RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.jns.org/attorney-general-and-legal-advisers-in-judicial-reformers-crosshairs/

The Netanyahu government’s plan to enact wide-ranging judicial reform has taken center stage in Israeli politics, causing tens of thousands of opponents to take to the streets. On Monday, the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee will debate a part of the plan dealing with the proper role of ministry legal advisers, chief among them the attorney general (the position’s formal title is “Legal Adviser to the Government”).

The draft legislation heading to committee would allow ministers to choose whether or not to follow legal advisers’ opinions. “Legal advice given to the prime minister and any minister of the government will not bind them,” the bill’s summary states. “The government, the prime minister and any minister of the government may reject the legal advice and act contrary to it.”

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, in unveiling the “first stage” of his judicial reform plan on Jan. 4, stressed that the legal advisers are “advisers, not deciders, who represent the government and not their personal positions.” He called for an end to the “subjugation of the government to an unelected rank.”

They’re bringing legal advisers back down to earth, “making them understand that they’re advisers, that they’re not in control,” Haran Fainstein, a retired Israeli judge who teaches at Bar-Ilan University’s Department of Criminology, told JNS.

“There’s no law that says a government representative has to act according to his or her legal advisers’ wishes. It was a decision of the Supreme Court years ago that made it mandatory. It was Shamgar who made the decision,” said Fainstein.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19321/israel-right-wing-parties

The main reason behind the rise to power of the far-right parties in the recent general election in Israel is that many Israelis believe that Israel has no partner for peace on the Palestinian side. This, in addition to the growing sense of dismay among Israelis as a result of Palestinian violence and terrorism, which saw a significant upsurge in 2022.

The widespread belief in Israel that the Palestinian Authority and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, are not partners for peace is not baseless. Moreover, the dismay is justified.

Instead of welcoming the Israeli move [complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, while asking nothing in return] the Palestinians responded with more terrorism against Israel. “The Israelis totally withdrew because they were being shot at?” went Palestinian thinking; “Great! Let’s keep shooting at them!”

The Oslo Accords (Article XV) state that the Palestinians are supposed to “take all measures necessary in order to prevent acts of terrorism, crime and hostilities.” Instead, Palestinian cities such as Nablus and Jenin, which are fully controlled by Abbas’s security forces, have in the past year against become hubs for terrorism.

In the past year, Abbas has demonstrated to the Israeli public that the Palestinians are determined to pursue the war against Israel on two fronts: on the ground, through terrorism, and in the international arena, through the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and other international forums.

Both the Palestinian terrorism and the diplomatic warfare constitute a violation of the commitments made by the Palestinians in the “peace process.”

In a September 1993 letter to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat stated that “all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations,” rather than unilateral actions.

When Israelis see Abbas paying the families of terrorists who murder or wound Jews, why should it be a surprise that many Israelis vote for “hardline” candidates? And when Israelis see Abbas and his associates inciting violence against them or vilifying Israel and prosecuting its leaders as “war criminals” at international tribunals, why should anyone be astonished that many Israelis are going to vote for a government they hope will protect them?

If the Palestinians want to regain the confidence of the Israeli public, they might start by demonstrating that they are serious about making peace with Israel. They could stop violating the agreements they signed and begin acting like peace partners, not war partners. They could cease their incessant unilateral measures and efforts to delegitimize Israel in the international arena.

The main reason behind the rise to power of the far-right parties in the recent general election in Israel is that many Israelis believe that Israel has no partner for peace on the Palestinian side. This, in addition to the growing sense of dismay among Israelis as a result of Palestinian violence and terrorism, which saw a significant upsurge in 2022.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Israel goes global:

Las Vegas: the highest number of Israeli startups and innovations.

Europe: European funding for Israeli agricultural technology; and another Israeli satellite was successfully launched. 1000 Europeans and Israelis can walk without pain thanks to Israeli knee implants. Israel sent another hundred power generators to Ukraine and even more are on their way.

Africa: Israeli doctors have again been treating patients throughout Africa. Eye treatment and chemotherapy in Nigeria.

United Arab Emirates: Sheikh Khalid Qasmi of the United Arab Emirates is the first Arab royal known to have been treated in Israel. He said it was the best medical treatment he had received since his accident and was amazed by the quality of staff, the advanced capabilities, hospitality, and sympathy.

