RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-708472

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken seems to think that his job entails creating moral equivalence where it doesn’t exist. The way in which he approaches Palestinian Authority aggression against Israel is a prime example.

In fairness to Blinken, he was appointed to toe the line of US President Joe Biden and the crew behind him. Luckily for all concerned – other than the Jewish state – America’s top diplomat possesses the right ideological outlook and ambition to fulfill the task with little effort.

The only pushback he encounters emanates from “Squad” Democrats and their apologists, who consider Israel to be a criminal entity and view the Palestinians as its victims. In other words, while Blinken places Palestinian terrorism on a par with Israel’s response to it, the far-left members of his party don’t even bother with the charade of equivocation.

This distinction is moot, however. Nothing short of Israeli suicide will satisfy Squad or Palestinian demands. So, peace of the kind that the Biden administration touts is nowhere on the horizon.

IT IS NOT clear whether Blinken is oblivious to this or merely enjoys going through the motions that playing his prominent role in international relations requires. Either way, the game itself is dangerous for Israel.

“Good to speak with Palestinian Authority President [Mahmoud] Abbas… to discuss maintaining calm and refraining from escalatory actions and the importance of advancing a two-state solution,”
Blinken tweeted on Tuesday.

https://bit.ly/3M0b2Ak

The US does not extend foreign aid to Israel. Rather, the US makes an annual investment in Israel, which yields to the American taxpayer an annual R-O-I (Return-On-Investment) of several hundred percent.

Is that a valid statement?

*While Israel is a most grateful recipient of a few hundred US military systems, it serves as the battle-tested, cost-effective laboratory of the US defense and aerospace industries, which employ – directly and indirectly – 3.5 million Americans.

Moreover, Israel’s Defense Forces serve as the battle-tested laboratory of the US armed forces, enhancing the performance of the US military.

*As documented in the following segments, the Israeli battle-tested laboratory enhances the economy, national security and homeland security of the US.

*For instance, Israel’s Air Force flies the Lockheed-Martin-manufactured F-16 and F-35 combat aircraft, providing the US manufacturer and Air Force – on a daily basis – with lessons involving operations, maintenance and repairs.  These lessons are integrated into a multitude of upgrades for the next generation of the aircraft, bolstering the performance of the US manufacturer and Air Force.

In fact, the F-16 has been improved by several hundred Israeli-driven upgrades (cockpit, fire control, wings, fuel tanks, etc.). It has spared Lockheed-Martin 10-20 years of research & development – which costs billions of dollars – improving the global competitiveness of Lockheed-Martin, thus increasing its multi-billion-dollar exports, while expanding Lockheed-Martin’s employment base – a mega-billion-dollar bonanza.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/2022/05/biden-appoints-supporter-intifada-ambassador-plo-daniel-greenfield/

After a wave of violence that saw repeated murders of Israelis, with guns and axes, among other means, in attacks that involved ISIS, but were praised by Hamas and the PLO’s Palestinian Authority, Biden is rewarding the terrorists.

 The Biden administration has settled on a series of steps aimed at boosting its diplomatic ties to the Palestinians in lieu of reopening the US Consulate in Jerusalem — a move it reluctantly shelved amid Israeli opposition.

The “opposition” consisted of telling Biden that if they gave in, the leftist-Islamist-RINO (right in name only) coalition government would collapse and they’d have to deal with Netanyahu again.

According to two US and Palestinian officials who spoke to The Times of Israel, US President Joe Biden will elevate Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr to the role of special envoy to the Palestinians.

Front Page Magazine had the first deep background on Amr.

“I was inspired by the Palestinian intifada,” Hady Amr wrote a year after September 11, discussing his work as the national coordinator of the anti-Israel Middle East Justice Network.

Biden has now chosen Amr as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israel-Palestine.

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-saudi-arabia-and-israel-preparing-major-diplomatic-meeting-1001413466

At the meeting an aviation agreement and cooperation agreements in research and technology in medicine, agriculture and energy will be signed, a source has told “Globes.”

