This Week’s Sanity Report from Israel June 4, 2023
Our world is far from being perfect. It’s therefore inspiring to see that so many of the articles in this week’s Positive Israel newsletter feature Israelis who are determined to make the world into a better place.
Recent news about Israeli medical research and treatments promise a better life to those suffering from cancer, addictions, severe autism, heart disease, burns and even hair loss. Altruistic Israelis donate food to the hungry, rescue victims from Ukraine, and provide clean water for the thirsty in Africa. New Israeli initiatives will make life better for Ethiopian immigrants and Jerusalem’s Arab population.
Israeli startups joined hundreds of others from across the Middle East to promote their solutions to global environmental and health problems. Israel shows how to make the desert bloom and is upgrading its desalination plants. Israeli companies are building faster computers, making building construction more efficient, producing healthier and more sustainable food, and improving personal safety and security.
Israel’s economy is better than the experts predicted and Israel has signed three trade agreements with Morocco. And on the 10th anniversary of its demise, Israeli electric car pioneer Better Place has been recognized as being the spark that triggered a revolution in the development of Electric Vehicles.
Israel’s sporting successes get better and better. Another gold medal in European gymnastics, and you’d better believe that Israel’s Under 20 soccer team is through to the semi-finals of the World Cup, having just beaten Brazil!
The photo is of a peaceful spot in the garden of the Israeli President’s Jerusalem residence. What better place to contemplate and appreciate Israel’s work to make the world into a Better Place.
The highlights include:
- Global hospitals rush to join pivotal trial for Israeli cancer treatment.
- Women can restore their lost hair in less than one hour.
- An Israeli wheelchair user is a lifesaver.
- 3 Israeli startups will help Innovation: Africa build clean water systems.
- Israeli-built computers will be the fastest in the world.
- Israeli technology will help rid Cincinnati of crime.
- Israeli gymnasts win gold and silver at European championships.
- A strictly kosher Arab restaurant has opened in a Jewish city.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Please can we join your trial. Following the 100% success of Israel’s Alpha TAU’s last clinical trial of Alpha DaRT on recurring skin cancer (see here previously) medical institutes around the world are clamoring to participate in the upcoming pivotal trials. Alpha TAU has also begun clinical trials for pancreatic cancer.
https://nocamels.com/2023/05/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Weighty cancer discovery. Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have analyzed the build-up of ammonia that impairs immune cells in 50% of cancer patients. It blocks the protein regulator HNF4-alpha, causing weight loss and tumor growth. In lab tests, restoring HNF4-alpha production stops weight loss and shrinks the tumors.
https://www.israel21c.org/why-
https://aacrjournals.org/
A remedy for alcohol addiction. Israel’s Clearmind Medicine has been granted permission to begin trials at Sheba Medical Center of MEAI (5-methoxy-2-aminoindane) – a synthetic compound developed in Canada to treat alcoholics. Clearmind spent years making the MEAI-based oral capsules conform to medical standards.
https://nocamels.com/2023/05/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Link between Nitric Oxide and Autism. Hebrew University researchers have discovered in lab tests that autism indicators increase as Nitric Oxide increases in the brain. Conversely, inhibiting production of NO increased “social” behavior, and interest in new objects while reducing repetitiveness and anxiety.
https://www.jpost.com/health-
https://www.
Restore hair in one hour. Israel’s Hairstetics has developed an injector to implant multiple strands of hair to the scalp, under local anesthetic, to instantly restore hair to women struggling with baldness. Women suffering from androgenic alopecia receive non-allergenic synthetic hair to match their own hair color.
https://nocamels.com/2023/05/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
AstraZeneca pilots Israeli heart disease detection AI. (TY OurCrowd) AstraZeneca and the Bellvitge University Hospital in Spain are launching the first pilot program of the HearO™ app developed by Israel’s Cordio Medical (see here previously) which can detect heart disease when the patient speaks on a smartphone.
https://www.einnews.com/pr_
Extending burns wound treatment to children. (TY Atid-EDI) The US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has awarded $10 million to Israel’s MediWound (see here previously). Part of the funding will be used to extend its NexoBrid license to pediatric burns – 30% of the total burn population.
https://ir.mediwound.com/news-
Elderly Jewish Ukrainian woman rescued. Volunteers from emergency NGO United Hatzalah in Ukraine brought a sick, elderly Jewish woman from Mykolaiv to Israel for life-saving treatment. She was taken in a UH ambulance by ferry across the Black Sea to Bucharest and then flown by El Al in a medical cabin to Israel.
