In the 1st Dec 24 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
l Triple amputee IDF soldier walks out of hospital.
l Latest Israeli medical innovations incorporate touch, smell and sound.
l An Israeli startup recycles warn-out electric car batteries.
l A new Israeli solution that can repair damaged coral reefs.
l Two new non-stop Israeli airline services from Tel Aviv to the UK.
l Good news for consumers of no-cow milk and no-fish salmon.
l An Israeli duo won gold at the European wheelchair dance championships.
l An Israeli girl on a hike unearthed a 3,500-year-old Egyptian amulet.
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POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR
Ari walks out of hospital. Ari Spitz was Israel’s most severely wounded soldier (see here previously). Despite losing both legs and an arm, he was able to walk out of Sheba Medical Center (Tel HaShomer Hospital’s) rehabilitation department with three prosthetic limbs. Even non-Hebrew speakers can see how brave he is.
Celebrating first responders. The American Friends for Magen David Adom hosted a fundraising event in Philadelphia to support MDA’s brave EMTs. MC’d by social-media influencer and broadcaster Emily Austin, there were speeches from former UN Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan and Lior Raz, star of TV’s Fauda.
https://www.jns.org/celebrating-israeli-first-responders-those-in-real-life-fauda-who-face-chaos/
3,500 religious women enlist. 3,500 religious women chose to serve in the IDF in 2024, including 350 in combat roles. The new female-only combat unit became operational on Nov 26. (TY Israel Realtime) 100 professional religious women enlisted this week, as nurses, attorneys, programmers, psychologists, doctors, etc.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-829936
https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/61-religious-women-join-the-army/
Going with the flow. Mekorot, Israel’s national water carrier, was awarded the “Business Continuity Standard Compliance Certification” by the Israel Standards Institute. Mekorot has maintained water supplies during the war, despite working in combat zones, and with many employees in the IDF, injured, or evacuated from home.
https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/energy-and-infrastructure/article-824757
Filipino hero’s Dad is now Israeli. 22 years have passed since Enrico Basilio returned to the Philippines. His son, Cedric, who was born in Israel, became not only an outstanding IDF soldier, but also a symbol of heroism when he died in Gaza. Enrico returned to Israel and was granted permanent resident status, because of his son.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-830566
https://video.i24news.tv/en/9e44d596-82e6-4c4c-8a1c-96f84ae49bd5/content/6365257309112
Respite in Jerusalem. (TY Yanky) 140 wounded IDF soldiers and 400 family members were hosted at the Leonardo Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem. Their respite was funded by Los Angeles Jewish businessman David Hager and organized by David with the support of the Netzach Yehuda association.
https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/11/17/wounded-idf-soldiers-find-respite-at-jerusalem-retreat/
Miracle saves children. No red alert sirens sounded locally but kindergarten head teacher Sarah Yasour heard them in a Haifa suburb 5km distant. She decided to take her 20 children and staff to the shelter as a precaution. Moments later a Hezbollah drone slammed into the kindergarten. Sarah said it was a Neis (miracle of miracles).
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Touchy-feely robotic surgery. Israel’s Momentis Surgical (see here previously) now has US FDA approval for its 2nd-generation Anovo® robotic surgical platform. The new version has haptic feedback, allowing the surgeon to “feel” what he is doing. Also, new video and annotation features help communication and training.
Nasal therapy delivery. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Polyrizon is developing innovative medical device hydrogels delivered in the form of nasal sprays. These can trap incoming pathogens to protect individuals, but also deliver medicines efficiently into the bloodstream to treat disease. Polyrizon has raised $4.2 million on NASDAQ.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/10/30/2971841/0/en/Polyrizon-Announces-Closing-of-4-2-Million-Initial-Public-Offering.html https://polyrizon-biotech.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gkBTr7Gu2g
More self-monitoring pre-natal Israelis. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Pulsimore has renewed and expanded its strategic partnership with Israel’s Clalit Health Services (see here previously). Over the next five years, Pulsenmore will supply 25,000 units of its advanced home ultrasound devices to Clalit pre-natal mothers.