Saudi Arabia is allowing Israeli business people to enter the country with their Israeli passports after receiving a special visa, sources close to the matter have told “Globes.” For the most part it is representatives and managers of Israeli technology companies who are being invited to visit by the Saudis. This is a dramatic change and follows the cancellation in recent months of the blanket ban on Israeli passport holders, making it easy for special visas to be obtained.

Israeli passport? Saudi Arabia welcomes you

Dozens of Israeli business people have taken advantage of this option and visited Riyadh, the economic center of Saudi Arabia and other locations like Neom.

All this is preparing the ground for a major diplomatic meeting between Israel and Saudi Arabia with economic and defense components, an international source familiar with the matter has told “Globes.” Among other things, agreements will be signed in aviation, and cooperation in research and technology in medicine, agriculture and energy.

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-707917

As Palestinianism spreads throughout the world, it attracts support because it presents itself as a national liberation movement that seeks to free itself from Israeli occupation, colonialism, oppression and persecution. An examination of its real agenda, however, available in the PLO Covenant, Hamas Charter and its daily messages, reveals its true intention: isolating and destroying Israel – a second Holocaust, if they could.

This explains why efforts to achieve a peaceful solution, such as the Oslo Accords, have failed. Unwittingly, calls for a two-state solution: a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), in addition to Jordan – which many consider to be or should be the already-existing second state – have contributed to confusion about why Palestinian leaders have rejected such proposals, and the consequences. Unfortunately, there seems to be an unwillingness to accept the reality of what Palestinianism means, and what is at stake – not only for Israel, but for the world.

Historical Background

The first time the concept of Eretz Yisrael (The Land of Israel) is seen as the land which God gave to the Jewish people to build a Jewish civilization is in Torah. This is confirmed in all Jewish texts and in Judaism; that is the meaning of the “homeland of the Jewish people.” It is why the First and Second Temples were built in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount. There is no such concept in Christianity, or Islam; these religions have holy places, but no specific “holy land.”

Palestinianism denies this historical fact, and denies the right of the Jewish people to reestablish a state in Eretz Yisrael.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/05/can-israel-be-loyal-both-america-and-russia-joseph-puder/

For the first time since Israel began its aerial bombing over Syria, a battery of S-300 aerial defense missiles (ground-to-air) manned by Russian crews fired at an Israeli jet earlier this month. The missile missed its target, and apparently was not intended to shoot down the Israeli jet, but merely to serve as a warning. Putin’s Russia wanted to signal to Israel that it has perceived a tilt by Jerusalem toward Ukraine in the ongoing conflict between the two countries, and that it will not be without a price for Israel to pay.

Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is clouding the skies over Europe. It has increased the threat of a nuclear exchange between Russia and the NATO alliance. The fear that Russia might cross into their territory has prompted Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership. Russia’s significant submarine bases in the Baltic seaports, armed with nuclear missiles, and bases in the Kola Peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, bordering Finland, is an appetizing target for Putin. Sweden has been a neutral state for over one hundred years, and Finland, close enough to Russia geographically, has been very careful about alienating its powerful neighbor. But, Putin’s aggression and his expansionist designs have convinced Finland and Sweden to throw caution to the wind, and get a security blanket.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

Happy Jerusalem Day!  55 Years Anniversary

Jerusalem is and has been the geographic and spiritual center of the Jewish people for millennia. There has been a Jewish presence in Jerusalem, despite conquerors, wars, and massacres for centuries, and a Jewish majority since the mid-1800s. In the war occasioned by Arab rejection of Israel’s sovereignty, Jordan, (80% of the Palestine Mandate Promised to the Jews) occupied East Jerusalem, trashed graveyards and holy sites, debased and ransacked churches and limited visits to the city. In June 1967 the Israeli paratroopers liberated the despoiled and vandalized city and restored it to its glory with meticulous respect for all religions and restoration of churches, parks and shrines.  It is also the home of a world class institution- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and its Faculty of Medicine which is available to students of every ethnicity. 

