It does not add up

The United Nations published a very misleading report recently.  No, not that one – I’m referring to the UN report that showed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Israel was 46% lower last year compared to 2013.  However, if you read the report, it shows that FDI in France, the USA and Austria fell by twice as much; Germany and Ireland were practically wiped out and the Belgians ought to be going around with begging bowls.  So much for UN reports.  In contrast, here are some recent news articles that reflect the real economic success of the Jewish State.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is extremely upbeat about the Israeli economy.  Its recent preliminary report noted that Israel’s economy is “performing well” and that the economic outlook is positive.  Over at the World Bank, Israel signed an agreement to share best practices on water.  And Israel and China are working on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesman said that Israel is one of China's major economic and trade partners in the Middle East and an FTA will lift bilateral cooperation to a new height.

Cyber security products contributed $6 billion per year to Israel’s 2014 exports and the fifth annual International Cybersecurity Conference in Tel Aviv attracted those seeking Israel’s latest innovations.  The Israeli cyber-security start-up Checkmarx, for example, has just raised $84 million of Direct Foreign Investment. Checkmarx customers include the US Army, Samsung, Deutsche Telekom, Deloitte and PwC.

Commercial success is vital in the life-science industry, even though enhancing life is the true priority.  Recent news of Israeli successes include the ApiFix system, which has now been used to correct scoliosis (deformed spines) in 50 adolescents since it was launched in Europe in 2013.  Other Israeli developments with excellent financial prospects include BondVax’s universal flu vaccine, which has just received FDA approval to proceed with clinical trials.  Another is IBM Israel’s Doctome telemedicine platform, which has turned IBM’s Watson supercomputer into a digital doctor. Finally, Israel’s Crowdsourcing platform for insomniacs Sleep ASAP is already described as “Waze for the sleep-deprived”. 

Some Israeli companies have no need of FDI.  Frutarom, for example, has bought up seven foreign companies in the last 12 months.  The latest is Australia’s Taura, a world leading player in concentrated and texturized fruit ingredients, with factories in New Zealand and Belgium, and offices in the US and UK.  The FDI report would probably ignore the growth of Israeli renewable energy company SolarEdge, whose value since its March NASDAQ launch has doubled to $1.5 billion.  And several more billion-dollar Israeli companies are in the pipeline.

The UN report definitely hasn’t recognized the commercial success of Israel’s TV and Film industry which has been selling virtually every new Israeli series to International studios and channels.  The new spy thriller “Kfulim” (False Flag) looks to be the next Israeli “top of the box”.  And the Jerusalem Film Fund announced that several long-term animation projects, including a new Walt Disney Studios TV series, will be based in Jerusalem.

Innovation is key to Israel’s commercial success.  Israeli startup Sound Better is revolutionizing the music business by providing musicians the facility to record themselves at home instead of in a studio and then collaborate online with artists all over the world.  And the world of on-line shopping just became virtual 3D shopping thanks to Israel’s Tridshops.  The advanced platform allows retailers to quickly set up an on-line store where shoppers “move” on a virtual walkway past 3D images of products which they can pick up, examine and manipulate through 360 degrees.

There has been no shortage of commercial visitors to Israel.  100 German industry leaders including from SAP, BMW, Bosch, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Telekom, Merck, Inc., Mercedes-Benz and Lufthansa have been attending an investors’ conference in Israel.  60 general managers and senior executives of the world’s largest hotel company, InterContinental Hotels, booked Israel for their annual conference and enjoyed pitches from six Israeli hotel-related start-ups.  They may have had a few sleepless nights following American tourism magazine Jetsetter’s naming of the Norman Hotel Tel Aviv as the world’s best boutique hotel.  The Israeli hotel industry has also experienced an increase in tourism from Arab and Moslem countries, especially Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey and Indonesia.

So how can you best get to share in Israel’s wealth?  Well if you live in the USA, you could follow the advice of Izzy Tapoohi, President & CEO of Development Corporation for Israel Bonds. He advocates buying Israel Bonds to counter calls from the BDS thugs to Boycott, Divest from or Sanction the Jewish State. “The best defense is a good offense”, Izzy says. And investing in Israel’s economy is the greatest form of offense.

Finally, it was sweet justice at the United Nations when Israel’s Yotam Goren was appointed as deputy chairman of the Administrative and Budgetary Committee to the United Nations General Assembly.  The committee functions as the U.N.’s “Finance Ministry,” responsible for a budget of more than $11 billion.

