Ten Years

When I made Aliya from the UK 10 years ago, Israel was far different from where it is today.  It suffered from lack of water, few energy resources, a weak economy, high unemployment, low currency reserves, low tech and international isolation.

Now Israel has built desalination plants, recycles 90% of its wastewater and discovered huge natural gas deposits. It has become the Startup Nation, with the world’s 3rd most stable economy. It is at the forefront of medicine and cybersecurity. Together with its humanitarian activities and global development programs, Israel has now raised its profile on the World stage and is especially appreciated in the USA, Africa, India and China.

Just a few weeks into my eleventh year and this progress continues to amaze me.  Israeli ground-breaking medical research has just discovered a molecule that can restore damaged hearts and micro RNA that reduces susceptibility to epileptic seizures. Potentially life-saving treatments include an anti-rabies vaccination, transplants using lab-grown bone, and the curing and prevention of melanoma.

Dozens of innovative Israeli medical devices have been launched or announced recently, e.g. spectacles that read text to the visually impaired; a system that gives mute, “locked-in” patients the power of speech; a minimally invasive implant to treat congestive heart failure; a one-second per year treatment for glaucoma; hyper-MRI scanners to detect cancer; bandages that stop massive bleeding in 40 seconds; and a soft suit exoskeleton to allow stroke patients to walk again.

Recent Israeli global humanitarian activities include disaster relief for USA, the Caribbean and Mexico;  expanding the free treatment for wounded Syrians; aid for South Sudan and Sierra Leone; firefighting in Montenegro; free surgery for children in Ghana and Fiji; plus renewable electricity and clean water for Ugandan schoolchildren.

Latest technological breakthroughs include advanced systems for driverless cars and buses, wave energy systems for China, India, Chile, Gibraltar and now Mexico.  Israeli companies make water purification systems that utilize ultraviolet light and hybrid biofilters. Israelis developed hyperspectral imaging for amazingly detailed photos and video, including on a new Israeli satellite that monitors the environment. Israeli start-ups plant solar trees; use 3D printing for facial surgery and prosthetics; construct high-tech fish farms and produce smart pesticides to combat fruit fly and rootworm infestation.  

Israelis even beat their swords into ploughshares with unmanned drones delivering purchases to customers and military training systems being adapted for tennis, basketball and soccer.

Israel’s economy goes from strength to strength with international trade and exports on the rise.  Israel’s 300 cybersecurity companies exported $6.5 billion last year. Tourists visit Israel in record numbers and unemployment is at a record low. Massive foreign investment in Israeli start-ups means that they no longer have to make early exits, but grow to become Unicorns (over $1 billion in value).

Far from being isolated, Israel is the “go-to” place for international organizations, politicians, companies and celebrities.  The World Health Organization has just appointed the first Israeli for 21 years to its Executive Committee. Israel’s Prime Minister has been feted in Latin America. Visiting Prime Ministers include from Georgia and the Ukraine plus the first-ever visit from a Quebec Premier.   Recent delegations to Israel include business leaders from Iowa, Chicago and Australia; Massachusetts police, French doctors, Indonesian Muslim leaders and Jordanian Sheikhs.

Barely a week goes by without the announcement of another airline’s new service to Tel Aviv or Eilat. In the same week Air Canada and Air Transat began separate services from Montreal, Canada. China’s Hainan Airways has launched its direct flights to Shanghai.  El Al and Aerolíneas Argentinas are soon to begin scheduled flights from Buenos Aires and Ryanair will be flying in from Rome.

Israel’s OurCrowd has just launched OurNetwork to link at least 25 multinationals to Israeli start-ups.  Visa just became the 73rd international R&D center to open in Tel Aviv - nearly double the number five years ago.  Skoda is opening an Israeli technology office.  Intel are to open another microprocessor factory.  Many multinationals are promoting new Israeli startups by setting up incubators – the latest are Merck and Renault-Nissan.

Israeli technology is in much demand globally.  10,000 delegates attended Tel Aviv’s 5th annual DLD (Digital Life Design) Conference – Israel’s largest tech conference.  Israel’s Technion and Cornell Tech opened their joint New York campus. It’s a sign of the times that Israeli-made detection kits for explosives have been sold recently to the UK, the US and France.  And a dozen Israeli companies presented their solutions at a UK cybersecurity conference to counter the latest global cyber-attacks. Even UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited Israel and saw Israeli technology at first hand. 

Israel’s popularity is not always so serious.  London’s “foodies”, for example, have been flocking to Israeli restaurant The Barbary – number one on TimeOut’s list. And for the first time in its 101-year history, Italian cycle race Giro d'Italia will begin outside of Europe when it has its first 3 stages in Israel next year.  Meanwhile, celebrities visiting Israel this summer included Conan O’Brien, Britney Spears, Guns N’ Roses, Radiohead and the Pixies, with Cliff Richard lined up for October.

