The photo is of the Tomb of the Sages in Beit She’arim, Lower Galilee. It includes the grave of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi – editor of the Mishna, the Jewish Oral Law.
This Weeks Sanity Report from Israel July 7 2018
The highlights include:
- Israeli researchers make tumors glow to help surgeons remove them.
- Israel delivered aid to Syrian refugees and rescued Syrian children.
- In an Israeli initiative, 500 children planted 1,000 trees in Angola.
- An Israeli startup has invented superfast memory on a USB stick.
- Israeli scientists have produced electricity from bacteria.
- All of Mexico’s premier league soccer teams will use an Israeli coaching system.
- Prince William made the first-ever official UK royal visit to the Holy Land.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Stem cell treatment effective against radiation sickness. I reported previously (see here) on the stem cell treatment of Israel’s Pluristem for radiation sickness. Pluristem’s four-year studies show that its placenta-based PLX-R18 cells are effective as a treatment for radiation damage to the gastrointestinal tract and bone marrow.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/study-shows-placenta-treatment-effective-against-radiation-sickness/
Making tumors glow to guide surgeons. Tel Aviv University researchers have developed smart nanoprobes that turn on a florescent light in presence of cancerous cells. They will help surgeons remove more cancer cells, with the least possible damage to surrounding healthy tissue. The probes identify enzymes common in tumors.
New cancer care center in the Negev. Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba is opening a brand-new comprehensive cancer center this summer. The Legacy Heritage Oncology Center and Dr. Larry Norton Institute will fill a profound need in Israel’s south.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/3kUgh4ueEko?rel=0
Award-winning cancer monitor. TY Nocamels) Newsletter subscriber Yehudit Abrams has founded startup MonitHer which is developing an innovative home-use handheld ultrasound system to check for breast cancer. MonitHer has just won the $360,000 Grand prize at the WeWork Creator awards in Jerusalem.
Increasing recovery rates for stroke victims. (TY Yehoshua) Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer has radically improved the treatment of stroke patients, just by persevering for longer. Whilst the text book states that the first 8 hours after a stroke is crucial, Sheba extends this to 24 hours. Even a 93-year-old recovered.
Free dentures for needy elderly. For the last two years, Dental Volunteers for Israel (DVI) has been providing free dentures to needy elderly and Holocaust Survivors aged 70 and up (see video). Since 1980, DVI has provided free dental care to Jerusalem’s at-risk children and youth, regardless of race or religion.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/nzKJMqPqeaw?rel=0
US approval for diabetes monitor. I reported previously (10th Mar) that Israel’s DreaMed received European approval for its Advisor Pro diabetes monitor. Now the US FDA has given its approval. Advisor Pro provides insulin delivery recommendations by analyzing information from diabetes pumps and glucose monitoring.
Tunnel vision adapted to colonoscopies. Israeli startup IBEX Technologies developed a thin inflatable “sleeve” that transmits live video from places that are too dangerous to enter (e.g. terrorist tunnels or collapsed buildings). Now IBEX spinoff Consis Medical uses the same technology to check inside the human body.
https://www.israel21c.org/tunnel-detection-tech-offers-safer-cheaper-colonoscopies/
http://www.ibex-tech.com/ https://consis-medical.com/ https://www.youtube.com/embed/dJsVd23ZJiI?rel=0
Trauma support to Chicago. The city of Chicago has one of the worst crime rates in the USA. Faith leader Christopher Harris called in trauma experts from Israel’s NATAL to help relieve the deep emotional wounds to many thousands of Chicago’s victims and their families.
https://www.israel21c.org/chicago-clergy-use-israeli-model-to-counsel-trauma-victims/
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Giving back a lost childhood. On alternate Friday afternoons in the summer, the Modi’in Ilit Linked to Life Friday Afternoon Field Trip volunteers take local sick and bereaved Israeli children on surprise trips. This project of Israeli charity Ezer Mizion makes their day. It makes their week. And it makes their life.
http://www.ezermizion.org/blog/nightmare-the-common-denominator/
106 participate in women-only hackathon. A team of five Orthodox students won a 44-hour, female-only hackathon held in Jerusalem. Their winning design, a voice-to-text bracelet relays information from first responders to hospitals in the event of a mass-casualty incident.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3741305,00.html
Building bridges between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs. Eyal Waldman (CEO of Israel’s Mellanox) met Bashar al-Masri, (founder of the new PA city of Rawabi), at a dinner in Washington and became good friends. Now Mellanox employs 100 Palestinian Arabs and at least 10 Israeli companies work in Rawabi.
