RUTHFULLY YOURS

The state of the State of Israel combines triumphs and grief. This week two brothers aged six and eight died of wounds sustained in a terrorist car ramming attack in Jerusalem. On that very day Israel’s Army Search and Rescue Mission was saving lives in the rubble of the massive quakes in Turkey with the blessings of the Chief Rabbi to work through the Sabbath.

As Michael Ordman reminds us, during the same week Israelis were training Kenyan medics, providing critical pediatric equipment to Moldova, and developing technology to help millions of hapless citizens throughout the entire world.

And they were also enjoying jazz and dance performances, concerts, restaurants with varied and delicious cuisine, and welcoming the growing number of new arrivals.

Israel chooses life! L’Chaim!….rsk

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Proteins in focus for AMD. Tel Aviv University researchers have identified two genomic proteins LHX2 and OTX2 that affect the chances of contracting Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The discovery is a key stage in understanding the genetic mechanisms related to AMD and other complex genetic diseases.
https://english.tau.ac.il/risk_factor_amd
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001924

New peptides to target Alzheimer’s culprit. (TY UWI) Scientists at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, working with Canadian scientists have developed peptides (small proteins) that in laboratory tests prevent the production of oligomers – small polymers that are the true culprits of the neuron damage in Alzheimer’s disease.
https://www.israel21c.org/treatment-for-very-early-alzheimers-under-development/
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2210766119

World’s most advanced children’s hospital. (TY Hazel) The Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital just inaugurated at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, features unique early genetic tests for detecting and treating rare diseases. It will also treat children from the Palestinian Authority, Gaza, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco.
https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/byhmjk1to

Dental center for patients with disabilities. The Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine is establishing the Robert I. Schattner Oral Health Center for People with Disabilities. The state-of-the-art facility will provide accessible, optimal care for patients and specialized training for dental professionals.
https://www.afhu.org/hebrew-university-hadassah-school-of-dental-medicines-robert-i-schattner-oral-health-center-for-people-with-disabilities/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGLPsB_EQjs

AI to build UK care center. AI technology from Israel’s Buildots (see here previously) is constructing the new maternity, pediatrics, emergency, and critical care center at Royal Bournemouth Hospital. It is the first UK healthcare facility to be built using Artificial Intelligent tech to increase efficiency and decrease costs.
https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-ai-construction-technology-helps-build-uk-hospital/

Partnering for medical air rescue service. Israel’s Magen David Adom and America’s Hatzolah Air are partnering to provide any future emergency medical evacuations in Israel. MDA’s flight paramedics will board Hatzolah Air and MDA Medevac helicopters to perform rescues via MDA’s Tiberias and Beer Sheva air bases.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/366974

Universities partner to study the brain. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Kentucky have received a joint $1 million grant to study new aspects of RNA biology. They will try to discover why humans have more complex brains than other organisms with roughly the same number of genes?
https://www.bfhu.org/2023/02/03/university-of-kentucky-and-hu-partner-to-study-brain-complexity/

Non-animal testing in Dubai. (TY Atid-EDI) UAE’s MBZUAI has signed an agreement with Israel’s Quris-AI (see here previously) to establish a world-class Bio-AI center in Abu Dhabi, that will support development of personalized medications, specifically tailored to the MENA (Middle East Nort Africa) region population.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/01/18/2590734/0/en/Quris-AI-and-MBZUAI-to-launch-world-class-Bio-AI-center-in-Abu-Dhabi.html  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTKg274ehgU

Training Kenyan navy to treat casualties. For the first time ever, experts from Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, including doctors, nurses, and simulation specialists, helped prepare Kenya’s navy for mass casualty scenarios. They worked alongside military and civilian personnel from Kenya, the US 5th fleet, Qatar, and Denmark.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-730225

ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL

Wild Walks Project. “Wild Walks” Israel is a Jerusalem based project to help war-weary teenagers from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus adapt to a new life in Israel. It provides a safe space for these young men and women to use art, play and conversation to build their own world with their own places, friends, and activities.
https://www.dikieprogulki.org/wild-walks-project/

Young guardians – Jewish & Bedouin. HaShomer HaChadash (The New Guardian – see here previously) safeguards Israel’s lands by agriculture & education. Its 25,000 strong youth movement HaTnua HaChadasha now includes some 3,000 Bedouin children, mostly meeting at the charity’s Zarzir educational farm.
https://www.israel21c.org/youth-group-instills-love-of-the-land-in-bedouins-and-jews/
https://eng.hashomer.org.il/  (see Programs & Projects – HaShomer HaChadash Youth Organization)

