On the Jewish
festival of Hanukah, we give thanks for the victory in Jerusalem in 164 BCE of
the tiny Jewish army over the mighty Greek-Syrian empire - for deliverance of
the many into the hands of the few. Today, we continue to see tiny Israel rise to
the massive challenges in the world and we can be inspired by the few.
Israel is one of
the smallest nations in the world – yet it has a massive positive impact on global
health, food and water security, disaster relief and the economies of developing
and developed countries. Here are just a few examples from the last three
months.
Israel continues
to have a significant effect in the fight against cancer. Europe
has now approved Weizmann Institute’s breakthrough Tookad prostate cancer
treatment that was featured on the
BBC back in January. And Israeli
biotech Ayala
has joined the many
Israeli companies developing personalized cancer treatments targeting
individuals rather than specific parts of the body.
Having already helped West Africa defeat
the Ebola virus, Israel
is now running training courses on how to fight epidemics. Meanwhile, as a
recent addition to the dozens
of Israeli research projects to solve global threat from antibiotic
resistance, Hebrew University researchers are calculating optimum treatment procedures
to avoid the under / over-treatment of infections.
An Israeli-developed
space laboratory is currently orbiting our planet on the International
Space Station. It allows scientists here on Earth to perform unique medical
research by remote control. Back on the ground, Israel’s Regional Cooperation
Ministry has been funding surgeons from Israeli charity Save a Child’s Heart to
perform life-saving
surgery on 500 Kurdish children from Iraq, the PA, Syria and Jordan. So
perhaps it is not surprising that Israel Medical Association chairman Professor
Leonid Eidelman has been elected President of the World Medical Association
(WMA) - an umbrella body representing national medical associations with more
than nine
million members.
With all the latest
tantrums at the United Nations, readers may have missed the recent Israeli
resolution promoting the utilizing of agricultural technology for
sustainable development. It was passed by the UN Second Committee by 141 to 1. One specific project is that of Israeli
companies Evogene and Rahan Meristem which have developed non-GMO
bananas resistant to the Black
Sigatoka fungus which has been threatening world-wide crops. Finally, I
highly recommend this article on Israeli
water conservation and this video about Israeli food technologies.
You probably
already know about the IDF rescue
unit of 71 specialists that
saved lives following the earthquake in Mexico. President Enrique Peña
Nieto of Mexico certainly was
grateful. Regarding other
disasters, Israeli NGO IsraAID sent an emergency response team to help victims
of Hurricane Maria that hit Puerto
Rico. And the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the
South African branch of Magen David Adom sent medical aid to Madagascar
to help combat what the World Health Organization described as the worst outbreak
of bubonic / pneumonic plague in 50 years.
The situation in Syria is a disaster by any
definition. Israel has now treated
4000 wounded Syrians. Ziv
Medical Center in Safed will shortly begin treating Syrian children for hearing
loss. The IDF even recently helped establish a maternity
hospital on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. When the UN does send
humanitarian aid to Syria, the only
safe route is through Israel.
Israeli latest
support for specific African countries includes the JNF / KKL helping the Kenyan
government turn its deserts into forests.
Israeli humanitarian organization IsraAID has also recently helped build
a center in South
Sudan for the study of science and technology. Israel’s Fluence
Corporation has supplied a water desalination system to South
Africa. And 13-year-old Eytan
Kramer from Ra’anana commemorated his Bar Mitzva by raising $18,000 to provide
solar power for the Bukalikha Primary School in Uganda.
Across the
African continent, Israel recently joined the Power
Africa initiative so that Israeli companies can help overcome Africa’s
energy crisis and to connect consumers. The
Israeli government is also now partnering
with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to help bring electricity
to Africa.
Israel is vital
to the security of Western nations, as former commander of British forces in
Afghanistan, Colonel
Richard Kemp explains. Israel also has a major
role in NATO and just recently signed an agreement to help expand the sharing
of classified intelligence between Israel and NATO. And for 11 days in
November, 1,000
pilots and crews from India, the US, France, Germany, Greece, Italy,
Poland and Israel took part in Israel’s
largest ever aerial exercises.
The UK is buying Israel's Iron Dome short
range missile defense system to boost its defense
of the Falkland Islands. And the
US Army is to install the Trophy
active-protection system developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense
Systems on many of its M1A2 Abrams tanks. Even Pope Francis employed the Israeli-made
Skystar 180 surveillance balloon system during his visits to Uganda
and more recently to Colombia.
In other areas, Greece, Cyprus, Italy and
Israel have agreed
to build the world's
longest underwater pipeline to bring Israeli natural gas to Europe. And large delegations from the UK
and Florida
visited Israel to highlight continued demand for Israeli business and
innovation.
I return to the medical arena to finish, by
focusing on just one of those few Israelis who make a huge difference almost
every day. Meir Farkash is a legend in
his home town Ramat Hasharon. In his
four years as a volunteer paramedic for Israeli emergency service United
Hatzalah, Meir has responded to more than 2,500
emergency calls (over 300 life-threatening) on his personal pedal-bike.
The residents of Ramat Hasharon wanted to honor him, so … they bought him an electric
bicycle.
Israelis may only
be few in numbers, but don’t worry…
You’re in safe hands.
Michael Ordman writes a free weekly
newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.
www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com
and a searchable archive www.IsraelActive.com
For a free subscription, email a request to
michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