How a gene triggers autism. Tel Aviv University scientists previously discovered a link between mutations in the Shank3 gene and autism (see here). They recently identified the brain mechanisms involved and inserted DNA that regenerated normal Shank3 protein and restored brain function. It could lead to new treatments.
https://cftau.ca/is-treatment-for-genetic-autism-on-the-horizon/
https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.adl4573
UK medical partnership. The Dangoor Health-Tech Academy is a partnership between the UK-Israel Tech Hub and the Dangoor Foundation. It will select 8 Israeli startups for each 8-week cohort beginning in January. The first cohort will focus on AI or automation to revolutionize the NHS and UK healthcare system.
https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/tech-and-start-ups/article-827647
1,000 new EMTs. United Hatzalah, Israel’s leading volunteer emergency response organization, reported that it had recruited 1,000 new volunteers this year, bringing its total to 8,000. President and founder, Eli Beer, said “it is inspiring to see how so many people from all walks of life come together to selflessly save lives.”
https://israfan.com/p/united-hatzalah-expands-volunteers
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Supporting Druze-led startups. The “Sheba Impact” initiative together with ARC Innovation, and Ofakim LaAtid have launched dozens of startups in Israel’s periphery. In a recent competition for Druze-led startups, ABRID (educational tech) won NIS 300,000. Other finalists were Swift, AgriEye, Preln and MultiKol.
Ethiopian Israelis celebrate Sigd. Israel’s Ethiopian community celebrated the holiday of Sigd with a prayer gathering at Jerusalem’s Western Wall. Sigd is an official Israeli holiday, celebrated 50 days after Yom Kippur. Moshe Solomon, born in Ethiopia, explains the festival. He is now Deputy Speaker of Israel’s Parliament.
https://worldisraelnews.com/ethiopian-israelis-celebrate-sigd-with-prayers-for-unity-and-healing/
Israel’s top universities. When reporting the success of Israeli universities in the Shanghai Ranking previously (see here) I failed to mention that on a per capita basis Israel came overall fourth in the world, behind only Switzerland, Singapore and Denmark. It outperformed France, Germany, the UK, and Sweden.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/hychzcgq1g
US fundraising support for the IDF. A sold-out audience of 900+ supporters gathered in Greenwich CT for the “2024 FIDF Westchester and Connecticut Evening of Solidarity Dinner” to help raise funds for the IDF. Many combat IDF soldiers shared personal stories and how FIDF had helped them on the frontlines.
3 gold medals but ... Four Israeli high school students won three gold medals and a bronze at the 2024 International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Egypt, placing them second of the 94 nations. For security reasons they competed remotely, and next year will be forced to participate only under the IOI flag.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/in-1st-israel-banned-from-youth-computer-olympiad-jerusalem-students-wont-compete-as-neutrals/ https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/h1odpdzca
Strong ties with Argentina. Argentinian Defense Minister Luis Petri visited Israel to advance cooperation on modernizing Argentina’s defense systems and strengthening bilateral security ties. The visit emphasized the two countries’ shared commitment to freedom, democracy, and combating dictatorships.
https://israfan.com/p/argentina-israel-defense-cooperation
What a speech. Argentina’s outspoken, pro-Israel president, Javier Milei, announced a steadfast alliance with Israel, pledging unwavering support in the fight for democracy and the battle against terrorism.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Intel latest microprocessor. (TY Yanky) Intel has just launched its Israeli-developed Arrow Lake –codename for Intel’s 15th generation Core Ultra Series 2 microprocessors. They are successors to Lunar Lake (see here previously), Meteor Lake, and Raptor Lake (13th & 14th generations). Desktop AI computers are now planned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH3IEWEY5mM (Deep tech review of Arrow Lake)
https://www.jpost.com/brandblend/with-the-most-powerful-ai-engine-on-the-market-intels-new-processor-820492 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_Lake_(microprocessor)
Bypass the CPU for greater speed. Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute have developed a software package that enables computers to perform processing operations directly in memory, bypassing the CPU.
