ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Medical clowns aid Ukrainian refugees. (TY JNS) The huge numbers of Israeli volunteers aiding refugees from Ukraine in Moldova include the medical clowns of Dream Doctors (see here previously). Their costumes, big red noses and funny antics light up the faces of exhausted Ukrainian women, children, and elderly men.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-medical-clowns-bring-smiles-relieve-stress-for-ukraine-refugees-in-moldova/   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfYFumNRjLA

Ukraine field hospital treats thousands. Israel’s “Shining Star” field hospital has been established by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health, and Sheba Medical Centre, assisted by Israel’s healthcare system. In its first week it treated 1,100+ adults and children, including a 10-year-old heart patient.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/324428  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWOB3FNuP6U
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ukrainian-girl-and-her-hamster-reach-israels-field-hospital-after-escaping-bombings/ https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/324853

Second booster reduced deaths by 78%. Israeli HMO Clalit, Sapir College and Ben-Gurion University studied 563,465 Israelis aged 60-100 who were eligible for the fourth coronavirus vaccine. They reported a 78% decrease in COVID deaths. In a 40-day period.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/study-indicates-4th-shots-were-key-to-saving-lives-among-over-60s-in-omicron-wave/  https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/coronavirus/article-702441 +++

Hope for advanced head & neck cancer patients. (TY WIN) Researchers at Ben-Gurion University have developed an innovative treatment for Head & Neck Cancer (HNC) sufferers. It blocks the hyper-activation of a specific cell-signaling pathway that is found in over 40% of HNC patients.
https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/news/head_neck.aspx

Accurate diagnosis. (TY UWI) Tel Aviv University researchers have discovered that after a minor head injury many children later displayed symptoms that were often misdiagnosed as ADHD. 200 children were monitored and 25% were found to suffer chronic persistent post-concussion syndrome, requiring much different treatment.
https://www.israel21c.org/minor-head-injury-leads-to-chronic-syndrome-in-1-of-4-kids/

International research grants. Ben Gurion University’s Dr. Shai Pilosof has won a $100,000 grant from the International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSP) for researching animals and environment. His colleague Dr Benjamin Palmer is investigating the diversity of color in the natural world.
https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/news/pilosof_palmer.aspx

ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL

Mentoring for women in hi-tech. Israel’s Melio (see here previously) recently launched MentorMe – its mentoring program for female developers that brings together highly-experienced women with those at the beginning of their careers, to learn and discuss the challenges they face. 50 women were selected to participate.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/r1tpewkq9

Women move up in the IDF. Good video showing the opportunities for women in the Israel Defense Forces.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl3HTEpeKhM&t=256s

Israel’s Arab sector is modernizing. Dr Nasreen Haddad Haj-Yahyais director of the Arab Society in Israel program at the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI). She highlights Arab students, graduates and PhD candidates at university compared to 2010. Other positives include the medical profession and Arab women in employment.
https://www.jns.org/revolution-taking-place-among-arab-sector-in-israel-report-shows/

Arab women learn Hebrew. (TY JNS) Israeli nonprofit Lissan (Arabic for “language” or “tongue”) promotes gender and social equality in Jerusalem. It oversees the “Women Speaking Hebrew” program where 40 volunteers teach Hebrew to some 400 Arab women, empowering them and giving them more independence.
https://www.israel21c.org/arab-women-in-jerusalem-study-hebrew-for-a-stronger-future/
https://lissan.org/?lang=en

Israeli woman to host UAE lifestyle TV program. The Khaleej Times, the United Arab Emirates’ longest-running English newspaper, has named Israeli broadcast host Michal Divon, as host and executive producer of its new digital show “Dubai This Week.” It promises unique access to the Emirates and celebrity interviews.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/323906

Singapore to open embassy in Israel. Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it will upgrade its consulate in Israel to a full embassy, as part of a series of agreements reached between the two governments. The two countries are keen to conduct joint projects in Artificial Intelligence.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/324374

From war in Ukraine to studies at Israeli university. Tel Aviv University welcomes Maryana Sytar – the first Ukrainian graduate research student to arrive as part of TAU’s emergency scholarship program. Maryana was working towards her PhD at the Koretsky Institute of State and Law of Ukraine before the war broke out.
https://english.tau.ac.il/news/scholarships-ukraine-sytar

Israelis donate aid to Ukrainians. The Jewish Agency is leading Operation Out Turn, involving 110 local authorities and organizations from all over Israel. It includes an air train of 23,000 boxes (sone 230 tons) of humanitarian aid donated by the Israeli public for the victims of the war in Ukraine.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/star-of-david-shines-in-ukraine-israeli-field-hospital-installed/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThOEQYYczYI&t=34s