Let’s hope he puts an end to worthless UN reports!

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

67 but not retiring

In Israel and in many other countries, the age of 67 is when adults usually leave employment and start receiving their old-age pension.  But as the State of Israel celebrates its own 67th birthday it shows no sign of stopping its work to benefit humanity, and is even increasing its tremendous pace of innovation.

There have been many recent Israeli medical advances to combat that scourge of aging – cancer.  They include Rosetta Genomics’s microRNA-based test helps physicians select the best treatment options for patients with secondary cancers.  Another is the joint project that 68-year-old Israel Technion Professor and Nobel Prize Winner Aaron Ciechanover has initiated with India’s Sun Pharma to develop new cancer treatments.  Also at the Technion, Israeli-Arab Professor Hossam Haick has proved that his NaNose breath-test cancer detector was just as effective as older, slower, costlier and more invasive alternatives.  And you should hear Tel Aviv University Professor Dan Peer describe the nano-technology that promises one-day to retire cancer completely, from the list of killer diseases.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdNXns6xAfQ

It is true that younger animals and humans recover from operations faster than older ones.  Researchers at Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem have even shown that being pregnant also improves recovery time.  But was it youth, motivation, physiotherapy or the use of a Wii console that helped Captain Shir Klevner return to his unit, only 8 months after a Hamas sniper’s bullet shattered his leg and threatened to retire him from the IDF?

67-year-old Israel is launching startups at rocket speed – enabled, in part, by a new accelerator for young companies developing satellite information-based applications. Meanwhile, an older Israeli satellite-focused company, RR Media, has invested in its future by purchasing Romania’s Eastern Space Systems.  It extends RR Media’s Intelsat coverage to more than 17 million TV households in Central, Eastern and Nordic Europe.

Israel’s Checkpoint may be an old-timer in the cyber-security business, but it can spot a promising upstart. Which is probably why it purchased Israel’s Lacoon - developers of cyber security software that prevents the spread of computer viruses by recognizing their behavior.  Another relative newcomer - Israeli kids’ games publisher TabTable - is growing up fast, having just made its 4th acquisition (and its first in the USA) with the purchase of rival Sunstorm Games.

Israel’s non-stop desire to innovate has definitely taken root in the field of agricultural technology.  Researchers in the south of Israel have developed a variety of seedless grape that can be harvested throughout the year.  And Israel’s Danziger Innovations together with the Hebrew University’s Yissum tech-transfer company have developed a patented technology that extends the shelf life of popular flowers.

More and more Israeli companies are looking to grow bigger these days, as highlighted by the massive $1.5 billion that 11 of them raised on Wall Street in the first 3 months of this year.  Analysts were certainly ramping up the sentiment about one of them - Kornit and its digital inkjet garment printing, using non-toxic water-based inks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RruKLerGYYQ

It is appropriate that on Israel’s Independence Day, veteran Israeli actor Chaim Topol, best known for playing Tevye the milkman in "Fiddler on the Roof," will receive the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement.  And just recently, at the grand old age of 30, Israel’s long-serving tennis player Dudi Sela won his 17th ATP Challenger Tour title. 

Finally, six Israeli men from the Shomron wanted to increase the chances that six complete strangers would live to reach their 67th birthdays.  They each donated one of their kidneys to transplant patients. 

Israel ….. forever and ever ….

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

Defeating the Forces of Darkness

On the Jewish festival of Simchat Torah (Rejoicing of the Law) we read how the universe was created – starting with the four words “Let there be light”.  Today, Israeli solar energy projects light up countless homes.  However, the Jewish State also has found another way to illuminate millions of lives – by removing the darkness itself.

It is sad to see the shadowy effects of aging on previously brilliant minds.  Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute may therefore have opened up the promise of a brighter tomorrow.  They have discovered that the protein interferon beta impairs the cognitive ability of the brain – common in old age.  New treatments that block or remove this protein may one day prevent or reverse cognitive decline and rejuvenate the brain.  Israeli biotech Compugen has discovered another “murky” protein, codenamed CGEN-15049 that prevents the immune system from destroying tumors.  Attacking CGEN-15049 could prevent cancers of the lung, ovaries, breast, colon, stomach, prostate and liver.  A new treatment may already be underway thanks to FutuRx - a new Government-funded incubator for Israeli bio-techs.

