This Week’s Sanity Report from Israel July 9, 2023
This week’s newsletter theme is “connections”. It was prompted by the news that Israel is building infrastructure to establish the Jewish State as a communications and solar energy hub connecting Europe and Asia. Meanwhile, Israel’s connections with the UAE prevented a major cyber attack on the Gulf state. Its connections with Africa provided food for the disadvantaged in Senegal and saved the lives of children from Eswatini (Swaziland).
Israeli technological connections are building an electric road in Norway, quantum computers in South Korea, and an earthquake early warning system for Canada. International business will benefit from new airline connections from Israel to the USA and local businesses will be happy that the Tel Aviv light railway has now been funded. I was surprised, however, to see the connection between the rain in Spain and the huge increase in Israel’s exports of carrots and potatoes!
Many new international sporting and cultural connections were made thanks to Israel’s soccer successes, the JCC Maccabi Games and the Jerusalem Jazz Festival.
Israeli medical experts made some amazing connections with a new spine surgery navigation system and an almost miraculous operation to save the life of a Palestinian Arab boy by reconnecting his head to the top of his spine following a bicycle accident.
Finally, an Israeli student managed to maintain his connection to Tel Aviv University and complete his master’s degree despite having to study in a Ukraine bunker!
The photo (TY Sharon) shows part of Jerusalem’s Machane Yehudah Market – celebrating a 100-year connection to the Land of Israel.
The highlights include:
- Israeli scientists have convinced cancer cells to poison themselves.
- In a complex operation, Israeli surgeons saved the life of a Palestinian Arab boy.
- The numbers of new Israelis graduates have increased again.
- Two Israeli Arabs received the President’s award.
- Israel is to become an international communications and energy hub.
- Israel’s exports of carrots and potatoes have soared.
- Israel’s U21 soccer team qualified for the Olympic Games.
- A Tel Aviv Uni student graduated after 8 months studying in a Ukrainian bunker.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Programming tumors to self-destruct. (TY WIN) Researchers at Tel Aviv University encoded a toxin into mRNA (messenger RNA) molecules and delivered them directly to cancer cells. The cells were instructed to produce the toxin that eventually killed them. Another breakthrough from the lab of Professor Dan Peer.
https://en-lifesci.tau.ac.il/
https://www.thno.org/v13p3497.
A molecule to prevent tooth decay. Scientists in Israel, China and Singapore have discovered a molecule 3,3′-Diindolylmethane (DIM – also known as bisindole) reduces the biofilms that produce dental plaque and cavities by 90%. The molecule is also found to have anti-carcinogenic properties and could be added to toothpastes.
https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/
https://www.jpost.com/health-
Proton Irradiation Center opens. Israel’s P-Cure (see here previously) has opened its Proton Irradiation Center (PIC) in Modi’in. Dozens of Israeli cancer patients will now be able to receive treatment with proton irradiation. Permission has been given for the PIC to treat hand-and-neck cancers and recurring brain cancers.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-
US approves treatment for lazy eye. Israel’s NovaSight (see here previously) has received FDA approval for its CureSight digital therapy device for amblyopia (lazy eye). Clearance was given following a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial of 103 participants under 9 years of age. 79% of children improved in the trial.
https://nocamels.com/2023/06/
https://eyewire.news/news/
Safe removal of varicose veins. Israel’s VVT Medical has received US FDA approval for its Sclerosafe medical device for the treatment of varicose veins. Its unique, dual syringe injects a sclerosing substance into the vein through one syringe while simultaneously removing blood and residuals through the second syringe.
https://www.prnewswire.com/il/
Another Israeli spine surgery navigation system. The 3D Optical Navigation System from Israel’s PathKeeper Surgical performed its debut commercial spine surgery on US patients. It was used in two successful lumbar spinal fusion surgeries for degenerative disc disease at VHC Health in Arlington, VA.
https://www.path-keeper.com/
Prolapse treatment gets European funding & US approval. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Escala Medical (see here previously) has received €5.5 million from the European Innovation Council for its non-surgical, incision-free 20-minute solution for patients suffering pelvic prolapse. It also recently received US FDA clearance.
