This Week’s Sanity Report from Israel Jan. 8, 2023
Already in 2023 we see Israel building for a better future. And it promises to be a healthier future for everyone, with Israeli treatments for cancer, migraine, essential tremor, burns, and dental implants – all having made major advances in the past week. Israelis are also building up the skills of medics in Ethiopia. It’s good to see Israel building up its diplomatic relations with Turkiye (Turkey) and Azerbaijan, building new business opportunities with Gulf states, and building cultural ties with Mexico and Serbia.
On the technology front, Israeli startups are building quantum computers; new facilities to convert waste into hydrogen and bio-plastics; new sustainable products, and a “green” cover for one of Israel’s busy highways.
Finally, 2023 sees the Jewish State continues to build a vibrant country with many thousands of new arrivals, both young and old.
The photo is of some of the half a million birds migrating through Israel, where they are building up their strength before continuing their journey.
The highlights include:
- Successful human trials of a new Israeli blood cancer treatment.
- Israeli medics are training surgeons and nurses in Ethiopia.
- See some of the 500 million birds migrating through Israel.
- Two Israeli advanced technology satellites have been launched.
- An Israeli system is fast-charging electric vehicles in the US and Israel.
- Gold for Israel at the World Judo Masters tournament in Jerusalem.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Israelis live longer. Israelis have the world’s 10th highest life expectancy, according to the Worldometer’s Life Expectancy of the World Population – a project by NiceR that helps Americans access affordable prescription medications. The average Israeli life expectancy is 83.5 (82 for men and 85 for women). In 2020 it was 82.6
https://www.israel21c.org/
https://www.nicerx.com/best-
Reprogramming the immune system of cancer patients. Scientists at Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital and Bar-Ilan University have developed HBI0101- a CAR-T therapy for multiple myeloma and amyloidosis, benefiting over 90% of patients in trials. Los Angeles-based Immix BioPharma will commercialize HBI0101.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Implants heal 3 times faster. Israel’s Magdent (see here previously) has received CE approval for its Miniaturized Electromagnetic Device (MED) which has been clinically proven to shorten the healing process after dental implants by up to 3 times. The device is being sold in Israel and the EU. FDA approval is being sought.
https://www.ourcrowd.com/
Relieving migraines in the US. (TY OurCrowd) 2,500+ US physicians have prescribed the Nerivio migraine relief device from Israel’s Theranica, benefiting some 35,000 Americans with its neuromodulation technology.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
From both sides now. Essential tremor usually affects hands and arms on both sides of the body – one side more than the other. Israel’s Insightec (see here previously) has now received FDA approval to treat the second side of the brains of patients in the US a minimum of nine months after treatment of the first side.
https://insightec.com/
New way to cure pulmonary embolisms. Doctors at Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital removed a blood clot in an Israeli’s lung (pulmonary embolism) using, for the first time in Israel, a US-developed FlowTriever. It sucked out some of the patient’s blood, cleaned it of the clot and replaced it. No blood thinners, no invasive surgery.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
4th child for ex-cancer patient. (TY UWI) Thanks to the Fertility Preservation Center at Sheba Medical Center, Ayelet, 35, gave birth to her fourth child, following years of aggressive cancer treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma. She is the first woman in the world to give birth to 4 children through cryopreservation of her eggs.
https://www.jns.org/four-
US approval for burns treatment. Israel’s Mediwound has received FDA approval for its NexoBrid pineapple plant-based burn treatment (see here previously) to be sold in the US to treat thermal burns. The US already has emergency stockpiles. NexoBrid is now approved for use in 44 countries, including the EU, Japan, and India.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/
More approvals on the way. This article identifies three more Israeli companies that are expected to receive FDA approval for treatments in 2023. They are Gamida Cell (Omidubicel / NiCord – bone marrow transplants); Protalix (PRX-102 – Fabry disease); and BioLineRX (BL-8040 / Motixafortide – multiple myeloma).
https://en.globes.co.il/en/
Lower cost of prescription medicines. The maximum prices for dispensed medicines in Israel are to fall by an average of nearly 7.5%. Israel’s prescription prices are based on the lowest that the medicines cost in Europe on Jan 1st. Israelis then only pay 15% of that price – the remainder being paid by Israel’s health companies.
https://www.jpost.com/health-
Training medics in Ethiopia. A team from Magen David (MDA) and three Israeli hospitals are currently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia training doctors and nurses in the treatment of trauma. In a separate mission, Professor Hanoch Kashtan and his Assuta Ashdod team have been training surgeons and nurses, in northern Ethiopia.
https://www.
