In the 16th Mar 25 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
l Released IDF female hostages brought Purim joy to children with cancer.
l Israeli scientists make cancer gene therapy breakthrough.
l Israel is protecting Syrian Druze; now the Alawites ask for Israeli help.
l Israeli-developed reduced-sugar pure orange juice is now in Israeli shops.
l A new partnership will advance Israel’s renewable-energy goals.
l Nova survivor reveals Israel’s 2025 Eurovision contest entry.
l Israelis know how to make innovative Purim costumes.
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POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR
Ex-hostages give Purim gifts to cancer children. Heroic former hostages Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa, and Naama Levy joined Rabbi Asher Levi to bring joy to cancer patients at Schneider Children’s Medical Center, delivering Purim gifts and sharing a powerful message: “Giving to others gives us strength.”
130-year-old violin given to ex-hostage. Tzachi Beck refurbished and gifted a 130-year-old Czechian violin d to freed hostage Agam Berger. Agam played Amir Benayoun's "You overcame everything with me." breathing new life into its strings, decades after its original owner, an orchestral violinist, perished in the Holocaust.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-845407
Hostage’s grape juice lasted 5 months. Released hostage Omer Shem-Tov told of a miracle he experienced in captivity. "For five months, I had half a bottle of grape juice that I used for Kiddush. The bottle never ran out, and the juice never spoiled. It showed me how good God is and how He was with me."
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/405094
Turning a Kibbutz green. Residents of Kibbutz Be’eri live on dry, arid land in Kibbutz Hatzerim while Be’eri is being rebuilt. 2,700 Birthright Israel volunteers in 100 groups will create 300 gardens - one for each Be’eri family and the surrounding areas. They will feature 1,500 trees, 41,000 herb plants, and thousands of flowers.
Sunshine volunteers. A group of volunteers ages 55 and older recently participated in Jewish National Fund-USA’s inaugural Sunshine Volunteer Mission to Israel. They spent five days restoring Israeli communities destroyed on Oct 7 2023, fixed schools and playgrounds, helped farmers, prepared food for the IDF and more.
https://www.jns.org/wire/jewish-volunteers-ages-55-plus-leave-lasting-impact-on-mission-to-israel/
Let’s get to work. Ex-hostage Gadi Mozes has called on his fellow Kibbutz Nir Oz members to rebuild their destroyed kibbutz and help return it to its former glory. Mozes (80) has decided “to buckle down, to roll up my sleeves and to join all those who want our home, Nir Oz, to return to being a warm and vibrant home.”
Strawberry fields forever. Uri Patkin owns the strawberry farm Uri Tutim in Moshav Yesha near the Gaza border. Yesha’s emergency squad bravely fought off terrorists on Oct 7 2023, at a heavy price. Now Uri is once again farming his high-quality, long shelf-life, hanging strawberries.
https://www.israel21c.org/strawberries-bloom-once-again-near-the-gaza-border/ https://uritutim.co.il/
An IDF rescue from Gaza. Israeli hostage Andrey Koslov revealed details of the daring IDF rescue of him and three other hostages from captivity in Gaza on Jun 8 2024.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Gene deletion shrinks cancer cells. Researchers from Tel Aviv University (Dan Peer’s lab) utilized CRISPR to cut the SOX2 gene from cancer cells of head and neck tumors – and in lab tests successfully eliminated 50% of the tumors. The breakthrough defied general belief that knocking out a single gene wouldn’t have any effect.
https://english.tau.ac.il/research/crispr-cancer-removal
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-845688
Blood test to detect cancer. Israel’s OncoRedox is developing a new platform for the early diagnosis and monitoring of cancer and chronic diseases. Its disposable sensor plus AI-powered technology is designed to detect and profile cell-free metabolites within minutes, providing a unique metabolic fingerprinting.
https://www.peregrinevc.com/portfolio/oncoredox/ https://www.peregrinevc.com/portfolio/
Developing immunity against cancer. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Purple Biotech (see here previously) has partnered with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York, to develop CAPTN-3, a platform of activated antibodies. The aim is to enhance tumor-specific immunity against various cancer types.
https://purple-biotech.com/press-viewer/?i=142208
No more injections. Researchers at Israel’s Technion Institute have discovered that a protein in breast milk facilitates the passage of nanoparticles through the intestinal wall, delivering essential nutrients to the baby. Mimicking this mechanism, can protect medications from the digestive system and allow non-needle delivery.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/breast-milk-proteins-superpowers-lead-to-breakthrough-for-new-class-of-oral-drugs/ https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/b1dzwouqyg
Brain study can transform speech to text technology. (TY TPS) An Israeli-led research team has analyzed how the brain processes speech and transforms sounds into conversation. It could lead to new advancements in speech recognition technology, tools for people with speech disorders, and personalized assistive devices.