Israel, the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Morocco, and the US held the inaugural meeting of the Negev Forum in Abu Dhabi Six working groups focused on food security and water technology; clean energy; tourism; health; education and coexistence; and regional security.

All the foregoing and much, much more are brought to our attention by Michael Ordman.

B.D.S. ?  BRAINY-DEVELOPING-SOLUTIONS…RSK

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Medical suit for heart patients. The new Israeli-developed Microclimate Suit is successfully eliminating congestion in heart failure patients at Israel’s Rambam hospital. It evaporates body fluids, alleviating symptoms of heart failure by reducing the level of the stress hormone BNP (B-type natriuretic peptide) by up to 50%.
https://www.rambam.org.il/en/rambam_news/breakthrough_heart_failure_treatment.aspx
 
Boosting oxygen levels. Latest on the ART device of Israel’s Inspira Technologies (see here previously) to boost patients’ oxygen levels instantly, reducing the need to induce comas and place them on ventilators. The machine removes low oxygen blood from the body, adds oxygen, removes CO2, and returns it to the patient. 
https://nocamels.com/2023/01/oxygen-boosting-device-provides-immediate-relief-to-patients/
https://inspira-technologies.com/art/
 
1,000 knee implants. Since its first trial in 2019, Israel’s Active Implants (see here previously) has performed nearly 1,000 implants of its NUsurface synthetic meniscus in Israel and Europe. It expects FDA approval to allow launch in the US in 2024.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB8aWsXbGhg
https://www.israel21c.org/new-hope-for-people-who-kneed-a-new-meniscus/
 
The wheel of fortune. Three years ago, one of a group of Israeli cyclists died when he had a heart attack, miles from the nearest hospital. Since then, the group carries a portable defibrillator on all trips. It recently saved the life of another member of the group, who suffered cardiac arrest in the Negev desert.
https://afmda.org/news/cycling-group-defibrillator/
 
Tooth extracted – from her lung.  When a nine-year-old Israeli girl lost a tooth, she accidentally sucked it into her lung, blocking her airway – a medical and life-threatening emergency. Doctors at Haifa’s Rambam Pediatric Emergency Trauma Unit became “tooth fairies” and used a guided camera to pull the tooth from her lung.
https://www.rambam.org.il/en/rambam_news/saved_life_after_swallowed_tooth_enters_lung.aspx
 
Proven benefits of medical clowns. IsraelActive.com (see here) contains over a dozen articles describing how Israeli medical clowns help hospital patients. Now Tel Aviv University researchers have documented 40 different skills that the clowns deploy to enable patients to overcome crises and move towards healing. 
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/technology-science/1673469606-not-just-clowning-around-israeli-study-shows-importance-of-medical-clowns  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10497323221139781
 
Eye treatment in Nigeria. Israeli doctors regularly treat eye diseases in Africa (see here and here previously). Sheba Medical Center has now launched a humanitarian mission to Ilorin, Nigeria to treat eye-cancer in children and improve long-term quality optical care, by establishing an intra-arterial chemotherapy center.
https://worldisraelnews.com/world-renown-israeli-hospital-launches-humanitarian-mission-to-nigeria-treating-children-with-eye-cancer/
 
Growing health startups. Nine Israeli startups have been selected for Google for Startups’ first Growth Academy program for startups in the fields of medicine and quality of life. They are Olive Diagnostics, Kai, Emble, Droxi, BoBo Balance, Agado Live, AIVF, X-Trodes, and Ritual Health Technologies.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/pgg54w4uw
 

https://media5.manhattan-institute.org/iiif/2/sites%2Fcj%2Ffiles%2Freal-reasons-for-europes-demonization-of-netanyahu.jpg/full/!1900,1900/0/default.jpg

In the liberal media and among the intelligentsia and the European political class there reigns an untroubled unanimity on the subject of Israel: it is no longer a democracy because its new government is of the Right. Too far to the right. I have no particular sympathy for Benjamin Netanyahu, but I must observe that the manner of his election was perfectly legitimate. Nor have I any sympathy—far from it—for the extremist Jewish parties that have entered into the government coalition, but they, too, were elected. Thus, I cannot see on what grounds the objecting Europeans allow themselves to denounce Israeli democracy. I am reminded of a famous proposal by Bertolt Brecht: “Since the people vote against the government, the people must be dissolved.” As it happens, a majority of Israelis consider themselves represented in Netanyahu’s new government, and the minority will take back power in a few more years. Such are the mechanics of universal suffrage.