http://en.globes.co.il/en/article-mellanox-ceo-we-employ-over-100-palestinians-1001242534
How Israel treats Palestinian Arab children. (TY UWI) Watch what really happens to unfortunate Palestinian Arab children in the hands of Israelis. https://www.youtube.com/embed/qjfDvEk9cKk?rel=0
IDF sends aid to Syrians and rescues orphans. The Israel Defense Forces delivered 300 tents, medical equipment and 58 tons of food and clothing to Syrian refugees living in tent cities close to the border with Israel. They then brought six injured refugees to Israeli hospitals, including four recently orphaned children.
https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/06/29/in-overnight-operation-israeli-military-delivers-humanitarian-aid-to-syrian-refugees/ https://worldisraelnews.com/israel-takes-in-4-injured-syrian-orphans-2-other-refugees/
Israeli educational games in Arabic? Israeli educational games startup TinyTap has just raised $5 million of funds to help it launch learning plans in Mandarin, Arabic, and Spanish. It will also be used for promoting the company’s partnership with Oxford University Press to start a learning plan for English language learners.
http://en.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-educational-games-co-tinytap-raises-5m-1001242223
Guatemala renames streets to Israel’s capital. Cities throughout Guatemala are renaming streets and traffic circles “Jerusalem the Capital of Israel.” The first such renaming ceremony took place on the main street of the southern city of Guastatoya. Hundreds waved Israeli flags and stores along the road hung Israeli flags.
http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/06/26/guatemalan-streets-renamed-jerusalem-the-capital-of-israel/
Israel and Indonesia agree on tourist visas. Israeli tourists can visit Indonesia (the largest Muslim country) and vice-versa. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson tweeted ““visa restrictions on Indonesian tourism to Israel were lifted, in parallel to lifting of restrictions by Indonesia on Israeli tourists. Good news.”
https://worldisraelnews.com/jerusalem-jakarta-scrap-mutual-ban-on-tourist-visas/
Heads of 10 US Universities visit Israel. The presidents of ten American universities and colleges are visiting Israel this week on a trip to promote bilateral academic ties. The 17-member delegation will meet the heads of Israeli universities to discuss joint research, commercialization and exchange opportunities.
Pushing back the desert in Angola. Israel’s Embassy in Angola’s capital, Luanda, led an initiative to bring 500 children to plant a green wall of 1,000 trees between the Namib Desert and the city of Tômbwa, which is threated by desertification. Israel’s renowned drip-irrigation system was deployed to nourish the saplings.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Technology summer camps. (TY Janglo) In sharp contrast to Hamas’ Gaza summer camps, Israel’s Ministry of Science and Technology operates subsidized science and technology summer camps across Jerusalem. Each 5-day camp costs NIS 80 and the three age groups enjoy either Mathematics, Robotics or Creativity.
https://www.jerusalem.muni.il/en/Visitors/EventsInJerusalem/Pages/ScienceTechnologyCamp.aspx
US-Israel Energy & Water Center. I reported previously (Oct 2016) of the US-Israeli plan to establish a joint energy research center. In March, the US Congress and Israeli Government each appropriated $4 million for the center. Now the two energy chiefs have signed a formal implementation agreement.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israel-and-us-establish-joint-center-of-excellence-in-energy/
Electricity from bacteria. Researchers from Israel’s Technion have developed an energy-producing system from photosynthetic bacteria, also known as cyanobacteria. The bacteria use photosynthesis to generate energy from sunlight. This energy can be harvested as hydrogen and then used to generate electricity.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/electricity-from-germs-could-be-the-next-big-thing-say-researchers/
8 of 61 WEF’s Technology Pioneers are Israeli. (TY NoCamels) Eight Israeli startups are on the World Economic Forum’s 2018 list of 61 Technology Pioneers. They include Innoviz (see here), Precognize (see here), Vayyar (see here), Aqua Security, Raycatch, XM Cyber, Utilis (see here) and Water-Gen (see here).
https://www.israel21c.org/8-israeli-firms-named-world-economic-forum-tech-pioneers/
https://www.aquasec.com/ https://www.raycatch.com/ https://xmcyber.com/
Royal approval. (TY Arlene) One of the four startups presented to Prince William on his official visit to Israel was AlgoBrix.- an educational system that teaches young children how write code to operate robots.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/543628386/algobrix-the-ultimate-coding-learning-game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nepaYeVjd4g
More protection for cars. Israel-based international automotive technology provider ERM Advanced Telematics has developed eCyber – a hardware-software product that protects vehicles against ransomware and other cyberattacks. It is unique in that it can be installed by authorized parties after the car has left the factory.