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And here is another compilation of Israel’s contributions to the  health, welfare , hope and aspirations of millions of citizens throughout the world from Michel Ordman.  

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Neurological discovery. Researchers at Tel Aviv University found that a mutation in genes ADNP and SHANK3 causes conditions such as autism, schizophrenia, and neuro-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. They also found that an experimental therapy Davunetide can counter the effects of the mutation.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/328097  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-022-01603-w
 
Gene therapy can treat AHDS. A team of international scientists, led by Dr. Gad Vatine of Ben Gurion University, discovered a thyroid hormone MCT8 mutation causes Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome (AHDS). Sufferers cannot walk or talk. They developed a gene therapy AAV9-MCT8 to restore the hormone’s function.
https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/pages/news/AHDS_neurology.aspx
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/thy.2022.0034
 
Less than 100 serious Covid-19 cases. According to new data from Israel’s Health Ministry, the number of serious coronavirus cases in Israel has dipped below 100 for the first time since end Dec 2021. On 15th May there were only some 15,500 active Covid-19 infections in Israel.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/serious-covid-cases-in-israel-drop-below-100-for-first-time-in-months/
 
Rare heart valve transplant saves heart patient. (TY Yehoshua) Surgeons at Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital performed a “first time in Israel” aortic valve transplant to save a patient unsuitable for open-heart surgery. The hybrid team of catheterization specialists and cardiac surgeons used the carotid artery as the point of entry.
https://www.hadassah.org/story/an-israel-first-aortic-valve-transplant-via-carotid-artery-at-hadassah
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-707289
 
How to avoid 400,000 US deaths a year. Excellent article about Israel’s DecideVR (see here previously) – the most advanced Virtual Reality simulator for reducing errors and saving lives in Intensive Care Units. It was developed by Prof Alex Mintz, Director of the Computerized Decision-Making Lab at Reichman University.
https://www.israel21c.org/virtual-reality-could-help-avoid-deadly-medical-errors/
https://www.runi.ac.il/en/research-institutes/government/cdm/
https://www.decidevr-simulation.com/
 
Israel’s first mental health expo. Some 1,000 people registered to attend Israel’s first mental health expo. It was conducted entirely in English and tailored to the needs of English-speaking immigrants. Its aim was to give a sense of what’s available in Israel to help and treat people facing mental health challenges.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ousting-stigmas-israels-first-mental-health-expo-happening-monday-in-english/  
 
Medical incubator launches in the north. Israel’s MEDX Xelerator (see here previously) has partnered with the Portland Trust to launch an incubator branch in the Sakhnin Valley region in northern Israel. It will support health and medical startups in the Galilee and northern Arab and Jewish regions.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rjat9g5d9
 
Saving Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Since March, volunteer doctors (Jews & Arabs) from the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, have been running the medical clinic at the Przemyśl Humanitarian Aid Center, near the Medyka border crossing in southeastern Poland. Also, at a refugee center in nearby Korczowa.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327886
 
 
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
 
Safer schools. Israel’s Safe School Analytics is a content streaming platform that works with some 600 Israeli schools to combat and reduce bullying and cyberbullying. The company produces videos about online safety, empowerment, empathy, teamwork, and more. Israeli actress Gal Gadot and her husband are recent investors.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/hkl80079p5  https://www.safeschool.co.il/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/safe-school-analytics/
 
Thousands of Gazans enter Israel to work.  Israel opened the Erez crossing allowing 4,600 Palestinian Arabs workers from Gaza to enter Israel – the highest single day number at the border crossing in 15 years.
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/palestinian-territories/1652625000-4-600-gazans-enter-israel-highest-total-at-erez-crossing-in-15-years
 