Therefore, before diabolizing Netanyahu, Europe’s finest should ask themselves about his repeated electoral successes and record for longevity, both of which bring to mind Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel, and José María Aznar. The voters know what they’re doing: under Netanyahu, Israelis have experienced their greatest security, and never has their economy been more prosperous. It was thus not by chance that Netanyahu was reelected, but as a reward for his success and his good fortune (in politics, luck and success are indissociable). Has he threatened democracy in the past, and will he distort it this time in order to please his integralist allies? This may be doubted, since the person who could make the Israelis shut up would not be of this world. The Hebrews quarreled with God; the Jews argue ceaselessly among themselves, and that includes the Israelis. The media are free and will remain so, as are the parties and the judges. The Israeli army does not accept orders from without. As for the rabbis, there are as many points of view among them as there are synagogues.

What, then, is the source of this Western condemnation of the new Israeli government and these dark prophecies concerning democracy? First, there is ignorance. What European scribbler inquires into the problems Netanyahu faces? We prefer to condemn him from afar, for fear of being contradicted by reality.

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-728435

Amnesty International doesn’t need an excuse to bash Israel, regardless of the makeup of the ruling coalition in Jerusalem. Indeed, it makes no bones about its view that since the state’s establishment in 1948, “successive governments have created and maintained a system of laws, policies and practices designed to oppress and dominate Palestinians.”

But the fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is back in power, this time solely with right-wing and religious partners, makes the country that the UK-based “human rights” NGO loves to hate particularly tempting as a target. The hysteria at home and abroad surrounding the appointment of firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir as national security minister provided the bullseye.

Interestingly, it wasn’t Ben-Gvir’s January 3 visit to the Temple Mount that spurred Amnesty into action. Perhaps the radical-leftist organization decided to sit back and let the outrage that its liberal counterparts around the world were expressing over the event take center stage.

In any case, none of the predictions about the turmoil that the Otzma Yehudit Party leader’s short excursion to the holy site was likely to provoke came true. Amnesty, therefore, maybe did well by waiting a few days before joining the fray with customary vengeance.

The opportunity arose on Sunday, when Ben-Gvir announced that he’d ordered Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai to authorize officers, in the course of their work, to remove Palestinian flags from public places. The minister’s measure came in response to the way in which the banner was used last week to celebrate the release from prison of Arab terrorist Karim Younis.

Younis spent 40 years in jail for kidnapping and killing IDF Cpl. Avraham Bromberg on the Golan Heights in 1983. Upon his arrival on January 5 in his hometown of Ara in the Haifa district, he was hailed as a hero.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19313/palestinians-children-terrorists

Palestinian terror groups are recruiting minors to carry out terrorist attacks while Palestinian leaders and international organizations are screaming that “innocent children are being killed.”

The Palestinian Authority… glorifies terrorists and rewards them and their families with monthly stipends — essentially a “jobs program” that solicits murder….

Those who send minors to carry out terror attacks should be held responsible for committing a crime against the Palestinians, for deliberately placing their children in danger, and not only Israel.

Ayyad, who was killed during violent clashes with Israeli soldiers, had even written a will expressing his desire to die as a “martyr.”

“I’m happy that God has fulfilled one of my dreams: martyrdom.” So much for being an “innocent child.”

Palestinian children are brainwashed against Israel from the cradle and are deliberately placed in harm’s way, while the UN and the rest of the world look the other way.

The UN members who held an emergency session to discuss the visit by a Jew to the Temple Mount are the biggest hypocrites of all. These supposed purveyors of virtue do not want to acknowledge that the Palestinian recruitment of children as soldiers is the real threat to peace and security, and not a Jew walking on the grounds of a holy site in Jerusalem.