Anti-virus nasal spray for the US. Israel’s Enovid (see here previously) has now launched its SaNOtize Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray as NOWONDER in the US. NOWONDER delivers advanced nasal cleansing, viral protection (e.g. against COVID-19), and sinus health support.
https://www.openpr.com/news/3895202/sanotize-launches-nowonder-nasal-spray-in-the-u-s
260 doctors attend MedEx in New Jersey. Over 500 Jewish doctors and healthcare professionals, including 260 doctors, gathered at the 10th annual MedEx event in Teaneck, New Jersey. The International Medical Aliyah Program (IMAP) started MedEx to bring 2,000 Jewish doctors to Israel. In 2024 alone it brought 519.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/405131
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Little Heroes. (TY Yanky) Volunteers with special needs graduated in communications and logistics from the “Little Heroes Project” at the IDF’s Training Base of the Technology and Logistics Directorate. They stood proudly in their army uniforms to receive their certificates of excellence.
https://www.giborimktanim.co.il/ https://www.jgive.com/new/en/usd/donation-targets/72939/about
https://www.instagram.com/meaningfulminute/reel/DGxeFRHtuQZ/
40th anniversary of Operation Moses. Israel’s PM headed a ceremony in Jerusalem to celebrate “Operation Moses” - Israel’s 1984 mission, to bring to Israel the community known as Beta Israel from Ethiopia via Sudan. Some 170,000 Ethiopian Jews now live in Israel, including Adi Jegna who spotted the bus bomb last month.
https://www.jns.org/wire/ethiopian-immigration-a-story-of-faith-freedom-and-fulfillment/
Animals rescued in the Negev. Israeli police rescued two monkeys and a lion cub from illegal captivity by Negev Bedouins. They were located through operational activities and identified in social media videos. They were subsequently transferred to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority for medical treatment and further care.
https://www.jns.org/two-monkeys-and-a-lion-cub-rescued-in-the-negev/
90,000 Muslims pray on Temple Mount. Approximately 90,000 Muslims, including thousands from Judea and Samaria, ascended the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City for prayers on the first Friday of Ramadan.
https://www.jns.org/judea-and-samaria-arabs-to-ascend-temple-mount-for-ramadan-prayers/
Syrians ask Israel for help. (TY Yanky) Syrian minorities want Israel to protect them from the new Syrian government and jihadist groups. “Israel is the Iron Dome of the Druze in Syria” said a cleric from the Druze city of Sweida. And after 1,000+ the pro-Assad Alawites were killed, their leaders also begged Israel for help.
https://tps.co.il/articles/israel-is-the-iron-dome-of-the-druze-in-syria-say-syrian-druze-residents/
https://worldisraelnews.com/pro-assad-syrians-ask-israel-to-save-them-from-new-regime-slaughter/
Technion UK on Israel tour. The Technion UK brought a group of British Jews to Israel to hear from key people about the war, the country, the latest innovations and much more. They included ILTV’s Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, Uri Geller, the British Ambassador, and retired IDF colonel Miri Eisen.
https://technionuk.org/trip-album/
Irish police use Israeli tech to solve murder. (TY Yanky) Irish police used Israel’s Cellebrite to convict a man who murdered his wife in Dublin two years ago. Technical specialists used Cellebrite to extract data from the husband’s cellphone, having previously been unable to bypass its encryption. The Irish media wasn’t happy.
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-845192 https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/2025/03/04/opposition-calls-for-gardai-to-stop-buying-israeli-made-decryption-technology/
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Outstanding Scientists. The Israel Chemical Society has awarded the Outstanding Young Scientist Awards for 2024 to Prof. Josh Baraban from Ben-Gurion University (see here previously) and Dr. Moran Shalev-Benami from the Weizmann Institute. See also Outstanding Scientists and ICS Gold Medal winners.
https://www.bgu.ac.il/en/news-and-articles/prof-josh-baraban-awarded-the-israel-chemical-society-outstanding-young-scientist-prize/ https://www.chemistry.org.il/prizes-page/?data=9
Countering SMS fraud attacks. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Atrinet have launched the Atrinet URL Scanner, an advanced solution designed to combat real-time SMS fraud from SMS phishing (“Smishing”). It combines an SMS Firewall with URL Scanner, in collaboration with Google, to scan SMS links for malicious content.