https://ats.org/ats-news/software-package-can-bypass-cpu-for-more-efficient-computing/
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-11-software-package-bypass-cpu-efficient.html
Recycling lithium batteries. Israel’s Batte-Re receives used Li-ion batteries from electric vehicles (cars, buses, scooters etc.) and processes them to generate a valuable (nickel, manganese, cobalt, and lithium) powder, plus copper and aluminum. All the metals are sold, and the powder makes more batteries for electric cars.
An autonomous partnership. US rideshare firm Lyft is teaming up with Jerusalem-based self-driving tech Mobileye, and Israeli smart dashcam startup Nexar (see here previously) to pilot Toyota Sienna robotaxis in Atlanta in 2025. Nexar’s video telematics aims to detect dangers on the road in real time.
Delivering pizza by drone in a war. After Oct 7, Israel’s National Drone Initiative had to change direction and start registering active drones on a live network. The 11 drone companies involved have run more than 24,000 test flights in experiments of increasing difficulty to learn how a drone delivery network could be feasible.
Friend or foe. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Sentrycs & Israel’s Third Eye are jointly developing a next-generation drone identification solution. It combines Sentrycs’ cutting-edge passive drone detection technology with Third Eye’s advanced Electro-Optic imaging systems. It can also detect if a drone has a payload..
https://sentrycs.com/news/sentrycs-and-third-eye-systems-partner/
Head in the clouds. At Israel's 2024 Infrastructure, Energy, and Transportation Conference, Israel’s Gadfin (see here previously) exhibited its hydrogen-powered long-range UAVs / drones which transports medical supplies up to 150kg to hospitals. In Croatia, Gadfin’s delivery network connects the country’s 50 islands.
https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/energy-and-infrastructure/article-825822
Saving the coral reefs. This article describes the latest Ben Gurion University method to repair damaged coral reefs (see here previously). A “coral reef ecosystem transplant” (aCRET) involves transferring tiles containing invertebrates and microorganisms from a healthy reef to a damaged reef, then re-attaching the old corals to it.
https://worldisraelnews.com/israeli-research-offers-hope-for-restoring-dying-coral-reefs/
Israel as a global desalination model. (TY Nevet) As Israel’s largest desalination plant Soreq II nears completion, this article highlights that 100% of Israel’s drinking water is desalinated. 55% of all Israeli water is desalinated. Israel even uses desalinated water to top up the Kinneret and exports water to Jordan and Egypt.
https://unchartedterritories.tomaspueyo.com/p/is-desalination-everywhere-realistic
https://ide-tech.com/en/project/sorek-b-desalination-plant/
Documenting Zoom meetings. (TY Atid-EDI) The AI features of Meeting Insights from Israel’s AutoCodes (see here previously) were previously only available to Microsoft Teams users. Now the solution will support Zoom meetings. If selected, Meeting Insights will automatically take notes, produce summaries and much more.
https://www.audiocodes.com/news/press-releases/news/audiocodes-meeting-insights-now-supports-zoom-meetings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROlqkkePDEo
Technion 101. The Technion opened its 101st academic year on Nov 10 with approximately 3,100 new students: 2,100 in undergraduate programs and 1,000 in graduate programs. In total, some 15,000 students are enrolled at the Technion, of which about 1,000 are currently serving as reservists in the IDF.
https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2024/11/opening-of-the-2024-25-academic-year/
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
New industrial complex for war-torn Kibbutz. Kibbutz Kfar Aza, devastated by Hamas on Oct 7, has signed a deal with Reches Real Estate and the Zadok Group to build a $67 million 42,000 sqm multipurpose industrial complex. It will provide returning Kibbutz residents with jobs and also attract businesses to the area.