Watching someone being treated successfully for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) is like seeing a dark cloud lifted. So we hope for only blue skies from now on, now that the US FDA has fast-tracked the NurOwn ALS treatment developed by Israel’s Brainstorm.  On the other hand, those suffering from the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (dry-AMD) may develop dark areas on the retina of the eye, causing progressive blindness.  OpRegen, developed by Israel’s CellCure NeuroSciences is hoping to become the first approved therapy for dry-AMD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNaIeH7ZE1c

Irrespective of whether the forces of darkness are biological, social or man-made, Israel will try to defeat them.  The Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Mashav department is sending three Israeli-manufactured mobile emergency clinics to West Africa to help try to prevent the Ebola virus from spreading.  Meanwhile, at home, the Israeli Government has approved a budget increase of NIS 1.7 billion to fight poverty. And then Israeli surgeons toiled for hours in order to save the life of a Syrian boy who was shot in the neck during Syria’s civil war.  The doctors at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center removed a bullet, just millimeters from the main blood vessels in the five-year-old’s neck.

Scientists believe that a mysterious Dark Matter comprises much of the known universe, but cannot prove it.  Dr Ran Budnik of Israel’s Weizmann Institute is lead scientist on the project to build the prototype of a device to detect the result of dark matter particles colliding with liquid xenon.  In a more practical context, Mekorot, Israel’s national water company doesn’t want its engineers to work in the dark.  It is the first firm in the world to equip its field workers with smart glasses – Epson’s Moverio BT-200 devices.  It’s also the first to be deploying a commercial app - by Israeli startup FieldBit - to receive specific guidance and instruction when they repair high-tension electricity installations at Mekorot’s facilities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1XJ6zha_dE

Israel leads the world in defending against criminal forces.  Two products of Israel’s Magal-Senstar won awards at the 2014 ASIS Accolades Competition: Security’s Best Award.  Its RoboGuard robot patrols security fences and its CyberSeal protects against cyber attacks.  Meanwhile, Russian software giant Kaspersky Lab, known for its popular anti-virus system, is to open a development center in Jerusalem next year - one of its few outside of Russia.  Then Israel’s CyberSpark initiative received a boost when Carole and Marcus Weinstein donated $5 million to sponsor the building of a new Cyber Security center at Ben Gurion University.  But it was a low-tech Israeli security solution that caught the eye when Israel’s Seatylock announced its neat way to turn a bicycle saddle into a bike lock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xifLMpRlXu4

The forces of darkness have nothing to match the force protecting the Jewish State from above.  Readers, however, may be amused to know that Israel even has a law for Angels.  The Government is amending the Angel Investors Law, granting tax incentives to those investing in start-ups at the seed stage of research and development.  Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said it “will ensure that the New Year will be one of entrepreneurship and encouragement of investment in high tech.”  That should demoralize the dim-witted Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions thugs even further.  The UK’s evil BDS losers are already distraught over the latest economic news that bilateral trade between Israel and the UK rose by 28% between January and August, reaching record levels.  Israeli exports to the UK were worth £1.6 billion, up 38%.

Finally, the light dawned on 19-year-old twins Fatima and Zukra Islambakov who were born in Uzbekistan and even attended Muslim schools.  Then they discovered their Jewish roots, immigrated to Israel and joined the IDF where they are currently helping to protect the Jewish State against the forces of darkness.

Israel – everyone's best hope for a bright future.

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

Things can Only get Better

Things can Only get Better

5/3/14

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/things-can-only-get-better

http://blogs.jpost.com/print/5277

As readers of my weekly positive newsletter will know, there has been a huge surge in the volume of Israel’s medical discoveries, scientific advances, agricultural innovations, water technology and humanitarian activities recently.  Despite the chaos in many other countries, I believe that better times are on their way for the rest of the world.