Helping refugees in their own language. Israel is sending a delegation of 15 Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking police officers to Poland to assist Ukrainian refugees who want to come to Israel (see here previously). Additionally, police will reserve rooms at Israel’s National Police Academy to host some 100 refugees.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-police-sending-delegation-to-poland-to-assist-refugees-fleeing-ukraine/

“The Orange Ones”. The car being driven by volunteers from United Hatzalah broke down twice in Moldova.  Each time local citizens helped fix the problem but wouldn’t accept payment. The reason?  “We recognized your jackets – you are “The Orange Ones” who have come from Israel to help the Ukrainian refugees”.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/324357

Four Arab nations at Israeli summit. (TY UWI) Israel hosted the “Negev Summit” comprising the Foreign Ministers of the UAE, Morocco, Bahrain and Egypt, plus the US Secretary of State and Israel’s Foreign Minister. They stated that the conference would be the first of a regular regional forum.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/announcing-permanent-regional-forum-israel-arab-states-laud-alliance-decry-terror/

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Intelligent Apple scholars. Two Israelis (out of 15 worldwide) have been selected as Apple Scholars in AI / Machine Learning for 2022. Moshe Shenfeld is studying privacy-preserving machine learning at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Also, Noam Razin of Tel Aviv University for fundamentals of machine learning
https://machinelearning.apple.com/updates/apple-scholars-aiml-2022
https://www.jpost.com/j-spot/article-701651

More sea turtles hatching. (TY Hazel) For the second year in row, Israel Nature and Parks Authority reports a sharp increase in the number of sea turtle nests along the Israeli coast. The 449 sites are nearly double that five years prior. The improvement is attributed to fishing bans, and more monitoring.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/sea-turtle-nest-tallies-surging-along-israels-beaches-report-finds/

Using nature for nature. (TY SCICC LA) Israel’s Ayala Water & Ecology (see here previously) has 26 years of experience in the field of phytoremediation – the use of plants to extract and remove elemental pollutants from water. Ayala received an EU Horizon 2020 innovation award to adapt its technology for the EU market.
http://www.ayala-aqua.com/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4lWEGYjQY
https://sme.easme-web.eu/?b=973648462

UBQ wins innovation award. Israel’s UBQ Materials has won an innovation award in the Speculative Design category at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) event. Its recycled waste-derived thermoplastic can be used in the 3D printing industry, which currently relies on non-recycled oil-based thermoplastic.
https://nocamels.com/2022/03/ubq-materials-sxsw-innovation-award/

Leading the waterways. On 13th Apr (at noon ET) Ben Gurion University is hosting a Zoom webinar entitled “How Israel is Leading the Way in Water Renewal” featuring BGU’s Professor Edo Bar-Zeev. He will share his latest research on desalination and the aquatic environment.
https://americansforbgu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RrTeoBjiRVGtQepoGxTvxQ
https://americansforbgu.org/events/

Weathering the storm. (TY SCICC LA) Israel’s PLANETech and KKL-JNF are launching the Climate Solutions Prize, aiming to identify technologies that tackle extreme weather events. Israeli companies can present their solutions to predict, prevent, manage & recover from wildfires, floods, storms, extreme heat, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sttq_LmYvdI  https://climatesolutionsprize.com/competitions.asp?id=84

Technion tractors are transforming agriculture. On International Day of Forests (21st Mar) Israel’s Technion Institute reported on Israel’s Blue White Robotics (see here previously), founded by two graduates of the Technion. The latest article explains how its tractors use sensor technology to operate autonomously.
https://technionuk.org/press-release/how-technion-tractors-are-transforming-agriculture/
https://www.bluewhiterobotics.com/ouster-lidar-creates-a-clear-vision/

Filling up. Israel’s TankU uses AI and computer vision to monitor vehicles and enable refueling, charging, and washing. At Israel’s Sonol’s gas stations, a customer selects to pay through the app, is identified next to the pump or charge point, confirms the operation with a click and then begins refueling. Totally self-service.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/syjdtdlx9  https://www.tanku.com/

Headset is out of this world. (TY UWI) Israel’s Brain.Space will test its electroencephalogram (EEG) enabled helmet on astronauts (including Israel’s Eytan Stibbe) on the 3rd April SpaceX shuttle flight to the International Space Station (ISS). It will be the world’s first test of the effect of microgravity on the brain.
https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/tech-and-start-ups/article-702526

See the Internet as you want to see it. Israel’s Bright Data (see here previously) helps companies gather commercial information on the internet. Its product enables customers to see the internet how they choose. So a farmer can monitor customers, analyze weather conditions and view consumer sentiment about its products.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bypmbjcm5