Manchester fans are flying. (TY Yanky) Israel’s Arkia Airlines has a new twice-weekly service between Tel Aviv and Manchester, scheduled deliberately for fans of Manchester United and Manchester City to watch their teams. https://www.ynetnews.com/travel/article/hjd5ni11uc https://www.arkia.co.il/destinations/manchester
Six flights a week to Luton. (TY Yanky) Israel’s Israir has begun a six flights a week service between Tel Aviv and London Luton. Israir’s sales VP said, “allowing Israeli business travellers and vacationers to fly this highly sought-after route at a fair price.” It may also help this newsletter editor see his family more often!
https://www.ynetnews.com/travel/article/h15400ppfjx
Hi-tech flights to NYC. Israeli high-tech’s airline, TechAir, intends to begin operation in Jan 2025 of a new service between Tel Aviv Ben Gurion and New York JFK airports, commencing in March 2025. TechAir will use one plane, leased from a 3rd party, including its pilot, crew, maintenance, food, etc.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/tech-forum-names-seasonal-airline-reveals-fares-for-ny-route-to-launch-in-january/ https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/skwa2zm7yg
IAI goes from strength to strength. (TY WIN) Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has reported its best ever results. Net income for the first nine months of 2024 was up 74% at $431 million on sales of $4.39 billion.
https://tps.co.il/articles/israel-aerospace-industries-reports-most-profitable-year-in-its-history/
Cow-free milk for Israel. Israel’s Imagindairy (see here previously) like Israel’s Remilk before it (see here) has received Health Ministry approval to sell its cow-free milk in Israel. Its animal-free whey protein can now safely be used to produce dairy-free cream cheese, ice cream, yogurt, etc.
Vegan salmon in luxury hotel. (TY OurCrowd) Four Seasons, one of the world’s best-known luxury hotel chains, will offer vegan salmon from Israel’s Oshi (formerly Plantish – see here) at its San Francisco hotel. Oshi’s salmon is already available in up-market restaurants in NYC, New Hope, Boca Raton and Los Angeles.
https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/four-seasons-hotel-oshi-vegan-whole-cut-salmon/
Exits, mergers & acquisitions – to 1/12/24: Israel’s Quris-AI acquired the assets of US Nortis (Numa Biosciences) to integrate its kidney-on-a-chip technology.
Startup investment – to 1/12/24: Eon.io raised $70 million; Pyramid Analytics (already a Unicorn) raised $50 million from BlackRock; Appcharge raised $26 million (plus $5 million seed); Decart raised $25 million; Capitolis raised $20 million; Polyrizon raised $4.2 million (IPO);
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Two-star chef again. (TY Yanky) Israeli chef (and former IDF officer) Gilad Peled has just received a second Michelin star for his Colonnade restaurant at Switzerland’s Mandarin Oriental hotel. Gilad previously ran Gordon Ramsay's Le Pressoir d'Argent restaurant in Bordeaux, where he also won two Michelin stars.
https://guide.michelin.com/en/luzern-region/luzern/restaurant/colonnade
https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/451293
Handshake didn’t help. (TY Yanky) When Ireland played Israel in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket qualifiers in Riga in February (see here) the Irish players refused to shake hands with the Israelis who won 87-57. When the teams met again in Riga in November, the Irish players did shake hands. Israel still trounced them: 90-61.
https://sportsrabbi.com/en/israel-scores-decisive-90-61-win-over-ireland-in-eurobasket-qualifying/
European wheelchair dance champion. (TY Hazel) Israeli wheelchair dancer Tomer Margalit and her partner Orel Chalaf won the Combi Freestyle Class 1 event at the Para Dance Sport European Championship in Prague. They danced to Israel's Eurovision song 'Hurricane' and dedicated their routine for the return of the hostages.
https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/h1vyl8ex1g https://www.pragueparadance.cz/en/results/
https://www.facebook.com/reel/857203699647692 (from an earlier event)
THE JEWISH STATE
Dead Sea scrolls are not dead. Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts are on view in the United States in a travelling exhibit of artifacts from the Israel Antiquities Authority. They include a 1st century sheet of the Great Psalms Scroll, from Qumran Cave 11, written in Hebrew script still in use today. Also recent finds and new technology.