https://www.prnewswire.com/il/
Israeli surgeons reattach Palestinian Arab boy’s head. This sounds like science fiction. 12-year-old Suleiman internally decapitated his head in a bicycle accident that detached the base of his skull from the top of his spine. Hadassah surgeons performed an extremely rare and complex operation to save Suleiman’s life.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
More academic degrees. (TY Atid-EDI) A rising number of Israeli students are completing academic degrees. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics announced that for the 2021/22 academic year 88,200 Israeli students successfully graduated. Those with master’s degrees increased by 4.5%. Most graduates were women.
https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/
Eyeglasses for survivors. Members of Rescuers Without Borders (see here previously), together with Judea and Samaria Rescuers Without Borders, visited the city of Sderot as part of their mission to fit and make eyeglasses for survivors of the Shoah. https://www.
Empowering Haredi soldiers. Jerusalem philanthropist David Hager has been awarded the President’s Badge of Volunteering for co-founding the Nachal Haredi unit of the IDF. Also, his work for the Netzach Yehuda Association, which has integrated over 16,000 haredi service graduates into the Israeli economy and society.
https://israfan.com/2023/06/
Medals of honor 2023. The Presidential Medal of Honor is awarded to those who have made an extraordinary contribution to the State of Israel, the Jewish people, and all humanity. 2023’s recipients included Arab VP of Hebrew Uni Mona Khoury-Kassabri (see here) and ex-soccer captain Bibras Natcho – a Circassian Muslim.
https://www.
Sheep for Senegal. The Israeli embassy in majority Muslim Senegal provided poor families sheep for the holiday of Tabaski – the Wolof name for Eid al-Adha. These gifts have been an annual tradition since 2006.
https://www.jpost.com/
https://www.gov.il/he/
4,156 tons of waste saved. The number of disposable plastic bags distributed by large Israeli retailers in 2022 is 73% less than in 2016 just before a NIS 0.10 charge was applied. On International Plastic Bag Free Day, the Environmental Protection Ministry announced that this saved over 4,000 tons of plastic waste in 2022 alone.
https://www.jns.org/israel-
Two Eswatini boys saved. (TY Nevet) Surgeons from Israel’s Save A Child’s Heart in Holon saved the lives of two young boys from the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) with VSD (ventricular septal defect – a congenital hole in the heart). The boys were from the same village but hadn’t known each other. They do now!
https://www.sajr.co.za/
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
158-mile optic fiber cable for communications hub. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel will build a 254-kilometer (158 mile) fiber-optic cable between the Ashkelon and Eilat. It will position Israel as a communication land bridge connecting the Gulf countries and Asia to Europe. https://www.ynetnews.com/
93-mile undersea cable for solar energy. Israel has begun planning a 150km (93-mile) subsea cable that will run along the Mediterranean coast from Ashkelon in the south to Haifa. It will transmit electricity from solar energy fields in southern Israel to the center and north. It can also link to power grids in Europe and the Gulf.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
European award for sustainable research. (TY Nevet) The EuroTech Universities Alliance gave Technion Professor Charlotte Vogt their top EuroTech Future Award for her outstanding contribution to the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. She is researching catalysts that convert CO2 into useful products.
https://www.technion.ac.il/en/
Helping the UAE repel cyberattack. (TY UWI) At the 2023 Tel Aviv Cyber Week Conference last week, UAE cyber chief Mohamed al-Kuwaiti said, “Thank God for the Abraham Accords…” He revealed that Israel recently helped the UAE fend off a serious DDoS (distributed denial of service) cyberattack.
https://www.i24news.tv/en/
Building Quantum computers in South Korea. (TY OurCrowd) Israel’s Quantum Machines (see here previously) has signed three agreements with Korean companies, organizations and government research institutes. The alliances will help accelerate the development of quantum computing technology.
https://www.quantum-machines.