http://en.globes.co.il/en/article-erm-to-launch-vehicle-anti-ransomware-solution-1001242519
Clean the air, not replace it. (TY Ourcrowd) Israeli startup enVerid eliminates a leading cause of energy waste in buildings by cleaning the inside air instead of continuously replacing it. EnVerid has just been selected as one of the 2018 Red Herring Top 100 North America Awards finalists.
https://www.enverid.com/hlr-technology https://www.youtube.com/embed/rObLZ3Ag2uo?rel=0
Making (infused) water out of wine. Anat Levi, CEO of Israel’s Wine Water Ltd, uses grape skins, seeds and sustainable processes to make O.Vine – infused spring water. Grape skins and seeds are rich in phytochemicals – shown to have positive health benefits. A tasty, nutritious product, using waste material from the wine industry.
http://my.fancyfoodshows.com/summer2018/public/eBooth.aspx?IndexInList=1&FromPage=Exhibitors.aspx&ParentBoothID=&ListByBooth=true&BoothID=182094 http://www.winewater.com/
New Samsung smartphone includes Israeli facial recognition. Samsung’s new smartphone, the Galaxy S10, is reported to feature facial recognition technology by Israeli startup Mantis Vision. Mantis Vision develops 3D scanning technologies used to create 3D content for a wide range of applications.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3741037,00.html
1,000 times faster than flash. Israeli startup Weebit Nano has developed non-volatile computer memory that is a thousand times faster than flash memory (e.g. on a USB stick) and uses only one-thousandth as much power. The company plans to launch a commercial product in 2020. https://weebit-nano.com/
http://en.globes.co.il/en/article-weebit-nano-share-price-zooms-250-in-australia-1001243032
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI4YcMMqJ5A
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Israeli economy stable. Global economy isn’t. The latest Bank of Israel analysis of the domestic financial system shows that it remains stable. However, there is greater likelihood of an economic or geopolitical shock originating abroad. Looking long-term, the strength of most industries in the business sector has improved.
http://www.boi.org.il/en/NewsAndPublications/PressReleases/Pages/27-6-18.aspx
El Al to open Florida school for pilots. (TY Arlene) El Al is to train civilians to become commercial pilots in Florida, USA, commencing in December. The new course is for Israeli citizens, at least 21 years old with matriculation certificates and no previous flying experience. There is a growing shortage of pilots worldwide.
http://en.globes.co.il/en/article-el-al-launches-civilian-pilots-school-1001241954
Daily flights to Delhi. The new 3-days-a-week Air India service from Tel Aviv to Delhi is so popular, that it is being increased to a daily service. The route began in March, making history when Saudi Arabia, for the first time, gave permission for an airline to fly direct to Israel over its territory, reducing the flight time by 2 hours.
http://en.globes.co.il/en/article-air-india-to-launch-daily-tel-aviv-delhi-flights-report-1001242789
Helping improve Mexican soccer teams. The Mexican Soccer Federation (FMF) and the Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican soccer, have agreed a deal with Israeli automated sports production company Pixellot. Pixellot’s coaching systems will be deployed at all 18 clubs in the Liga MX, as well as their respective youth academies.
http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/mexican-fa-liga-mx-pixellot-seeuplay-deal
Maximize your sales with Joopy. Israel’s Incentives Solutions markets the Sales Performance Management platform “Joopy”. Its features include incentive schemes, analytics and interface to payroll systems. Clients include Nestle, Coca Cola, AIG, Pheonix Insurance, Orange and Teva.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/oEwwUgx6W4Q?rel=0 https://www.joopy.com/
https://www.youtube.com/embed/i8bogZe8C_M?rel=0
US buys more Israeli tank defense systems. I reported previously (8th Oct) that the US Army had installed Israel’s Trophy Windbreaker active defense system on some of its Abrams tanks. Tests of the system were so successful that the US Army is now buying another $193 million worth of Windbreakers.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-army-inks-193-million-deal-to-buy-israeli-tank-defense-system/
More telecoms for Peru. Peru’s Fitel has awarded Israel’s Gilat Satellite Networks another two regional telecoms projects. The Amazonas project is worth $108 million and the Ica project worth $45.6 million. Previous projects won by Gilat in Peru (see here) have been worth nearly $400 million.