Israel’s medical innovations are making a better life for everyone.  The announcement of Israel Technion’s plans to establish an International Center for Cardiovascular Innovation will lead to better ways to treat heart disease – the world’s leading cause of death.  For Israeli Danny Oberman, his 2013 cardiac “incident” led him to develop the GPS-based CathMaps plus - a better method for Android and iOS smartphone users to find the nearest catheterization lab and share their medical history with cardiologists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZxhOuM49zI  

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has better knowledge than most of what visiting foreign Heads of State want from the Jewish State.  As he told delegates at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, their three requirements are “Israeli technology, Israeli technology and Israeli technology.”  For example, Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen cites as his model Israel's success as a "start-up" nation brimming with high-tech innovation.  Finland has been purchasing millions of Euros of Israeli technology.  Similarly, relations between Israel and Cyprus have never been better, according to Cyprus’ Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulines.  There is good cooperation on security, energy, water management, science and technology.

Over 70 young Israeli entrepreneurs showed United Nations representatives better solutions for global problems at the Israeli Designed International Development (ID2) conference in Caesarea.  Innovations demonstrated included plants that give off light at night.  Meanwhile, Israel’s Evogene has launched PoinTar, a computationally based target discovery platform for generating better herbicides.  It identifies key molecules that can be chemically targeted to prevent weed growth.  Staying with agro technology, India’s Dr. Akhilesh Kumar came to work at Israel’s Vulcani Agricultural Research Institute in order to develop better strains of potatoes and solar-powered storage in order to feed India’s hungry population all year round.

Angola’s population will appreciate the better quality drinking water that will flow from fifty filtration systems to be supplied by Israel’s Amiad Water Systems. Amiad also just won one of Israel’s Outstanding Exporter awards.  California, in the grip of its most severe drought since 1977, will be far better off once it completes the Israeli-designed desalination plant near San Diego. Israel’s IDE Technologies is one of the main engineering contractors building the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4Kp4IsJ6cQ

Israel has been proficient recently in developing better battery technologies.  The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has boosted the power of sodium-ion batteries with a new type of anode.  Also Israel’s EnStorage received nearly 1 million dollars as a BIRD Foundation grant for its Hydrogen Bromide flow battery development.  Meanwhile Professor Doron Aurbach of Bar Ilan University won the prestigious 2014 International Battery Association Yeager Award for advancing battery technology, especially rechargeable magnesium batteries.

Israeli apps are currently rated better than ever.  Israeli cyber-security companies received eleven awards at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco, including Votiro, which won gold in the “Innovations in Next Generation Security” category.  At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Israeli companies picked up five awards.  Israel’s PointGrab’s CamMe won “most innovative app” with EverythingMe one of five finalists.  Wibbitz won “best mobile publishing product or service” for its unique text-to-video technology.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=955PTWP7-uk

There is just enough room to wish Mazel Tov to my friend, Tel Aviv Radio TLV1’s DJ Antithesis who has found his “better half” and is getting married this week.  There should be some great music at his wedding.  And Israel’s soccer fans will hope for better results from its national team with its favorable draw in the qualifying stages of the 2016 European Nations Cup.

I want to leave you with the knowledge that it is the dedication of the people of Israel that makes life better for everyone.  The staff at Israel’s Beit Issie Shapiro are bringing a better tomorrow to those born with both severe mental and physical disabilities. You would hardly believe that children like Roni, Eytan, Nevo and Liora could, for example, learn to use iPads to help them develop to their full potential.  You can also help Beit Issie and Eytan by sponsoring his dad in the London marathon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZTaWbHi1Ms

Finally two mature Israeli professors have been busy throughout their lives making a better world for all of us. Whilst at Israel’s Weizmann Institute, molecular geneticist Professor Michel Revel developed treatments for MS, ALS and diabetes.  Now at 75 years of age, he works at his own biotech company Kadimastem developing pluripotent stem cells as a regenerative medicine solution for all three diseases.  And I hope that you will find a new biography about renowned Israeli cardiac surgeon Professor Joseph Borman particularly heartwarming. “Open Hearts: A Memoir” describes how during the 1967 Six-Day War he saved the life of critically injured soldier Doron Lancet.  Doron eventually went on to lead the Israeli team that helped map the human genome to give us a better understanding of the causes of genetic diseases.

 

Are we on the way up? 

You’d better believe it!

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing positive news stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com

And the Winner is?

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/and-winner

http://blogs.jpost.com/print/4632

Some of Israel’s neighbors resemble contestants in a fanatical "competition" to see who can cause as much mayhem and destruction as possible.  The Jewish State, however, is competing in an entirely different kind of race.