Women’s hackathon. Road safety, traffic flow and drone-detection solutions took the top prizes at Jerusalem College of Technology’s 6th annual women’s hackathon Hack.Her.It. 150 students, many mothers with babies on their laps, used the latest AI in a 46-hour challenge from Elbit, Rafael, Amazon, Intel, Safe Lane, and more.
https://www.jns.org/u-s-
https://levtech.jct.ac.il/
$18 million donation for computer science building. A generous $18 million lead grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust will support the construction of the state-of-the-art Helmsley Computer Science Building at Ben Gurion University. It will contain 60 offices and lab space for each faculty member.
https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/
Jerusalem is going through the roof. The Jerusalem Municipality has embarked on a plan to utilize as many rooftops in the capital as possible for solar energy generation, community activities and green areas that can benefit people, wildlife, and the environment. Grants for roof gardens of up to NIS 40,000 are being offered.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
More sustainable pest-free crops. (TY Atid-EDI) Multinational Bayer is working with Israel’s Fermata (see here previously) on a project that uses AI to reduce pesticide wastage. Fermata also won the 2023 Food Tech Challengers’ Agri Tech track and was selected for Microsoft’s fourth AI for Good acceleration program.
https://www.globenewswire.com/
https://www.calcalistech.com/
No sweat. Israel’s Yopi (Your Online Personal Instructor) Technologies has developed a wristband sweat analyzer that uses biosensors and AI to track an individual’s health in real time. It measures oxygen consumption (VO₂) to assess the condition of the arteries and is far more accurate than a heartbeat monitor.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Building the first electric road in Norway. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Electreon (see here previously) won the sole tender of Norway’s Transportation Authority of Trøndelag County, for an electric road to charge a bus wirelessly. It will be evaluated for the unique geographic and climatic conditions of Trondheim.
https://ir.electreon.com/news-
Revolutionary interior design for Peugeot EVs. (TY Atid-EDI) Automobile manufacturer Peugeot has integrated the 3D Fashion Technology of Israel’s Stratasys (see here previously) into its new Inception Electric Vehicles. https://www.stratasys.com/uk/
https://investors.stratasys.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Record exports of carrots and potatoes. Israel’s export of carrots and potatoes is breaking records due to drought in Spain, Portugal and Italy, and a wet Israeli winter. Potato exports grew from 140,000 tons to 200,000 tons with prices for farmers up 10%. Carrots jumped from 15,000 tons to 50,000 tons with prices up by 20%.
https://www.ynetnews.com/
Interest on current accounts. Two Israeli banks are to pay interest to customers with credit balances in their current accounts. Bank Leumi has many conditions, but Bank Mizrahi Tefahot will pay 2% on balances up to NIS 25,000 provided the customer has at least NIS 50,000. Both banks are to reduce interest on overdrafts.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/
Tel Aviv to Reykjavik flights. Icelandic flag carrier Icelandair has launched Tel Aviv – Reykjavik flights. The new seasonal service will operate on Weds, Fri, and Sun until end-Oct. Estimated flight time is seven hours.
There is a high demand from Israeli tourists wanting to visit Iceland, and for connections to North America.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/
El Al – Delta agreement for better connections. El Al Israel Air Lines and Delta Air Lines have announced a “strategic partnership” that they say will make traveling easier for passengers flying between Israel and the United States. It offers more flights, convenient connections, reciprocal air miles and more.
https://www.
Tel Aviv light railway gets funded. HSBC (UK) and Leumi (Israel) are providing $1.1 billion of finance for Tel Aviv’s light railway. The 46 stations, 18-mile-long Purple Line will connect central Tel Aviv to Yehud, Kiryat Ono, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Bar Ilan University, Sheba Medical Center, and Shuk Hacarmel.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Upgrading Canada’s earthquake warning system. The Canadian government is providing funds (estimated at $1 million) to Tel Aviv University, with the goal of improving Canada’s Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems. The EEW system developed by TAU and Israel’s SeismicAI (see here) is in use in many countries.
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/canada-
Putting a $150 million fizz into Lemonade. US venture capital fund General Catalyst is to finance 80% of the cost of acquiring new customers for Israeli insurtech company Lemonade – approximately $150 million. In return, the US company will receive 16% of the premiums generated from the policies they helped finance.
https://www.calcalistech.com/
Israeli vegan protein to be manufactured in India. Israel’s Nextferm (see here previously) has signed an agreement with India’s Kothari Fermentation and Indian subcontractor Biochem, to produce Nextferm’s flagship product ProteVin – a vegan, yeast-based non-GMO fermented protein powder.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
100 years of Mahane Yehuda. Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda street market is one of the Capital city’s famous icons. It is currently celebrating its centenary year of business. Here are several articles, plus Jacob Richman’s colorful photos of the market and its wares.
https://jr.co.il/jerusalem/
https://www.
