agreement with the
Italian Israeli Chamber of Commerce aims to develop contacts for Italian and
Israeli companies. http://www.publicnow.com/view/6A9D50CFE4B3A765E9FC9A0555673FD61395FF35?2016-07-30-03:01:04+01:00-xxx3810
The best crowdfunding of a juvenile
product. The
Indiegogo campaign for the mifold grab-and-go car booster seat raised over $2.4
million (1,665% of funds sought). And I can report that the Israeli-developed
portable car seat was useful for my granddaughter when I drove in the UK
recently.
Freightos buys WebCargoNet. (TY Dan) I reported
previously (Sep
11) that Jerusalem-based Freightos set up the world’s first web market
place for international freight.
Freightos has now bought Barcelona-based air-cargo rate management
provider WebCargoNet creating the “world’s largest freight Big Data database of
over 200 million data points. http://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-freightos-buys-barcelonas-webcargonet/
Massive exit for MassiveImpact. Taiwan’s General Mobile
Corporation (GMobi) is reportedly paying billions of Taiwanese dollars to buy
out Israel’s MassiveImpact, one of the largest performance advertising firms
for mobile in the world. MassiveImpact
reaches over 1 billion users in 190 countries.
Spacecom exits for $285 million. Beijing Xinwei Technology
has bought Israel’s Spacecom Satellite Communications for $285 million.
Spacecom (previously owned by Bezeq) operates the AMOS series of communications
satellites. http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-chinese-co-buys-spacecom-for-285m-1001147947
Hanita coatings exits. (TY Dan) I reported on the
innovative coatings developed by kibbutz-based Hanita previously (Apr
2014). They insulate Whirlpool fridges and produce low cost alloy coatings
for windows. Hanita has just been bought
out by California-based Avery Dennison for $75 million.
Time to get emotional. I reported previously (see here) on Israel’s
Beyond Verbal whose voice technology understands the emotions in human speech
in multiple languages. It has
applications for business, marketing, games, media and more. No wonder Beyond Verbal has just attracted $3
million of Chinese investment.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
70 million downloads. (TY Dan) I reported
previously (Dec
27) on the Pirate Kings mobile game from Israel’s Jelly Button Games. It is
now one of the most popular smartphone games designed in Israel, with 70
million downloads. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4846792,00.html
Morrissey serenades
fans in Tel Aviv and Caesarea. Morrissey, the former front man for British
rockers “The Smiths” was in fine form at the sold-out Bronfman Auditorium in
Tel Aviv. He treated his audience to a
90-minute set, described as a “melancholic dream world drenched in nostalgia”.
Standup comedy in Netanya. You may have read about
British-Israeli comedienne Diana Cass in the Jerusalem Post Metro
and Magazine. Diana has organized an evening of stand-up
comedy on Nov 3rd in Netanya. The funny
thing is that you only find out the address of the venue when you phone for
tickets!
Barbie goes digital. Toy manufacturing giant
Mattel has teamed up with Israeli startup StartApp to help bring the iconic Barbie
doll to an every-day digital "Barbie world." StartApp will develop emojis, stickers,
wallpapers, gifs, avatars, memes and other mobile app themes for the app, which
is available to download.
Fans mob Amar’e Stoudemire. (TY Jamie) Israeli
basketball fans danced with former New York Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire
during a practice open to the public. Stoudemire signed a two-year deal in
August to play for Hapoel Jerusalem. http://www.algemeiner.com/2016/08/28/israeli-fans-mob-dance-with-basketball-player-amare-stoudemire-at-first-jerusalem-team-practice-video/
Harlem Globetrotters return in October. (TY Janglo)
After successful tours of Israel in 2012 and 2014 the Harlem Globetrotters
return to Israel for 4 shows from 18 - 22 Oct.
They visit Tel Aviv, Beer Sheva, Haifa and Jerusalem. http://igoogledisrael.com/2016/09/dont-miss-em-the-harlem-globetrotters-return-to-israel/
Paralympic cyclist wins medals with
Israeli prosthesis.
German Paralympic athlete Denise Schindler won a silver medal in the
women’s cycling road time trial and bronze in the road race at the Rio
Paralympics. She wore a high performance artificial leg 3D-printed by Autodesk,
whose R&D center is in Tel Aviv.
http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Tech/Tel-Aviv-R-and-D-helps-Paralympian-cyclist-in-quest-for-gold-466580
https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics/athlete/denise-schindler
Israel qualifies for World Baseball
Classic. Israel qualified for the World Baseball
Classic for the first time with a 9-1 win over Britain. Israel defeated Britain twice as well as
Brazil to win the four-team qualifier and become the 16th and final team in the
fourth W.B.C., scheduled to begin March 7 in Seoul, South Korea.
THE JEWISH STATE
VR tour of 2nd Temple. (TY Eli) The Western Wall
Heritage Foundation is launching a new virtual reality (VR) experience in the
Western Wall complex. It provides a
virtual tour of the Second Temple, giving visitors an insight into the workings
of the center of Jewish life 2,000 years ago. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Virtual-reality-tour-of-Second-Temple-available-at-Western-Wall-complex-468226#
2000-year-old stone vessel factory
discovered. Archaeologists
from Israel and Malta have unearthed a first century CE workshop in the Galilee
that produced stone vessels. It is evidence of Jewish communities that used
vessels made of stone to avoid religious restrictions associated with using
pottery.
The Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. (TY Avi)
Excellent new video from Stand With Us that silences those who claim that the
Jewish Temple never existed in Jerusalem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UsoOnDpZPg
The valley of David
and Goliath.
(TY Sharon) The Bible Lands Museum
Jerusalem is displaying artifacts from a 3000-year-old two-gated city in an
exhibit called “In the Valley of David and Goliath”. Archeologists identify it as possibly Sha'arayim
('two gates' in Hebrew), mentioned in the story of David and Goliath.
6000 new immigrants this summer. (TY Janglo)
Some 6,000 new immigrants have arrived in Israel over the summer, mostly from Russia,
France, the US, Brazil, and Belarus. The Absorption Ministry has prepared extra
facilities at Ben Gurion airport and in the various absorption centers and
local branches.
World record for wrapping Tefillin – in
Tel Aviv. (TY
Janglo) Chabad set a new world record by getting 262 men to put on tefillin in
10 hours. The fact that this was
achieved in the “secular” city of Tel Aviv is even more amazing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyIqO2VjqIY
Farewell to an innovator. Shimon Peres who died on
Wednesday, urged Israel to embrace innovation, given the lack of natural
resources in the land of milk and honey. Irrespective of his politics, he was
unequivocally respected for his unending energy, optimism and inquisitiveness.
He believed that anything could be achieved if you really tried. http://www.timesofisrael.com/shimon-peres-urged-israel-to-dream-and-innovate/