https://www.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Israeli farmers feed the poor. Last year over 1,000 Israeli farmers donated 26,450 tons of surplus fruit and vegetables to Israelis in need through Leket Israel-the National Food Bank. Leket, now in its 20th year, also rescued 1.9 million hot meals last year. The surplus produce feeds some 234,000 Israelis in need each week. https://www.jns.org/israel/
Videos for special children. Israel’s Poppins is a video solution that allows autistic children and their parents to filter the content of videos to accommodate the child’s visual preferences and prevent sensory overload. Poppins is licensing a range of TV programs and will also be producing its own educational content.
https://nocamels.com/2023/05/
https://www.poppins.media/ https://vimeo.com/721363748
Wheelchair EMT Saves lives. United Hatzalah EMT Chen uses a wheelchair to respond to emergencies on ambulance shifts in and around Acre. His crew unloads and loads his wheelchair quickly and he uses knee pads when performing CPR. He is living proof that someone with a disability can do what any other person does.
https://israelrescue.org/blog/
Faster acclimation for Ethiopian immigrants. In a pilot project, Ethiopian olim who landed in Israel on May 16 were immediately placed in new apartments in Kiryat Gat rather than absorption centers. Many came with academic degrees from urban centers and will now be able to move quickly into the tech industry, academia etc.
https://www.
NIS 2 billion for Jerusalem Arabs. Israel has approved a new NIS 2 billion 5-year plan to benefit Jerusalem’s Arab residents. Its aim is to improve roads, public transport, water, sewage and electricity provision, develop employment opportunities, and build additional educational, cultural, sports and health facilities.
https://worldisraelnews.com/
Six new Ambassadors to Israel. Israeli President Isaac Herzog officially received new ambassadors from Sri Lanka, Ecuador, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Uruguay, and Portugal at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. Guatemala is one of four countries to have an embassy in Jerusalem.
https://www.jns.org/jns/isaac-
Cleaner water for Africa. Three Israeli startups won a contest run by Israel’s Innovation: Africa (see here) and DeserTech (see here) to pilot their clean water technology. They are EZMEMS, NanoClear Water Solutions, and SoLED. Their systems will be implemented at various Innovation: Africa sites.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
https://israelactive.com/?s=
What does Israel do for US? Yoram Ettinger’s latest article “Foreign Aid” to Israel is bonanza for the US” shows that the U.S.-Israel strategic relationship constitutes a classic case of a mutually- beneficial two-way street. https://www.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Israeli environmental winner in Morocco. 780 startups from across the Middle East competed for the Aviram Awards in Marrakesh to solve global health, environment, and sustainability problems. It was won by Israel’s QD-SOL & its hydrogen from water (see here previously). Israel’s Carbon Blue (CO2 from seawater) was 2nd.
https://wwBw.calcalistech.com/
How Israel makes the desert bloom. (TY Ron M) Noa Zer, Central Arava Regional Council’s Director of Resource Development, explains how Israel can grow 50% of its fresh vegetable exports in one of the most arid regions in the world. It is largely due to Israeli hi-tech and the work of the Jewish National Fund-USA.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-
Upgrading Israel’s desalination plants. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel has been gradually replacing the original reverse osmosis membranes at four of its seawater desalination plants. The new membranes filter most of the salt on first pass, extending the life of secondary filters and reducing overall energy requirements.
https://www.prnewswire.com/
The world’s fastest AI supercomputer. US-based Nvidia Corporation has announced that, by the end of 2023, it will start to build one of the world’s most powerful AI supercomputers at its facilities in Israel. Designated “Israel-1”, it is expected to deliver up to 8 exaflops of peak AI performance (i.e., extremely fast!)
https://www.jns.org/jns/
https://www.calcalistech.com/
Even faster than quantum computers. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s LightSolver (see here previously) unveiled the first pure laser-based processing unit (LPU), a new computing paradigm poised to outpace and outperform quantum and supercomputers. Small, scalable, low power, low temperature, and commercially available parts.
https://lightsolver.com/
Do not touch. Touch screens used to be all the rage. Now Israel’s Wearable Devices has developed the Mudra Band – an AI-powered wristband that lets users control digital devices with finger and hand gestures alone. It can even detect the different amount of force exerted when pressing their fingertips together.
https://nocamels.com/2023/05/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
https://www.wearabledevices.