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Opportunities in Bahrain. A team from Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), led by Executive Chairman Erel Margalit, completed a 4-day visit to Bahrain as guests of the Bahrain Economic Development Board. They met Bahrain’s top business leaders to promote a new economic chapter in Bahrain-Israel relations.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/r1cwkdvfq

Flying cars for Australia. Israel’s AIR (see here previously) has just partnered with Australian electric aircraft distributor, FlyOnE, to supply 25 AIR ONE eVTOL vehicles, worth $150,000 each, in 2025. FlyOnE will serve as AIR’s local distribution, service, and maintenance partner.
https://nocamels.com/2022/03/evtol-delivery-israel-ausralia-air/

Discounted housing. Israel’s Ministry of Housing and Construction and the Israel Land Authority are listing 30,000 dwellings at 20% discount to market value. The first 10,028 units will be sold by lottery in 31 cities including Acre, Dimona, Ofakim, Be’er Ya’akov, Eilat, Ashdod, Haifa, Jerusalem, and Rishon Lezion.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-prices-soar-israel-offers-10000-discounted-housing-units-in-new-lottery-program/

Global demand for V2X tech. Israel’s Autotalks (see here previously) has received three large orders for its V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communications solutions. It will provide its V2X chipsets to three top auto manufacturers in Europe, Japan, and China. It doubles Autotalks orders pipeline to $200 million.
https://www.new-techeurope.com/2022/03/21/autotalks-doubles-backlog-orders-to-200-million-and-wins-contracts-with-top-oems-in-europe-japan-and-china/

More funds for startups. Israel’s Glilot Capital Partners (see here previously) has raised $220 million for its fourth Seed fund. It is double the size of its previous fund and will invest in Israeli startups in the areas of cybersecurity, enterprise software and developer tools. Meanwhile, Israel’s Vertex VC has raised $400 million.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rkrlk71q9
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-glilot-partners-raises-220m-to-back-early-stage-cyber-software-startups/
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/h1vzekkm5

Cutting the cost of self-funded health care. Israel’s Marpai is a third-party administrator (TPA) for firms that manage a self-funded health insurance program. It acquired Continental Benefits, cutting its claim costs from $8 to $3 and now aims for $1. Marpai uses AI to predict and improve the health of a member firm’s employees.
https://www.israel21c.org/this-tech-will-cut-the-cost-of-self-funded-health-coverage/

Mentoring entrepreneurs. Israel’s Qumra Capital is launching a second cohort in its mentorship program to help guide new startup CEOs. During the six-month program, 10 participants will receive first-hand insight and tools to help them set and achieve growth goals and milestones.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/skysgjtgc

Keeping Croatia safe. Israel’s SuperCom (see here previously) has just won another European contract, this time with Croatia. The Ministry of Justice and Administration of Croatia will deploy SuperCom’s PureSecurity Electronic Monitoring (EM) Suite to track offenders outside of the prison system.
https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/supercom-awarded-croatias-first-national-electronic-monitoring-project-301508969.html

100 “Israeli” electric trucks in London. Asher Bennett (brother to the Israeli PM), is founder of Tevva Electric Trucks (see here previously). “We’re trying to do something good for the world,” he told Calcalist’s “Mind the Tech London” conference. Tevva now operates 100 electric delivery trucks in and around London.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/h1zex6dfc

This week’s Unicorns. Cybersecurity Island.io (see here previously) has just become Israel’s latest financial Unicorn by raising $115 million at a valuation of $1.3 billion. Israel’s RapidAPI (see here) raised $150 million at a $1 billion valuation. Capitolis (see here) raised $110 million at a valuation of $1.6 billion.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rj0jtc00m5
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/s145hjwf9
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/b14dhfdf9

Takeovers and mergers. Israel’s Perception Point (see here previously) has acquired Israel’s fellow cybersecurity Hysolate (see here previously). Intel is to acquire Israel’s Granulate (see here previously) for $650 million.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bk0g6jz79
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/h1zywmmmc

Investment in Israeli startups to 3/4/22: RapidAPI raised $150 million; Island.io raised $115 million; Capitolis raised $110 million; Beewise raised $80 million; Bionic.ai raised $65 million; Cyera raised $56 million; Datagen raised $50 million; ChargeAfter raised $44 million; Nucleai raised $33 million; Pinecone raised $28 million; Cyberpion raised $27 million; Home365 raised $26 million; Lightlytics raised $26 million; D-ID raised $25 million; Wing Security raised $20 million; Highcon raised $18.5 million; Kooply raised $18 million; BeamUP raised $15 million; Reigo raised $13 million; Brew (GetBrew.com) raised $12 million; Plantish raised $12 million; TankU raised