Impact for Good. The “Impact for Good” conference in Jerusalem on May 30 is a joint initiative of the Society for International Development (SID) Israel and the parliamentary lobby for Israel’s positive impact in the developing world. It focuses on how Israeli innovation and world Jewry can address global challenges.
https://www.nbn.org.il/events/impact-for-good-conference/
 
Jerusalem – city of innovation. 1000+ people attended the 2022 Arutz Sheva-Israel National News Jerusalem Conference in Manhattan.  See all the ceremonies and speeches here, especially the discussion about Business Development in the city. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/tags/Jerusalem_Conference_in_NYC
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/328193
 
Innovation conference in Casablanca. (TY WIN & ILTV) Israeli non-profit Startup Nation Central launched “Connect to Innovate” – an historic conference attended by 150 Israeli and Moroccan government and business leaders in Casablanca.  13 agreements were signed, especially in food tech & agriculture tech.
https://www.jns.org/israel-morocco-business-and-tech-ties-flourish-post-innovation-conference/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-casablanca-morocco-and-israel-see-the-beginning-of-a-beautiful-tech-friendship/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqaulhT3esQ
 
Israel at Davos. Israel’s President Herzog spoke at the World Economic Forum – “I call on all countries and nations from near and far to join these winds of change, partner with Israel, lead the future & make history! By working with all countries and nations in the region, we can build a future of peace, prosperity, and progress.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/at-davos-herzog-issues-sweeping-call-for-renewable-middle-east/
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/328196
 
Israeli food tech at the UN. On Israel’s Independence Day, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan presented, to dozens of UN ambassadors, food produced by Israeli sustainable food tech. They included vegan milk, protein from chickpeas and cultivated meat.
https://www.jns.org/israels-un-ambassador-turns-to-food-tech-to-win-hearts-minds-and-stomachs/
 
Ukrainian sings to help MDA relief efforts. Ukrainian-born singer Viktoria Leléka lives in Berlin and was able to help rescue all her family from Ukraine. Leléka made her first visit to Israel to perform with her band and Israel singer Ivri Lider in a concert that benefited Magen David Adom’s emergency efforts in Ukraine.
https://www.jns.org/ukrainian-singer-performs-in-israel-to-raise-funds-for-mda-relief-efforts/

https://www.jns.org/opinion/shooting-for-gun-control/

“The spike in anti-Semitic assaults also spurred the Israel Police to urge the public to volunteer for the Civil Guard, and led to a steep rise in the number of civilians seeking gun permits. In other words, desperate times call for commensurate measures.Americans with an aversion to firearms, particularly those “progressives” who have been on a campaign to defund the police, would do well to keep this in mind. They should also wake up to the reality that Israelis live with daily: villains on a mission to spill blood don’t need guns; cars and kitchen knives get the job done, too.Furthermore, guns in and of themselves aren’t the problem; in the hands of heroes, they’re often the only solution.”

 The May 24 slaughter of 19 children and two adults at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas provided fresh ammunition for the rhetorical and ideological battle over gun control. Combatants in this ongoing war tend to be diehards on the left and right.
The former hold firearms and those who champion the constitutional right to bear them responsible for such horrific acts of violence. The latter hail the Second Amendment and support the National Rifle Association, which backs the right of law-abiding citizens to to defend themselves and their homes.
Both groups came out swinging, each from its own political corner, following the horrifying mass murder committed on Tuesday by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. Arguments on each side included comparisons between his dastardly deed and the Dec. 14, 2012 massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, carried out by killer Adam Lanza.
One parallel between the two incidents is that Lanza committed matricide before murdering 20 children and six adults, while Ramos attempted to kill his own grandmother (who is currently hospitalized in critical condition with bullet wounds to her face) prior to his vile spree.
A far more recent mass shooting has been noticeably absent from the gun-control debate, however. Indeed, the May 14 slaying of 10 shoppers at a Tops Friendly Markets store in Buffalo, New York aroused a different left-right fight: the one surrounding “systemic racism” in America.