https://www.atrinet.com/products/messaging-url-scanner/
Yes, we have new bananas. (TY Yanky) Israeli-founded, UK-based startup Tropic has developed a “new, better” version of the banana. Israeli scientists at the company have hardened the banana against Panama and black sigatoka diseases, prolonged shelf life, and reduced CO2 emissions from food waste.
https://tropic.bio/ https://tropic.bio/people/
The first low-sugar full-flavor orange juice. (TY OurCrowd) Israel’s BlueTree Technologies together with Israel’s Priniv has launched the world's first commercially available reduced-sugar orange juice (33% less) with no additives. It is now available in Israeli supermarkets.
https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/bluetree-technologies-and-priniv-launch-the-worlds-first-reduced-sugar-orange-juice-with-no-additives--available-in-israeli-supermarkets-starting-february-2025-302393114.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNVsU7HcfWM
$20 million towards creating another university. The Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA (JFC-UIA) have announced a $20 million investment in education for northern Israel. Most of the funds will help transform Tel-Hai College into a full-fledged university, while the remainder will support informal education initiatives.
https://israfan.com/p/canadian-jews-invest-northern-israel
Meetings with avatars. (TY OurCrowd) Microsoft and Israel’s D-ID (see here previously) will provide tools to enterprises and developers to create AI avatars for Microsoft Teams and other Microsoft software. D-ID will integrate its technology into Microsoft Azure, allowing AI avatars to be embedded into applications.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/ry4edb8s1x
Perfect recruitment with AI. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Perfect AI-powered platform for recruitment automates end-to-end processes to deliver faster, smarter, and fairer hiring. From candidate sourcing to interview scheduling, Perfect empowers recruiters to focus on human connection while the AI handles the rest.
A 1 million qubit quantum computer. Israel’s QuamCore says it has developed a technology that can build a million-qubit computer in a 50 cm cube. According to the company, its technology drastically reduces both power consumption and costs from billions of dollars to just one million dollars.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/skaea111hyl https://www.quamcore.com/
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
An economy on steroids. US Jewish venture capitalist Peter Kash made the prediction “By 2026, Israel will be an economy on steroids,” at the IATI MIXiii Health-Tech.IL Conference, Israel’s premier life sciences and health tech gathering. He was spot on in 2011 when he predicted Israel’s huge growth. (See also RJS report)
https://www.jns.org/peter-kash-by-2026-israel-will-be-an-economy-on-steroids/
Israel sells $5 billion of bonds. (TY Atid-EDI) Israeli government raised $5 billion in two series of bonds over five and ten years. Demand was very high - 4.6 times oversubscribed. The interest rates were closer to those of US Government bonds than last year’s issue, highlighting increased global confidence in Israel’s economy.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-israel-raises-5b-international-bond-1001501945
Promoting Israeli tourism in Berlin. The Israeli pavilion at the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) fair in Berlin featured tour operators, hoteliers, airlines and more. Visitors could taste wine, experience a virtual tour Israel using Augmented Reality technology and had the chance to win a vacation package to Israel.
https://www.jns.org/israel-tourism-ministry-opens-pavilion-at-itb-fair-in-berlin/
Cool Israeli tech implemented. (TY OurCrowd) SoftBank and Hon Hai Technology (Foxconn) have for the first time implemented the two-phase direct liquid cooling technology from Israel’s ZutaCore (see here previously) in an AI server using NVIDIA accelerated computing.
Engineering an energy partnership. (TY Atid-EDI) Two Israeli companies, Brenmiller Energy (see here previously) and Baran Energy (part of Israel’s largest engineering company) are jointly to accelerate Brenmiller’s bGen ZERO thermal energy deployments in Israel. Baran has completed 1,000+ global projects.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250220455669/en/
https://www.barangroup.com/en/home-page-en/
Wave energy for India. Israel’s Eco Wave Power signed a Memorandum of Understanding with India’s Bharat Petroleum to jointly develop wave energy projects across India. It will begin with a 100 kW pilot project at BPCL’s Mumbai Oil Terminals, with plans for larger commercial-scale installations across the country.
Exits, takeovers & mergers – to 16th Mar 25: Israel’s Matrix IT is to buy Israel’s Magic Software in a deal worth around $2.1 billion. California’s Menlo Security acquired Israel’s Votiro.