Finally, my Aliya came just at the time when Israel was beginning to benefit from the million Russian immigrants who kick-started the Start-up Nation.  Since then I’ve seen the arrival of more Ethiopian Jews, Ukrainian Jews, Bnei Menashe from India, thousands from Europe - especially from France, and a steady stream from the USA thanks to Nefesh b’Nefesh.  The latest wave is from Venezuela.  We look forward to welcoming many more Jews in the next ten years who decide to make Israel their home and join all those who are making the world a better place.

A Very Happy New Year from VeryGoodNewsIsrael.

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

Israel begins a New Year

The Jewish New Year is a time of exciting new beginnings, and there is no better place to observe them than in the Jewish State itself.

Israeli medical discoveries and advances are announced every week, but the impact of the most recent innovations is simply staggering.  Technion scientists are the first in the world to manufacture cancer-killing chemicals inside the tumor itself.  These directly target the tumor, fooling the cancer’s defense mechanisms and avoiding the usual harsh side effects of chemotherapy.  Over at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Yotam Bar-On has developed new antibodies to attack the flu virus.  These antibodies disrupt virus’s ability to evade the immune system’s natural killer cells.

At Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, a cutting-edge brain catheterization procedure was broadcast live to thousands of doctors attending the world’s largest cardiovascular conference in Washington DC.  And at the same hospital, doctors have begun using a robot to unblock arteries remotely.  The robot is more accurate than human hands and avoids any radiation risk to surgeons.  The robot is manufactured by Corindus – founded by two Israeli scientists.

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

Further new Israeli treatments include the bladder cancer product BC-819, developed by Israel’s Biocancell Therapeutics, which has just completed a successful clinical trial.  Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, sufferers of severe Glaucoma will now be able to receive treatment using the innovative CO2 laser IOPtiMate manufactured by Israel’s XLVision Sciences.  Finally, scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a new cocktail of genes that are extremely effective in turning adult cells back into stem cells. These stem cells, when transplanted, can renew previously damaged tissue or organs.

The New Year will see the culmination of hundreds of new Israeli technological ventures.  Israel will build its first bio-waste power plant at Neot Hovav in the Negev that will generate 5 megawatts of clean energy and process over one hundred thousand tons of organic waste per year.  A new National Photonics and Electro-Optics Research Center will allow professionals and students to delve into the exciting new science of light and optics. 

The Israeli government will establish a new hi-tech authority - the National Technical Innovation Authority - to enhance Israeli innovation and bolster economic growth. And Israel’s Algatechnologies is to build a new factory at Kibbutz Ketura that will grow new forms of beneficial micro-algae for use in foods, medicines and cosmetics. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcEjEztv11c

The New Year promises to enhance relationships between the Jewish State and other forward-thinking countries.  “The sky’s the limit” when it comes to new ties between Israel and India, as Israel’s Prime Minister stated at his meeting with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi in New York.  Israel’s Economic Office in Delhi has already been busy matchmaking Israeli and Indian companies.  Even a well-established relationship was strengthened when the US Senate unanimously adopted the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act that will lay the foundation for expanded US-Israel cooperation in defense, energy, agriculture, and other key sectors. 

We can only wish that future Israeli-Arab relations mirrored the words of exiled Syrian opposition leader Dr. Kamal Al-Labwani, who visited wounded Syrians being treated at Israel’s Ziv Hospital. "This moving humanitarian gesture is an opening for rapprochement between the two peoples and hope for peace on quieter days," he said.  And if other Arab leaders visited Israeli hospitals, such as Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center, they would see young Israeli patients start the school year.  Jews, Moslems, Christians, Druze, plus Arabs from Gaza - all study together in their year groups.  And whilst we are dreaming of new beginnings, listen to the “Dream it. Do it” New Year message from the students of Israel’s Technion – in 14 languages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2vBAPg0YJk

Finally, there is no better way to start a new year than by starting a new life.  24,800 new immigrants to Israel did precisely that in the last 12 months - a 28% increase on the previous year and the highest number in the past five years.  For the first time in history, more immigrants arrived from France (nearly 6,000) than from any other country, and many more are expected in 5775.  An even larger number of new arrivals had far less distance to travel. A record 176,230 Israeli babies were born in 5774 - the next generation of new beginnings.

Happy New Year.