1.3 million calls to MDA. During 2022 Magen David Adom EMTs and paramedics attended over 1.3 million emergencies from nearly 200 stations. The call centers received on average one call every 10.8 seconds. MDA’s 31,600 staff include nearly 14,600 youth volunteers. https://www.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Ella is a True Israeli Trailblazer. (TY UWI) An update of the career of Major Ella Waweya (see here previously) – the first Muslim Arab woman to publicly become a major in the IDF. The details of how she joined the IDF are especially interesting. https://www.jns.org/the-
Turkish President presents award to Israeli professor. In a unique ceremony, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented the Turkish Academy of Sciences honorary commendation to Hebrew University Professor Amnon Cohen for his extensive research into the Land of Israel under Ottoman rule.
https://www.ynetnews.com/
Azerbaijan appoints its first ambassador to Israel. Deputy Minister of Science and Education Mukhtar Mammadov has reportedly been appointed as the country’s first ambassador to the Jewish State. He previously supervised projects with Israel. The news of was praised by George Deek, Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan.
https://www.jns.org/
https://aze.media/azerbaijan-
Saving the ocean from plastic. Arik Rosenblum of Israeli NGO EcoOcean (see here previously) promotes the vital message to the whole world that, “To save the sea is to save us”. Plastic waste going into our food via fish is causing cancer. It is also killing vital marine creatures – like the sponge that may be a cure for Alzheimer’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
https://news.unair.ac.id/2019/
Bird migration is in full swing. (TY Kay) I sent this website link to readers in September when the KKL-JNF cameras at Israel’s Hula Lake were set up. Now the bird migration through Israel is at its peak, you can use this link to view the amazing live scenes as some 500 million feathered visitors rest their wings in the Jewish State.
https://www.kkl-jnf.org/
Iranian invasion. It is good news. A flock of 200 flamingos from Iran arrived at Israel’s Hula Lake during their November migration. However, they seem to be happy here and don’t appear to be continuing their journey to Africa. KKL-JNF’s Inbar Shlomit Rubin says, “I just hope they won’t be accused of being spies!”
https://www.israel21c.org/
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Eros C-3 launched. (TY UWI) Israel’s ImageSat (see here previously) successfully launched its EROS-C3 observation satellite into space from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Built by Israel Aerospace Industries, the EROS-C3 is one of the world’s most advanced observation satellites.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
https://www.calcalistech.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
TAU-SAT3 launched. Another SpaceX rocket launched Tel Aviv University’s SAT3 nanosatellite from Cape Canaveral. It will communicate with a groundbreaking optical ground station that can reconstruct any lost data in real-time using smart signal processing algorithms developed at TAU.
https://www.jns.org/israeli-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Increasing natural gas extraction. (TY Atid-EDI) US energy giant Chevron is building a third pipeline to increase the gas extracted from Israel’s Tamar natural gas field. The aim is to take 1.6 billion cubic feet of gas per day – up from the present 1.1 billion, enabling Israel to export more gas to Egypt and supply other countries.
https://www.al-monitor.com/
Israel’s quantum consortium. Israel’s Innovation Authority is investing NIS 115 million over 3 years to create the largest consortium in its history. IAI’s Elta Systems, Quantum Art, Classiq, Qedma, and Rafael will develop some of the most advanced quantum computing processor technologies and software.
https://www.calcalistech.com/
Award for hydrogen harvester. Israeli-Swedish-Polish startup Boson Energy (see here previously) was ranked first in the hydrogen production track in the Tech Tour Sustainability22 Flagship Program in Essen, Germany. Tech Tour’s European network connects investors, entrepreneurs, and corporate partners.