Investment in Israeli startups to 9/7/23: Nokod Security raised $8 million; Escala Medical received a €5.5 million European Innovation Council Accelerator grant; X-trodes received a €5.2 million European Innovation Council Accelerator grant; QLOG raised $2.5 million;
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT`
Putting Israeli ballet on the map. Professional ballet dancer, Isaac Akiva embraced orthodox Judaism while recovering after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament at the Boston Opera House. He subsequently founded the American-Israeli Ballet Association “to put the Jewish State on the international ballet map”.
https://www.jns.org/jewish-
Jerusalem Jazz Festival. The 9th annual Jerusalem Jazz Festival brought together musicians from all over the world. The performances took place at multiple locations around the Israel Museum. Artists came from the USA, Morocco, Bulgaria, Italy, France, Senagal, and Mali.
https://video.i24news.tv/en/
https://www.
Busy Streets of Jerusalem. (TY Sharon) Tourists have been flocking to the Jerusalem streets. Events included Reading Month; the 150th birthday of the poet Nachman Bialik; the first Pulse of Israel Conference; Design Week at the Hansen House; the Muslim festival of Eid al Adha; and Machane Yehuda market’s centenary.
http://rjstreets.com/2023/07/
3 weeks of Opera in Tel Aviv. The Tel Aviv Summer Opera program includes mostly daily ticketed performances at the city’s conservatory. Also, free outdoor performances at the Israeli Opera Performing Arts square and at Jaffa’s Kedumim Square. Plus, master classes and workshops. See details at second link.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
https://www.summeroperatlv.co.
White Night turns 20. The White City of Tel Aviv celebrated the 20th year of its White Night, all-night festival (Laila Lavan in Hebrew). The name also recognizes Tel Aviv’s light-colored Bauhaus architecture. Events include public performances, musical shows, open access to museums and yoga at sunrise.
https://www.i24news.tv/en/
Disturbed fires up Tel Aviv. David Draiman, the lead singer of American hard rock group Disturbed, showed his Jewish and Israeli pride during a passionate performance at the Tel Aviv Expo. Draiman, who attended US Jewish day schools and trained as a cantor, often shouted “I can’t hear you!” in Hebrew to encourage the crowd.
https://www.jpost.com/j-spot/
U21 soccer team qualifies for Olympics. Israel’s Under 21 soccer team beat Georgia on penalties in the quarterfinals of the UEFA championships. By doing so, they qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games as one of the top 3 teams in the tournament. It is the first Olympic appearance of an Israeli soccer team since 1976.
https://www.jns.org/israel-
THE JEWISH STATE
Viewing the world in a positive light. Rabbi Doron Perez, Chief Executive of World Mizrachi, in his regular video from Jerusalem says that this Hebrew month is the time to view the world in a positive light. This editor’s response to the world is “Start with Israel”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
From navy captain to Israeli singer. Yair Levi is a Jewish Israeli singer, songwriter, and musical producer based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Yair, served as a Captain in the Israeli Navy Seals for 8 years.
https://pulseofisrael.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Integrating Russian-speaking immigrants. 5,000+ Russian-speaking immigrants arrive in Israel each month. The non-profit Shishi Shabbat Yisraeli (Israeli Weekend), founded in 2010, has been working to support the families and facilitate their integration into society. https://www.jns.org/jns/
Plant olive trees in Israel. It has been 3 years since this editor planted olive trees in Yavniel, lower Galilee. On Tues, July 11, 2023, you can plant more trees and connect to the Land of Israel. Call: +972 (0)52-387-5364.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
1,000 Jewish teens compete in Israel. 700 Jewish teens joined 300 Israeli teens in Haifa to compete in the JCC Maccabi Games – the largest Jewish teen sporting event in the world. Its purpose is to strengthen their connection with both their own communities and Israel via sports.
https://www.jns.org/israel-
Graduated from a Ukraine bunker. Kirill Drik had already made Aliya and was studying for a master’s degree at Tel Aviv University. He went to Ukraine to visit his sick mother, when Russia invaded, and he was trapped. He then had to study in a bunker. TAU staff kept in contact and ensured Kirill was able to graduate.
https://www.aftau.org/news_