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

You Cannot Passover the Jewish State

The modern State of Israel is almost the same size of Wales and is smaller than Lake Michigan and Kruger Safari Park.  Yet this tiny state produces more innovations and performs more humanitarian activities than countries that dwarf it in size and population.  Here are just some of Israel’s amazing achievements in the lead-up to this year’s festival of Passover when we celebrate the events over 3000 years ago that created the nation of Israel.

“Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh”, says the good book; so it is appropriate that during “Save Your Vision Month” scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute had the vision to publicize their many projects for treating eyesight problems. They include glaucoma medication, photon analysis, brain imaging and even sensory whiskers.  In another sense, neurobiologist Professor Israel Nelken at the Hebrew University may have taken “Hear O Israel” as inspiration for the work that led to his team’s discoveries about the brain’s response to sounds.  The research, published in the journal “Neuron”, could lead to the development of better hearing aids.

The Angel of Death takes a vacation when Rabbi Elimelech Firer is around.  Nicknamed “The Phenomenon”, Rabbi Firer never received a formal medical education but reviews hundreds of patient reports a day and has diagnosed diseases that professional medical staff missed.  He founded "Ezra Lemarpeh" to supply patients with treatments and facilities that Israel’s National Health Service cannot provide.  He is now working to build a new Medical Rehabilitation Center in Sderot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcbfUGemfZ0

In Egypt, the troubles of the Children of Israel began when “A new King arose who did not know Joseph”.  So it was vital that, on his pre-Passover visit to the Jewish State, US President Obama was shown a selection of the best of “Israeli Technology for a Better World”.  From Sa’id Haruf (one of 600 Arabs working for Intel Israel) he then heard first hand about Maantech – Israel’s hi-tech “finishing school” that helps Israeli-Arabs integrate into Israel’s hi-tech scene.  Finally, he learned about Jewish history when he received a gift of a microchip that had been fashioned by scientists from Israel’s Technion Institute.  They had engraved nano-sized versions of the US and Israeli declarations of independence onto the gold-plated chip and affixed it to a Jerusalem stone seal dating to the Second Temple Period (1st century BCE to 1st century CE).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVnI9-8N3yw&feature=youtu.be

Israelis may not be able to split the sea or turn it into blood, but they are world leaders in water technology.  Israel’s Amiad Water Systems has won a contract to help Colombia clean its industrial water by supplying and maintaining a pre-filtration solution at one of the South American country’s desalination plants.  And Ben Gurion University of the Negev has announced a partnership with the University of Chicago to collaborate on new water production and purification technologies for deployment in regions of the globe where fresh water resources are scarce.  I often imagine that if modern Israelis had watched Egyptian soldiers drowning in the Red Sea they would have gone back to save them.  Last week Israel Defense Force medics treated four more wounded Syrians after they approached the Israel-Syrian border seeking medical attention.  Two were seriously wounded and were evacuated to an Israeli hospital for further treatment. 

Israeli Nir Goldshlager certainly prevented a “sea” of problems for Facebook, when he uncovered a major security flaw. Then when Facebook fixed the breach, Nir earned a place in their “hall of fame” when he discovered another flaw in the “corrected” code.  Meanwhile, Israel’s Skycure used its “tree of knowledge” to alert Apple Corporation to the news that their iPhone customers could be eaten alive.  Skycure’s CEO and co-founder Adi Sharabani showed that a cyber attacker could steal sensitive information (including the victim’s exact location) and even control victims’ phones – e.g. quietly changing their GPS destination while driving.

Passover is all about passing on Jewish history to the next generation and there has been much recent news regarding equipping Israeli children with hi-tech skills.  For example, the Amal network of technical high schools held a nationwide online detection and hacking race at Cisco’s R&D center in Netanya.  The goal is to equip a new generation of top-tier computer experts with the expertise to benefit Israel and successfully compete in cyberspace.  In another story, Netanya students three top prizes at the Intel-Young Scientists competition.  Victor Isserov of the Shai Agnon School was joint first with his project on the quantum characteristics of ions and the development of quantum computers.  Victor will represent Israel in the EU science competition in Prague in September.  Finally, please watch this new video showing the work of Israeli start-up “Young Engineers” that won Amir Asor the “Youth Business International Entrepreneur of the Year” award from Britain's Youth Business International non-profit organization.  Children use kits such as LEGO to grasp the principles of software engineering.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TE0A-nmCB4

As we conclude these festive highlights, I wonder if you were lucky to see a fiery object in the skies, just to the right of the setting sun.  Dr. Igal Patel, chairman of the Israeli Astronomical Association, says it was the comet Panstarrs C/2011 L4.  But Passover is when Elijah is predicted to return in his fiery chariot to announce the final redemption - so ……

…. if you see him in passing, please wish him a Happy Passover.

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