https://www.israel21c.org/
https://techtour.com/events/
Bioplastic and more from food waste. (TY I24 News) Israel’s TripleW (see here previously) is now in full production on an industrial scale at its new facility in Belgium. It is converting massive amounts of food waste into biodegradable plastic plus biogas for energy production. Watch the video for more details.
https://www.israelunwired.com/
https://www.dsengineers.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Healthy processed foods. Teams from Israel’s Technion Institute competed in the “Foods Solutions” event in Brussels, funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. One Technion team won gold, with their nutritious, freeze-dried, instant vegan omelet. Another won silver with a chickpea, lentil, & cashew snack.
https://www.jpost.com/health-
Don’t forget to drink. (TY Hazel) Israel’s Impacx (previously water.io) has developed a smart water bottle that illuminates and vibrates to encourage people to stay hydrated. Impacx also makes smart medicine boxes that remind people to take pills, auto-replenishing them and generating valuable medical data.
https://nocamels.com/2023/01/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Green light for Begin Highway cover. Jerusalem has approved a NIS 1.5+ billion plan to cover the Begin Highway. The highway cover will include a 14.25-acre park with pedestrian access but no vehicles. It will create over 50 acres of new land for thousands of homes, office space and hotel rooms.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/
Cybersecurity startup is cool. Israel’s accSenSe has been named a “Cool Vendor” in Gartner’s Identity-First Security category. Gartner Cool Vendors are chosen if they have innovative and transformative products, services or initiatives. accSenSe enables customers a fast recovery after a major security breach.
https://www.globenewswire.com/
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Israel’s resilient economy. Excellent short article by Prof. Micheal Humphries of the Jerusalem College of Technology and Touro College Israel. He gives six key reasons why (except for 2020 – Covid), Israel has had positive economic growth every year since 2003, including during the 2008-9 Great Recession.
https://www.israel21c.org/6-
Unemployment falls to 4.1%. Israel’s rate of unemployment fell in November to 4.1% from 4.3% in October. The fall was mainly due to the rise in workforce participation to 60.6% (60.3% Oct).
https://en.globes.co.il/en/
Tourist numbers surge. Over 2.6 million foreign tourists visited Israel in 2022, compared to 397,000 in 2021 and 831,000 in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Israel opened its borders to tourists in Mar 2022 and all restrictions were dropped in May. Israelis enjoyed a record 20 million overnight local hotel stays in 2022.
https://www.jns.org/2-67-
Abraham Accords transforms businesses. This article describes the work of the UAE-IL Tech Zone which focuses on building bridges between the two regions through tech. The group boasts more than 2,000 members. Also, the DANA Accelerator in Abu Dhabi, where women aim to solve major challenges in the Gulf.
https://www.israel21c.org/how-
Preventing financial crime in the UAE. Dubai-based NOW Money is to use the AI anti-money laundering (AML) platform from Israel’s ThetaRay to help prevent financial crimes on its payments systems. ThetaRay’s SONAR cloud-based AML solution will monitor cross-border payments processed by NOW Money.
https://www.businesswire.com/
Good news disguised as bad. This negatively headlined article on Israel in 2022 is mostly comprised of good news. Productivity increasing; hi-tech booming; unemployment decreasing; job vacancies increasing; education results improving; life expectancy rising. Can’t these journalists lighten up a bit?
https://www.jpost.com/
Powering up the US. (TY Israel21c) Israel’s Zooz Power (see here previously) has signed an agreement with US-based Blink Charging for the marketing, distribution, sale, and deployment of the ZOOZTER-100 electric vehicle (EV) charging system in the United States. Zooz also just installed its first charging systems in Israel.
https://ir.blinkcharging.com/
Shufersal to open SPAR stores in Israel. Israel’s largest supermarket chain Shufersal is to invest tens of millions of shekels to open at least ten SPAR stores in Israel, as well as sell SPAR products in Shufersal stores. The lower prices of SPAR products are expected to help reduce Israel’s cost of living. See here previously.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Germany’s first fully automated supermarket. (TY Atid-EDI) The new REWE Pick&Go store in central Munich is Germany’s first-ever 100% autonomous store, thanks to Israel’s Trigo (see here previously).