Using Israel AI to build in NYC. Israel’s Buildots (see here previously) is being used to construct the new Columbus Circle Building in central Manhattan. It will be the first building in New York City to be built using Israeli Artificial Intelligence, comprising hardhat-mounted 360-degree cameras and AI data analysis.
https://nocamels.com/2023/05/
A sound alternative to sugar. New information about the innovative technology of Israels Torr Foodtech (see here previously). Sugar is usually used to bind ingredients in so-called “healthy” snacks. But Torr uses ultrasonic sound waves plus mechanical pressure to press dried fruits, nuts, and other ingredients together.
https://nocamels.com/2023/05/
Low-cost vegan meat. The alternative meat lamb chop from Israel’s Moon Steak was given a public debut at the OurCrowd Global Investor Summit in Jerusalem. Moon Steak’s metamaterials emulate the aroma and flavor of animal meat via an injection-molding technology at a fraction of the cost of technologies such as 3D printing.
https://www.ourcrowd.com/
https://www.moonsteaks.com/
Come fly with us. (TY UWI & I24 News) This video contains the highlights of Israel’s presentation at the United Nations of the Jewish State’s drone technology (see here previously). Israeli UAVs can deliver medical supplies, survey construction sites, reduce road congestion and help the UN reach its sustainability goals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
A hawk that never sleeps. Israel’s Robotican (see here previously) has launched the Goshawk, to defend against rogue UAVs (drones). The 120km/hour Goshawk captures its “prey” in a net and either drops it (to continue patrolling) or transports it to a designated area. The autonomous Goshawk operates around the clock.
https://www.jns.org/jns/
The future of 3D sensing. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Lidwave has developed a unique LIDAR sensor on a chip that can provide a detailed real-time 3D map up to distances of hundreds of meters. The technology is low cost, low bandwidth, high performance, has high resolution and high sensitivity. Lidwave is now seeking partners.
https://www.lidwave.com/ https://www.youtube.com/
Brilliant Weizmann minds. Read the achievements of eight top Weizmann researchers who have been making discoveries in the areas of agri-tech, IVF, medical algorithms, the microbiome, embryos, quantum science, genetic tools, and marine algae, https://www.weizmann-usa.org/
Scanning 2,000-year-old Egyptian coffin lids. (TY TPS/WIN) In a meticulously planned operation that took five months to organize, a pair of 2,000-year-old coffin lids from Egypt was transferred from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem to undergo a CT scan. https://www.jns.org/ancient-
Uncovering the good, bad and the ugly fakes. (TY OurCrowd) Markets wobbled recently after a verified Twitter account published a news photo of smoke billowing from a building apparently near the Pentagon. But it was fake, as exposed by Israel’s Cyabra (see here previously). https://abcnews.go.com/US/
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
GDP increases higher than forecasts. Israel’s economy grew by an annualized 2.5% in the first quarter of 2023. This exceeded the 1.5% forecast by the IMF and beat S&P’s forecast of negative growth per capita. Unemployment in April fell to 3.6% from 3.8% in March.
https://www.reuters.com/world/
Boosting links with Morocco. Israel and Morocco have signed three new transportation agreements. They are to allow Israeli driver’s licenses to be used on the roads in Morocco, to encourage direct shipping between the two countries, and to facilitate exchanges related to road safety and transportation innovation.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
EcoMotion 2023. The 11th annual EcoMotion conference welcomed more than 3,600 participants from more than 60 countries to Tel Aviv. Key topics were batteries, energy storage and cybersecurity. Top executives from Audi, BMW, Renault, and Toyota heard a “white” hacker identify security weaknesses in many vehicles.
https://www.jns.org/jns/topic/
Four Israeli startups star in CNBC top 50 list. CNBC’s latest Disruptor 50 List of outstanding startup companies includes Israel’s BeeHero (technology for healthier commercial beehives), Orca Security (agentless cloud security), Snyk (app security products for developers) and Wiz (cloud cybersecurity).
https://unitedwithisrael.org/
https://israelactive.com/?s=
https://israelactive.com/?s=
1 million happy IT developers. (TY OurCrowd) Israeli AI software development platform Tabnine (see here previously) is now used by a million IT professionals every month. This should increase significantly as Tabnine has just been made available on Google Cloud Marketplace. https://apnews.com/press-
Startup+ winner. Cloud company Qubex won the Calcalist and Poalim Hi-Tech’s StartUp+ competition. Qubex is building a platform that allows companies to adjust the size of their cloud to their actual consumption. Runners up included Faireez, ANINA Culinary Art, Exosomm, and NOF – Natural Offset Farming.