http://en.globes.co.il/en/article-gilat-wins-1536m-peruvian-deal-1001243620
Grants for seven more US-Israel projects. The BIRD Foundation has approved another $6.3 million in funds for seven new joint US-Israeli projects. The Israeli companies involved are ARTsys360, Correlor Data Science Intelligence, Diamond Valley, DouxMatok, Manam Applications, Oxitone Medical and Pixellot.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bird-israel-u-binational-industrial-110000352.html?guccounter=1
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
Israel’s best rooftop bars. The rooftop bars of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and beyond provide a luxurious way to cool off on summer evenings in Israel. These rooftop bars often are glamorously located in modern boutique hotels, some overlooking historical landmarks and others overlooking the lapping waves of the Mediterranean.
https://www.israel21c.org/israels-10-best-rooftop-bars-to-party-the-summer-nights-away/
Brazil’s Gilberto Gil to perform in Israel. One of the biggest legends in Brazilian music, Gilberto Gil, is returning to Tel Aviv, Israel for a concert in Raanana on 4th July 2018. Gilberto Gil will bring his world tour “REFAVELA 40”, with other artists such as Mayra Andrade, Bem Gil, Chiara Civello, and Mestrinho.
https://www.touristisrael.com/caetano-veloso-gilberto-gil-in-tel-aviv-israel/15998/
Ringo Starr performs in Israel. Ex-Beatle drummer Sir Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band performed a juke-box of 70s and 80s hits during their first-ever Israeli concert. He had a “little help from his friends” including lead members of Santana, Men at Work, 10cc and Toto. “It ain’t easy” at 77, but he was still entertaining.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Culture/Ringos-All-Stars-take-the-spotlight-560809
https://www.youtube.com/embed/xKrWUKFkRSo?rel=0
Helping sick children attend World Cup. Russian-Israeli billionaire Roman Abramovich has donated a six-figure sum to the Israeli charity “Fulfilling Dreams,” which together with other donations, has allowed 30 seriously ill Israeli children, plus their carers, to attend the World Cup in Russia
http://en.globes.co.il/en/article-abramovich-helps-sick-israeli-children-attend-world-cup-1001242372
Israel at the soccer World Cup. Israel’s soccer team didn’t get to Russia, but at least two Israeli tech teams did. Mtech’s fire and smoke detection systems are protecting the stadiums in Volgograd and Nizhny Novograd. Meanwhile, LiveU’s (see here) transmission technology is used by Fox, Sky, Reuters, AP and Telemundo.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-technology-makes-impact-on-world-cup/ http://mtech-fire.com/
http://mtech-fire.com/1459/news/safety-systems-for-the-world-cup-2018
World Cup soccer unites Jerusalemites. I reported previously (6th May) about the World Cup soccer event to be held in Jerusalem for Arab and Jewish kids. Here is the write-up of the 25th June event. It was organized by Kulna Jerusalem (“we are all Jerusalem”). Three more events take place on semi-finals and final match dates.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-and-jewish-jerusalemites-celebrate-common-love-of-soccer/
Streetball Jerusalem. (TY Janglo) From 31st July to 1st Aug Jerusalem hosts the largest street basketball event in Israel with more than 1,000 male and female players. Within the framework of the International Children’s Olympics, Safra Square converts into a huge basketball area, with 17 courts facilitating hundreds of games.
https://www.jerusalem.muni.il/en/Visitors/EventsInJerusalem/Pages/StreetBall.aspx
THE JEWISH STATE
Biblical evidence uncovered at Shiloh. The Bible records that after conquering the promised land, Joshua set up the Tabernacle at ancient Shiloh, where it remained for 369 years. Findings all around the site give clear indication of an ancient civilization, with remnants of sacrifices to reinforce the Biblical narrative.
Prince William visits Israel. (TY WIN) Over 70 years after the end of the British mandate and the founding of the modern State of Israel, a member of the British monarchy made a historic first official visit. On 25th June, Prince William, grandson of the Queen of England, stepped off an RAF jet at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/a26iNKyHphI?rel=0
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/248047
http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/prince-william-yad-vashem-cohen/
6,000 celebrate 18 years of Birthright. The Taglit-Birthright Israel initiative celebrated its 18th anniversary with a festive gala in Jerusalem Wednesday. Some 6,000 participants from around the world, were joined by 1,500 Israeli soldiers at the Sultan’s Pool, Jerusalem, for the biggest celebration in the organization’s history.