Startup investment – to 16th Mar 25:. Cybereason raised $120 million; Pentera raised $60 million; Perfect raised $23 million; Exero Medical raised $12.7 million; Sawmills raised $10 million; QuamCore raised $9 million; Sola Security raised another $2 million; Israel’s Innovation Authority awarded nT-Tao $5 million over three years.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Ancient humans ate beef. (TY Yanky) Researchers have analyzed archaeological remains from Nesher Ramla, a site near Tel Aviv dating back to the Middle Paleolithic period. It shows ancient humans hunted few animal species, mainly aurochs, a wild bovine species, likely ancestors of today’s cattle.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/early-humans-in-israel-really-liked-their-steaks-new-study-shows/
“New Day Will Rise”. Israel’s entry for the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest has been chosen. The three-minute song “New Day Will Rise” is primarily in English, with several lines in French and Hebrew. It will be performed by Nova music festival survivor Yuval Raphael. The Hebrew is from the Biblical Song of Songs.
https://www.jns.org/new-day-will-rise-israel-reveals-entry-for-2025-eurovision-song-contest/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzniNjG4Xto
See Israel’s waterfalls. Israel had a few wet days at the beginning of March. If you are quick, you can visit the resulting waterfalls at Ein Gedi, the Banias, Ayit (Golan), the Ayun (and others - Upper Galilee) the Jalaboun (Golan) the Sa’ar (Golan/Hermon valley) the Ein Avdat (Negev) and the Dragot (by the Dead Sea).
https://www.israel21c.org/best-waterfalls-to-visit-in-israel/
Israel week in San Diego. Students at UC San Diego will celebrate Israel Week in May as part of Jewish Heritage Month. It includes an Israeli shuk with booths offering Israeli food, samples of Israeli culture, and Israeli music. The Hillel center sponsors four student trips to Israel each year.
Three Jewish athletes make Aliyah in a war. Rachel Dallet, 22, moved to Israel in July to join the Hapoel Jerusalem soccer club. Basketball player Nikki Bick, 27, joined Ironi Ness Ziona women and former NBA G League player Ryan Turell joined their men’s team. All have had to shelter from rockets but have no regrets.
THE JEWISH STATE
Rappelling to deliver Purim presents. (TY TPS) Reservists from various IDF combat units brought Purim joy to Israeli children with severe physical and cognitive disabilities at Aleh’s facility in Bnei Brak. The soldiers rappelled down from the rooftop, each carrying Purim gift packages known as mishloach manot.
An eruv on Mt Hermon. Religious Jews refrain from carrying items in public areas on Shabbat unless a special boundary is in place, like the one this IDF soldier is constructing at the Mount Hermon base.
https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-idf-installs-shabbat-eruv-border-on-snowy-mt-hermon-base/
800 pray at tomb of Rav Ashi. Some 800 Haredi Jews prayed at the tomb of Rav Ashi on the border between Israel and Lebanon under the protection of the IDF. Rav Ashi (352–427 C.E.) is credited with compiling the Gemara, an essential component of the Talmud. The rare visit was on 7 Adar – the date Moses was born & died.
https://www.jns.org/haredim-pray-at-rabbis-grave-on-lebanon-border-with-idf-escort/
NbN’s ZEI. Aliya organization Nefesh b’Nefesh (NbN) has launched its Zionist Education Initiative (ZEI) at its Jerusalem campus. It includes workshops on Zionism, Jewish history, and Aliyah; leadership training; dynamic programming for schools, camps, and communities; and exciting campus activities.
https://www.nbn.org.il/zei/ https://www.nbn.org.il/zei/zei-programming/
The demographic reality. The number of annual Jewish births in Israel (including Judea & Samaria) surged by 73% from 1995 to 2024 compared to a 18% increase of annual Arab births in Israel during the same period. The Jewish fertility rate (3 births per woman) is also higher.
https://theettingerreport.com/2025-israels-demographic-update-defies-conventional-wisdom/
Special Purim celebration. Israel’s first lady Michal Herzog hosted children with disabilities at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem together with their families for a special pre-Purim celebration. Designers from Holon Institute of Technology and Israel’s Wix made costumes for Beit Issie Shapiro’s “Dream Costumes” initiative.
https://www.jns.org/israeli-first-lady-welcomes-children-for-special-purim-celebration/
The King of Purim costumes. Tel Aviv’s Aviram Carmeli is the king of Purim costumes, and each year his outlandish outfits are more elaborate than the last. They include a bearded Miley Cyrus on a wrecking ball, and Aang “The Last Airbender” on a giant flying buffalo. His video as Aladdin had 200 million views.
https://www.israel21c.org/flying-buffalos-wrecking-balls-meet-the-purim-costume-legend/
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/
Donate a medic bag, save a life https://israelrescue.org/campaign/medicbag/
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/