https://www.calcalistech.com/
https://nofcooling.com/
Making Cincinnati a safer city. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Ceragon Networks (see here previously) has won a multi-year contract worth $4.2 million with the city of Cincinnati to upgrade its public safety network. Ceragon will increase network capacity, efficiency, and lifespan, while supporting AI, automation, and real-time video.
https://www.ceragon.com/news/
Partner goes electric. Always good to read initiatives to reduce pollution on Israeli roads. Israeli telecoms company Partner is switching most of its employees’ cars from gas to electric. Dozens of charging stations are installed at Partner’s Rosh Ha’ayin HQ as it already has one of Israel’s largest corporate electric car fleets.
https://www.jpost.com/
Better Place put Israeli in a better place. 10 years ago, in May 2013, Israeli electric car network pioneer Better Place went bankrupt. But it has had a huge impact on the global EV market and positioned Israel at the forefront of autonomous vehicle and battery charging technology.
https://www.israel21c.org/
Cleaning solar panels in India. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Airtouch Solar (see here previously) will supply its waterless cleaning robots to Adani Green Energy Limited, the leading Indian energy developer in a deal worth $2.5 million. It will boost energy production and save hundreds of thousands of liters of water.
https://nocamels.com/2023/05/
3D metal printing startup to go public. Israel’s XJet (see here previously) which develops inkjet technology for 3D printing of small metal and ceramic parts, is seeking to raise about $10 million from an initial public offering (IPO) of shares on the Nasdaq. XJet’s 100 employees doubled revenue to $6 million last year.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Investment in Israeli startups to 4/6/23: Reddress raised $26 million; Firmbase raised $12 million; Faye Insurance raised $10 million; Unity SCM raised $8 million;
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT`
Tower of David Museum opens. After years of planning and renovations, the new Tower of David Museum has just opened in Jerusalem. With accessibility ramps, elevators to the historic fortress, reservoirs, tunnels, 10 galleries, scale models, digital tools, films, touch-control history wall, interactive games for children, and more.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/
What to do with the kids in Israel this summer. Israel is the most child-friendly destination for tourists on the planet. Here is Israel21c’s guide to 32 summer activities for visitors with children. Beaches, animals & birds, adventure playgrounds, water parks and activities, digging up history, caves, tunnels, science, art & much more.
https://www.israel21c.org/top-
Robbie Williams in Tel Aviv. UK pop star Robbie Williams performed at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park on Jun 1 as part of Tel Aviv’ Summer in the City festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Watch “From Israel with Love”. The Technion UK offers free viewing of its Israel 75th Anniversary celebration show – but only until 11:30pm on Mon Jun 5th (UK time). Register below.
https://technionuk.org/event/
Better results. Israel beat Japan 2-1 in the last minutes of their last group match to qualify for the knockout stages of the Under 20 World Cup in Argentina. They then beat Asian Cup champions Uzbekistan in injury time of their next game, to reach the quarterfinals where they beat favorites Brazil in extra time!
https://www.jns.org/jns/
https://www.ynetnews.com/
European Gymnastics champions. (TY Sarita) Israel’s women’s rhythmic gymnastics team won a gold medal in the 5 hoops event at the European Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. They also won 3 silver medals.
https://www.haaretz.com/
THE JEWISH STATE
Easy access to Israel. 30 residents of Connecticut, including adults with disabilities, their parents and staff members who work with them, spent nine days in Israel learning about accessibility in the Jewish state. They visited Nazareth, the Kinneret, the Hula valley, Tel Aviv, the Kotel, Tower of David, and even Masada.
https://www.jns.org/israel-
UK Jews raised funds for emergency center. The British Friends of United Hatzalah dinner in London raised £630,000 to help fund the Israeli EMS NGO’s future Southern Command Center. The bomb-proof command center will include a dispatch center, medical supply and equipment base, and volunteer sleeping facilities.
https://www.
A kosher mehadrin Arab restaurant. (TY Israel Unwired & I24 News) Yoseph Haddad shows viewers a different side of Israel to the one the MainStream Media wants to portray. Abu Hani opened his shawarma restaurant in Afula and obtained the top kosher license so that all Jews could enjoy his food.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