Innovation to improve ties with New Zealand. The New Zealand Israel Innovation Hub (NZIIH) recently opened in Tel Aviv (see here previously). Founder Josh Brown and startup advisor Elinor Swery are promoting 23 initiatives to foster business ventures including foodtech, agtech, climatetech, and spacetech.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rj7zesani

Hospital equipment for Moldovan babies. (TY Hazel) Israel has donated $250,000 worth of perinatal equipment to nine hospitals in Moldovia. It includes incubators and resuscitation tables, replacing equipment over two decades old.  https://www.moldpres.md/en/news/2023/01/27/23000648

Saving lives in Turkey. (TY WIN) Israel’s IDF “Operation Olive Branches” has hundreds of medics and Search & Rescue experts in Turkiye (Turkey). They have pulled dozens of survivors from the rubble of the massive earthquakes. Israel’s United Hatzalah, Magen David Adom and Zaka have also sent relief missions.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/great-privilege-to-reach-out-to-our-neighbor-idf-aid-delegation-heads-to-turkey/
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-730836  https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/367108
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/367187  https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/367141
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/367283

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Israeli tech is saving lives in Turkey. Israeli NGO United Hatzalah is using cloud-based tech from Israel’s Carbyne (see here) to share real-time location data, video, and images with its remote medical teams in Turkey. Separately, Israel’s Sight Diagnostics (see here) will deploy its blood count devices at the IDF’s field hospital.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-first-responders-in-turkey-use-real-time-tech-for-remote-victim-care/

CyberTech Global 2023.  Cybertech Global is the cyber industry’s foremost Business-to-Business networking platform. The 2023 Tel Aviv event was as popular as ever with speakers including Israeli leaders, cyber leaders from governments and industry, both Israeli and global. https://www.cybertechisrael.com/speakers
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/defense/1675170832-israel-s-cybersecurity-authority-foiled-over-1-000-major-attacks-in-2022  https://english.news.cn/20230201/50075bc54e78471d8d168486967c17b5/c.html

Microsoft partnership for quantum education. The quantum computing platform from Israel’s Classiq (see here previously), plus Microsoft Azure Quantum’s cloud have been made available to Israeli professors, students, and researchers for conducting courses and carrying out research in all aspects of quantum computing.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/syqgngwto

Promoting innovation in Engineering. The Azrieli Foundation has donated $3.75 million to create the Azrieli Center for Excellence in Engineering Education in Israel (Azrieli E3). The new center will develop and promote innovative methods of engineering education, while nurturing engineers over the course of their careers.
https://www.jns.org/azrieli-foundation-donates-3-75-million-to-boost-engineering-education-in-jerusalem/

Cleantech award in the UAE. Brenmiller Energy (see here previously) is the first Israeli company to win a World CleanTech Award from the CleanTech Business Club – a group of industry, government, and investment leaders from 36 countries. CEO Avi Brenmiller received the outstanding startup award in Abu Dhabi.
https://www.israel21c.org/brenmiller-energy-wins-world-cleantech-award-at-uae-event/

Tomato-picking robot picks up the pace. The tomato harvest robots from Israel’s MetoMotion (see here previously) now work at two greenhouse growers in the Netherlands. MetoMotion is looking to install 10 to 20 of the robotic machines this year, targeting Western Europe, followed eventually by Canada and the US.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-startup-develops-first-ai-robot-for-picking-tomatoes/

Japanese forests in Israel. At an ecological community site in Southern Israel, LyOr Rabinowiz and a group of volunteers are growing a forest using the Japanese Miyawaki method. They planted saplings close together, which helps the trees defend each other against pests, revitalize poor soil, and are said to grow much faster.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-crowded-japanese-style-forest-israeli-trees-find-space-to-grow/

From Startup Nation to WaterTech Nation. Great summary by Seth M Siegel (author of “Let There Be Water”) of Israel’s successful strategy to overcome its water scarcity. Seth is Chief Sustainability Officer at Israel’s N-Drip. See also here and here previously. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rjefnmftj