Bringing teens to visit Israel. In 2020 the Marcus Foundation donated $20 million for the RootOne initiative that subsidizes trips to Israel organized by BBYO, NCSY, NFTY, USY and Ramah (see here previously). This month the foundation donated a further $60 million, making a total of $140 million in grants since 2020.
https://www.jns.org/wire/the-marcus-foundation-makes-legacy-60-million-investment-in-rootone/
Jonathan Sacks’ archive. The National Library of Israel now houses the late U.K. Chief Rabbi's personal archives. It was Jonathan Sacks who said visiting foreign dignitaries should be taken to the National Library before the Holocaust museum. “Let us show the world not only how Jews died but how Jews live,” he wrote.
https://www.jns.org/jonathan-sacks-archive-dedicated-in-jerusalem/
80 years after Hannah Senesh. The National Library of Israel has unveiled a set of photographs of Jewish paratrooper Hannah Senesh (Szenes) to mark 80 years after her execution by the Nazis. In 1944, Senesh was deployed into Nazi-occupied Europe to rescue Hungarian Jews from death camps. She became a Zionist icon.
She picked up a 3,500 year-old amulet. 12-year-old Dafna was hiking with her family near the ancient site of Tel Qana in Hod Hasharon. She picked up an unusual find a beetle-like stone that has since been identified as a 3,500-years-old Egyptian scarab amulet. Dafna was awarded a certificate of excellence for good citizenship.
https://www.jns.org/israeli-hiker-12-finds-3500-year-old-egyptian-amulet/
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/399899
How to help Israel. Here are some sites where newsletter readers can donate to Israeli organizations that provide vital help to Israelis at this difficult time. Many thanks to those who have already contributed and to those who are helping by donating their own valuable time and resources.
Friends of the IDF (US donors): https://www.fidf.org/
or IDF Soldiers Fund in Israel: https://www.ufis.org.il/en/donation-en/ (select the English speakers’ option)
American Friends of Magen David Adom (US donors): https://afmda.org/
or Magen David Adom (Israel): https://www.mdais.org/en/donation
Zaka (US donors): https://donate.zakatelaviv.org/give/525578/ or (Israeli donors): https://charidy.com/zaka
or (Canadian donors): https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/bellevue-foundation/
United Hatzalah: https://israelrescue.org/campaign/israel-at-war-2/ or Canada https://www.uhcanada.org/
Leket Food Israel: https://www.leket.org/en/
JNF USA - https://my.jnf.org/gaza-emergency/Donate or Canada https://jnf.ca/
Orthodox Union - https://www.charidy.com/ouisraelcrisis
Schneider Children’s Hospital: https://www.fos.org.il/en/donate (Israelis)
https://system.smartgiving.org.uk/charities/8530/make-donation (UK)
https://chaischneider.org/donate/ (USA)
Rambam Medical Center (Haifa) https://aforam.org/ways-to-give/ (US)
https://www.rambam.org.il/en/support_rambam/donate_now/ (Rest of the World)
Hadassah Hospital Israel: https://www.hadassah.org/
Laniado Hospital (Netanya) https://my.israelgives.org/en/fundme/EmergencyLaniado
Buy Israel Bonds to support the Jewish State. (TY Larry B)
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/state-of-israel-bonds
USA - https://www.israelbonds.com/
Europe - https://israelbondsintl.com/
Canada - https://www.israelbonds.ca/