In the fight against cancer, there have been two recent Israeli successes.  The ImMucin cancer vaccine developed by Israel’s Vaxil Bio produced strong immune and antibody responses in Phase I/II trial patients.  Vaxil even taxied one cancer patient from Gaza to Jerusalem and back for his regular injections.  Meanwhile the 500,000 Russians that contract cancer every year will cheer the plans that Africa Israel announced to develop oncology centers in Moscow, where there is a severe shortage of specialist facilities.

43 million Chinese sufferers of the debilitating Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) will be celebrating the news that Israel’s BioLineRx has licensed its oral HCV treatment to China.  And asthmatic children everywhere can breathe a little easier now that Inspiro Medical’s smart dry-powder inhaler breezed through a critical clinical trial at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikvah. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhQde3gpgkk

Other recent Israeli medical achievements include:

-         The discovery of a new protein that treats pain and fertility problems in women suffering from angiogenesis of the uterus.  It can also cure life-threatening side effects of IVF treatment.

-         Europe’s approval of the non-invasive glucose monitor from Israel’s Integrity Applications.

-         Israel’s fledgling start-up Eon Surgical and its scar-less surgery technology received a huge boost when it was taken-over by US giant Teleflex before it had even made its first sale.

-         And even caesarian sections shouldn’t leave a scar once hospitals start using the cold plasma BioWeld1 from Israel’s IonMed for closure of surgical incisions.

Two of the most startling medical stories:

-         Hadassah Medical Center doctors who labored for four hours in order to deliver the conjoined (“Siamese”) twins of a Palestinian Arab woman. 

-         One of the two latest Syrians to be airlifted to an Israeli hospital from next door’s civil war arrived with a note from his Syrian doctor containing details of his injuries.

Some Israelis recently received formal recognition for their technical endeavors:

-         Marganit Cohen-Avrahami won a Kaye Award from the Hebrew University for her skin-permeable nano protein gels that treat illnesses via the skin, thus avoiding the side effects of oral medications.

-         Professor Ilan Sela won his Kaye Award for discovering the virus responsible for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in bees and then for his work developing its treatment.

-         Gadi Mazor of Israel’s OurCrowd won the Blackberry Achievement Award for Entrepreneur of the Year.  Gadi’s Nobex Radio for BlackBerry has played to over 12 million users.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFiSMoVt1WA

Israelis have also done quite well collectively:

-         Israel is now ranked as the world’s leader in cyber security – up from 19th place in 2012.  The news came as Tel Aviv University was hosting the Third International Cyber Security conference.

-         Israel’s RAD Data Communications won one of the 2013 NetEvents Technology Innovation awards for its MiNID device that configures almost every piece of telecom equipment just by plugging it in.

Some of Israel’s winning agro-technology innovations made progress last week:

-         The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture approved the use of Israel’s non-toxic "Tamar Tech" pesticide based on edible oils. It protects leaves, stems and fruits from attacks by insects, spider-mites and fungi.

-         Israel’s Evogene is working with Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group (DBN) to increase fertilizer uptake and drought tolerance in rice.  Evogene has several candidate genes to improve this vital crop.

Cyclists keen on winning road races would be wise to invest some funds in the world’s first spray device for cyclists, Q-Fog provides 400 sprays of cooling water that evaporates from your body.  Enjoying slightly faster speeds, Jerusalem’s streets were filled last week with 160,000 spectators (including Muslims, Christians and Orthodox Jews) cheering on Formula 1’s winning Ferrari racecars. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KdvUP-aQ7g

One person who really deserves an award is Governor of the Bank of Israel, Professor Stanley Fischer who has begun his final lap before retirement.  He will be happy to hear that exports from Israel to the UK increased by over 50 percent in the first quarter of 2013.  On the subject of successful exits, I must include a mention of Google’s takeover of Waze – the Israeli social traffic application with almost 50 million global users.  At over $1 billion, it is one of the largest purchases of a start-up in Israel’s history.

Finally, one of UK Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’ winning activities before his retirement was to give an inspiring speech to thousands at the “Closer to Israel” event in London.  He spoke of Israel’s innovations and humanitarian activities as well as the success that Arabs enjoy in the Jewish State.  And in a wider context, “Israel is a blessing not just to its citizens but to the world.”

There’s the answer then.

Everyone’s the winner. 

Michael Ordman writes a free weekly newsletter containing Good News stories about Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

For a free subscription, email a request to michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com