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Ohio buys more Israel Bonds. The government of Ohio State has purchased $20 million of Israel Bonds to take its overall holding to $182.5 million and become one of the largest government owners of Israeli Bonds in the United States. Since 1993, every Ohio state treasurer has purchased Israel Bonds (see here previously).
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/366917

All happening at Investor Summit. The speakers lined up for OurCrowd’s Global Investor Summit, this coming week, include Israel’s President Herzog, US Ambassador Nides, Author Saul Singer, “Fauda” actor Lior Raz, ex-Mossad head Yossi Cohen, Natan Sharansky, and many, many more.
https://summit.ourcrowd.com/   https://summit.ourcrowd.com/speakers/

$125 million for Israeli space-tech. Israel’s Earth & Beyond Ventures (see here previously) has raised $125 million to invest in Israel’s emerging commercial space ecosystem. It will focus on aerospace and satellite engineering startups. Investors include NASA supplier Corning, Japan’s Kyocera, and Israel’s Spacecom.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/earth-beyond-launches-new-125-million-fund-to-invest-in-israeli-space-tech/
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/r1611pgai

University VC fund reaches its target. Israel’s Reichman University has successfully raised the $30 million it announced previously in June for startups founded by its graduates. RUNI Ventures, will offer some $500,000 to each promising startup, plus workspace, mentors (Uni and/or external), and student interns or employees.
https://nocamels.com/2023/01/university-raises-30m-for-student-startups/

Business opportunities to USA from Israel. The Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce has released “Business Opportunities from Israel”. The database contains hundreds of up-to-date offers across all industries from Israeli importers, exporters, service providers, etc., seeking business partners around the world.
https://www.chamber.org.il/37679/40433/

Israeli head of Texas Instruments. Israel’s Haviv Ilan is to be the new CEO of chip manufacturer Texas Instruments. Ilan joined the US company in 1999 when TI acquired Ilan’s Israeli startup, Butterfly.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-appointed-ceo-of-chip-manufacturer-texas-instruments/

Bringing biofriendly resilin to market. Israel’s Smart Resilin (see here previously) is partnering European biotech Acies Bio to commercialize resilin as an environmentally beneficial material for many industries. The non-toxic, bio-degradable protein can replace synthetic plastics in applications from footwear to aerospace.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smart-resilin-and-acies-bio-join-forces-to-commercialize-resilin-301716447.html

Seahorse wine. The boutique Seahorse Winery at Bar Giora in the Judean Hills makes some 50,000 bottles of wine a year. The winery has 2,200 vines per acre, compared to 880 vines per acre elsewhere in Israel. This means the grapes grow under stress, remain small at harvest time, and produce extremely flavorsome wines.
https://www.israel21c.org/the-little-winery-where-every-bottle-is-a-labor-of-love/

FAA approval for drone delivery. (TY OurCrowd) The US Federal Aviation Administration has approved the partner of Israel’s Flytrex (see here previously) to use its drones to deliver across the USA. Currently, Flytrex operates in five cities in Texas and North Carolina, delivering everything from burgers to sushi.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90841917/flytrex-partner-causey-aviation-unmanned-gets-faa-approval-for-drone-deliveries-across-u-s

A Wisor solution to freight forwarding. Israel’s Wisor AI has developed a software solution tailored to the needs of the 300,000 freight forwarders. It automates both the manual process of aggregating pricing data as well as the optimization of shipping routes across airlines, ocean liners, trucking, and rail companies.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/hkquctjaj  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRyZW_A1Tt0

Saving a fortune for businesses. Israel’s Anodot (see here previously) analyzes a company’s data to highlight potential revenue issues to management. Since acquiring US-based Pileus, Anodot also helps management control and reduce its cloud computing costs.
https://thesiliconreview.com/magazine/profile/optimize-business-cloud-anodot-solutions/

Ad company gets Google certification. Israel’s Adnimation has been granted Google Certified Publishing Partner (GCPP) status, shared by just 57 other companies around the globe. Adnimation works with publishers to monetize their content with innovative advertising.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyT9RlwKUAw
https://worldisraelnews.com/israeli-startup-nets-prestigious-google-status/  https://www.adnimation.com/

Investment in Israeli startups to 12/2/23: Mediwound raised $27.5 million; One Zero Bank (previously First Digital Bank) raised $62 million; Wisor AI raised $8 million; Meala FoodTech raised $1.9 million;

CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT`

Inside the Knesset Museum. (TY UWI & I24 News) Israel’s Knesset Museum stores many of the 1,200 gifts the Jewish State has received from other countries and important figures.  Here is a glimpse. It will be revealed in full to the public to celebrate Israel’s 74th birthday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08EMkypMSOM
https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-what-secrets-does-the-knessets-chamber-of-treasures-hold/

1600-year-old gold bead found in Jerusalem. A rare gold bead from the end of the Roman era has been discovered in Jerusalem’s City of David during excavation of the Pilgrimage Road. It was made using unique delicate workmanship to affix tens of tiny balls together in the shape of a ring to create one small bead.
https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-730923

Sun & rain in Jerusalem. (TY Sharon) Jerusalem’s streets last week were a contrast of clouds, downpours, and sunshine. So were some of Jerusalem’s events.  And notice the elderly Arab man leaving Mount Scopus’ Hadassah hospital in a Yad Sarah wheelchair.  Mazel Tov to Sharon on her new grandson.
http://rjstreets.com/2023/02/05/in-jerusalem-february-got-off-to-a-busy-start/

Hugh Laurie in Tehran. (TY Hazel) Veteran English actor Hugh Laurie (famous as Dr Gregory House) is joining the cast of Israeli spy thriller Tehran for its third season. It marks another high-profile casting after movie icon Glenn Close featured in Season Two. Laurie is expected to play a nuclear inspector.
https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/rjn1ciwps

Jerusalem Marathon. Mar 17 is the date for the Jerusalem Marathon. Israel’s Emergency EMT NGO United Hatzalah has formed a team that will be running to save lives.  Israelis can also join the team to help raise funds. Register at www.israelrescue.org/jlmmarathon23  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WCe7zVYgZo

Judoka gold. (TY Nevet & UWI) Israeli judoka Gili Sharir won the gold medal in the women’s under 63kg category at the 2023 Paris Grand Slam judo competition. Israel’s Gefen Primo won the women’s under 52kg bronze medal.  Israel’s Peter Paltchik also took home the bronze medal in the men’s under 100kg category.
https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/hk0011f63i  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn8HF0yrh2w
https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/02/07/israeli-judoka-gili-sharir-wins-her-first-gold-medal-in-paris-grand-slam/

THE JEWISH STATE

120 more Ethiopians make Aliyah. (TY UWI & ILTV) The first 2023 flight of “Operation Zur Yisrael” has just brought 120 new immigrants from Ethiopia to Israel. They had spent a long time in Addis Ababa and Gondar but following Ethiopia agreeing to issue exit visas, they can now reunite with their Israeli families.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wTR523oZak

90 more Ukrainian Jews come home. Ninety Ukrainian Jewish refugees have just arrived in Israel on a chartered flight made possible by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ). The refugees originally chose to stay behind in Ukraine but have since been forced out of their former homes by the fighting.
https://www.jns.org/90-ukrainian-jewish-refugees-come-home-to-israel/

JNF Global Conference for Israel. I know it’s a long way off, but you might wish to plan for the JNF-USA’s Global Conference for Israel Nov 30 – Dec 3 in Denver Colorado. See Israeli innovation up close and take part in one of the largest Shabbat dinners ever.  https://jnf-usa.force.com/s/lt-event?id=aBH6T000001UJDGWA4

Those who bless Israel. For Christian readers living in the UK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i56X8-cvXbI

Lone soldiers are not alone. 120+ soldiers from 27 countries participated in the Givati Brigade Association’s Lone Soldiers Day at Metzudat Yoav near Kibbutz Sde Yoav. Personal meetings addressed individual needs. Group workshops explored housing subsidies, living expenses, Shabbat meals and family environments.
https://www.jns.org/gathering-of-elite-idf-soldiers-shows-theyre-far-from-lone/
https://www.enjoyingisrael.com/attractions/6548/metzudat-yoav-givati-brigade-center

Holy work. (TY WIN) While waiting for the order to move into the crisis zone, members of the IDF delegation stopped to pray. Then Israel’s Chief Rabbi instructed Israeli Jewish rescue workers to continue operations through the Jewish Sabbath, as Jewish law states that saving life overrides Torah commandments.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-idf-soldiers-pray-immediately-after-landing-in-turkey-to-save-lives/
https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/02/09/israeli-chief-rabbi-grants-special-dispensation-to-earthquake-rescue-teams-in-turkey-and-syria-to-work-through-jewish-sabbath/