It would have been better for the UN and all those who rushed to condemn Ben-Gvir’s visit had they called an emergency session to see why Palestinian children are being sent by their own people to die in clashes with the Israeli army.

It would also have been better had the UN held a special session to discuss the Palestinian leadership’s responsibility for its ongoing incitement against Israel and encouraging minors to seek death as “martyrs.”

The blood of the next Palestinian child killed in battle will be on the hands of the liars in the corridors of the UN and the offices of major newspapers around the world, which continue to ignore Palestinian atrocities against their own people.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was quick to hold an emergency session on January 5 because a Jew dared to walk on the holiest site in Judaism, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Two days earlier, that Jew, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, had made a quiet, 13-minute tour of the site.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/an-israel-prize-laureates-anti-government-stance-reveals-a-sinister-view-of-the-jewish-state/

Anyone still puzzled by the outcome of the Nov. 1 Knesset elections should listen to professor Asa Kasher’s interview on Sunday with Kan radio. A fierce opponent of the new government in Jerusalem, the Israel Prize laureate, author of the Israel Defense Forces’ Code of Conduct, inadvertently did more to explain the victory of the right than most of its own champions.

Though not a jurist, the esteemed philosopher and linguist was invited by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation to discuss (i.e. bash) Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s plan, unveiled last week, to reform the judicial system.

Clipping the wings of the overly interventionist, politically biased Supreme Court—to restore the power vested in the legislature—was among the campaign vows that drew voters. Nevertheless, oppositionists have been decrying it as the beginning of the end of Israeli democracy. The opposite is the case, of course. Yet that’s of little concern to the naysayers engaged in literal and figurative demonstrations against their loss at the ballot box.

Kasher, famous for crafting the IDF’s “purity of arms” credo—and criticized in the past for backing the targeted assassination of terrorists—is a particularly noteworthy protester. It’s not that his false claims are more original than those of his colleagues in academia, like-minded members of the media or politicians in the “anybody but Bibi” camp who failed to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partners. On the contrary, they’ve all been invoking the same platitudes.

But Kasher used his microphone to rattle off the tired talking points in a way that reveals just how dim a view he and his cohorts have of Israel.

http://theettingerreport.com/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi

Saudi order of priorities

*The State Department and the Western foreign policy establishment have contended that the Palestinian issue features prominently on the Saudi order of national priorities. Therefore, they have maintained that a substantial enhancement of Israel-Saudi cooperation – and certainly, the attainment of an Israel-Saudi Arabia peace treaty – would be preconditioned upon substantial Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, including the establishment of a Palestinian state.

*However, contrary to the State Department’s worldview, Saudi Arabia’s strong man, the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), does not consider the Palestinian issue a top priority.

*Moreover, conversely to State Department assessments, MBS is aware that the Palestinian issue is not the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict, neither a crown-jewel of Arab policy-making, nor a core cause of regional turbulence.

*Furthermore, unlike the State Department, MBS accords critical weight to the Palestinian intra-Arab track record, which is low on moderation but, top heavy on subversion, terrorism, treachery and ingratitude (especially the Palestinian collaboration with Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait); as well as, the deeply-rooted Palestinian collaboration with international terror organizations, Muslim Brotherhood terrorists and Iran’s Ayatollahs’ regime (which constitute lethal threats to the House of Saud), North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.

*Simultaneously, MBS is absorbed with the strategic goal of evolving Saudi Arabia into a modern regional/global superpower, by reinforcing regional stability, minimizing the threat of existing rogue entities (e.g., Iran’s Ayatollahs and Muslim Brotherhood terrorists), preventing the rise of additional rogue entities (e.g., the domestic Shiite subversion in the oil region in eastern Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s Houthis, the proposed Palestinian state and Hezbollah), and bolstering investment, infrastructure development and economic diversification (e.g., hightech).

*Irrespective of MBS’ deep Islamic beliefs, and notwithstanding the 280-year-old alliance between the House of Saud and the fundamentalist Wahhabi establishment in central and southwestern Saudi Arabia, MBS has recognized the value of Israel’s military, technological capabilities, and Israel’s special standing among most US voters and Capitol Hill legislators, as well as Israel’s reliability and effectiveness in the pursuit of MBS’ game-changing strategic goal.