https://www.trigoretail.com/
El Al to buy its 17th Dreamliner. Israel’s El Al airline is soon to take delivery of two more Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Its 16th will be the 787-8 it ordered prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will also buy a 787-9 originally ordered by another Boeing customer who no longer requires it. Boeing will adapt it for El Al.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/
Exits, takeovers and mergers. Israel’s Matrix has acquired Israel’s Zebra Technologies for approximately $18.5 million. US-based RMS has acquired Israeli fraud detection startup OrboGraph for over $100 million.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT`
Ofra Haza is one of the best singers ever. (TY IsraPundit & UWI) Israel’s Ofra Haza, who passed away in 2000, was named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the best 200 singers of all time. It called her “The Madonna of the Middle East.” (But not “Israeli”) The Youtube is her rendition of “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav”.
https://www.rollingstone.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Ravel, Berlioz, Bizet. On Jan 11 the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra promises a wonderful evening with conductor Yves Abel and mezzo soprano Rachel Frenkel featuring Le Tombeau de Couperin by Ravel, Les Nuits d’été by Berlioz and Symphony in C by Bizet. Discounted tickets via the Nefesh b’Nefesh website.
https://www.jso.co.il/en/
https://www.nbn.org.il/events/
Jewish women of consequence. A series of free Zoom lectures by Prof. Moshe Rosman of Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, highlighting the lives of four Jewish women who lived in the early modern period (16th-18th centuries). On Jan 8, 15 and 22. Registration required.
https://www.bac.org.il/events/
Things to do in Israel in January. In Israel’s coolest month, Tourist Israel recommends visiting Eilat. January events include the Tel Aviv Power Africa Expo, and the Israman triathlon in Eilat.
https://www.touristisrael.com/
https://www.cantonfair.net/
Puppet show for children in Serbia. Recent celebrations marked 30 years of diplomatic relations between Israel and Serbia. They included a performance at the International Festival of Children’s Theatres in Subotica of the play “Up and Down Story” by the Israeli Koom-Koom Theater. https://en.koomkoom.org/mala-
https://www.jpost.com/365days/
Dancing in Spain and Mexico. Israeli dancers have recently been entertaining audiences in Spain and Mexico. Israeli choreographer Sharon Friedman presented two works in the “Espacio Espiral, in Santander. Meanwhile, Israel’s Kamea dance company toured Mexico to celebrate the 70th anniversary of joint diplomatic relations.
https://www.jpost.com/365days/
Israeli cycling team returns to Tour de France. The Israel – Premier Tech (IPT) cycling team has been selected to compete again in the Tour de France. IPT was one of only six teams to achieve two Stage wins last year. IPT owner Sylvan Adams said that his team was looking forward to even more success at this year’s race.
https://www.jns.org/israeli-
Judoka gold in Jerusalem. (TY Nevet) Israeli judoka Baruch Shmailov won the 66kg men’s gold medal at the Judo Masters tournament in Jerusalem, defeating French contestant Daikii Bouba in the finals. The tournament is the 3rd most important competition in judo, after the Olympics and the World Judo Championships.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
THE JEWISH STATE
The first new Israelis of 2023. (TY TPS) Liel and Sergey of Rehovot celebrated the birth of their third son just after midnight on Jan 1st at the Shamir Medical Center (Assaf HaRofeh) near Tel Aviv. And see the second article for other babies born on the first day of 2023 – a microcosm of Israel’s population.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/
https://www.jpost.com/israel-
Surge in demand for Masa journeys. Hundreds of Jews aged 18 to 30 from the former Soviet Union have joined Masa Israel Journey’s two-to-12-month study, service, and career development programs. The demand for pre-Aliyah programs was so great it had to be funded by a $3 million donation matched by the government.
https://www.jns.org/3-million-
Jerusalem builds. (TY Sharon) One day all the construction projects in and around Jerusalem will be completed. Sacher Park, the Jerusalem Gateway, the Light Rail extension. New projects include Sultan’s Pool and the Pool of Siloam excavation. Sharon even made a video of the final construction of the new Government.
http://rjstreets.com/2023/01/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
