RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://bit.ly/3gMxy3D
Foreign investment in Israel’s high-tech companies surged to new heights in the 1st quarter of 2021 – $5.7bn in 172 deals – which is up 89% over the impressive 4th quarter of 2020 and double the volume of the 1st quarter of 2020.

2020 was the first year of surpassing $10bn in capital raised by the Israeli high-tech sector from investors in the US, Asia and Europe, who trust the maturity of Israel’s brain power. Investments in Israeli companies more than tripled in six years, reflecting the effective response by Israeli startups to the technological, medical, pharmaceutical, educational, social and digital challenges posed by Covid-19.

Israel’s economic performance in defiance of Covid-19 is presented by Dr. Adam Reuter, the Chairman and Founder of “Financial Immunities,” Israel’s largest financial-risk management firm, and the co-author of Israel – Island of Success:

1. Israel has led the globe in the rapid administration of Covid-19 vaccinations due to effective negotiations with Pfizer and an efficient, country-wide medical infrastructure.

2. Israel is the second lowest among OECD countries in the number of Covid-19 deaths per number of Covid-19 cases: 0.7% compared to the 2.3% OECD average. Israel features a young population (median age of 30 compared to the OECD’s 42) and an effective country-wide medical infrastructure, including top level HMOs and hospitals.

3. Israel is ranked 12th from the bottom among the 37 OECD countries in the number of deaths per million inhabitants: 645 compared to 1,145 OECD average.

4. The International Monetary Fund’s 2025 GDP growth forecast for OECD countries: Israel – 4%, OECD average – 2.2%, US – 1.8%, Australia – 2.5%, Ireland – 2.6%, France and Canada – 1.7%, the UK – 1.6%, Germany – 1.2%, etc.

http://worldisraelnews.com

Bennett appears poised to lead a National Unity government made up of some surprising bedfellows.

“The Likud will do after the election what it always does, turn immediately to the Left.”

Those words sound dissonant today, given that they were spoken by Naftali Bennett, leader of the Yemina party, a week before the elections.

On Sunday the headline of a major Hebrew paper cried out, “Yemina Breaks Leftward.” Yemina, ironically, means “rightward.” So an equally accurate translation of the headline could be: “Rightward Breaks Leftward.”

Such a nonsensical headline fits the events that are unfolding as Bennett seems poised to form a government with parties that oppose him on every principle he professes to hold dear.

That’s if he is serious. Until the deal is closed, it’s possible this adventure is all for show, an attempt by Bennett to appear statesmanlike as he proves to the Israeli public that he has exhausted every possibility before supporting a fifth round of elections.

If he is serious, it’s hard to believe his base would approve.

https://www.jns.org/writers/ruthie-blum/

 In its editorial on Monday, the Israeli daily Haaretz called Yamina Party chairman Naftali Bennett’s efforts to form a national-unity government “cause for optimism.”
Lest loyal readers of the far-left newspaper gasp at the mere suggestion that any move made by Bennett should be seen in a positive light, they can relax. Where the attempt to “put an end to the toxic regime of [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu” is concerned, siding with an ideological nemesis is rendered kosher.

To ensure that no more of their dwindling subscriptions are canceled, Haaretz justified the softening of its stance towards a figure it used to trash as a dangerous fanatic by invoking the pragmatism card. This method enabled it to launder other political foes—unofficial Yamina co-chair Ayelet Shaked, New Hope Party leader Gideon Sa’ar and Yisrael Beiteinu chief Avigdor Lieberman—each of whom it usually describes as individual and collective stains on liberal thought.
As if to commiserate with its audience, the editorial stressed that nobody on the left “has any illusions” about the above right-wingers. Indeed, it acknowledged, “The ideological gaps between the people of the center-left … and Bennett, Shaked, Sa’ar, Lieberman and their colleagues are fundamental and considerable.”
Nevertheless, the editorial stated, “We must hope that Bennett and Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid succeed in their mission to enlist them all to a unity government … because it’s critical to end the rule of a criminal defendant who knows no restraint and who puts himself before the state.”
But that’s not the only reason to wish for such a coalition, according to Haaretz. More importantly, if such a government is formed, it will include Yesh Atid, Labor, Meretz and Blue and White, with the backing of Ra’am and maybe even some members of the Joint Arab List. This, claimed the editorial, is “good and hopeful news” in spite of the “right-wing views” of Bennett, Shaked, Sa’ar and Lieberman.
The group in question, the editorial said, shares positions on “annexing the territories and the solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, and thinks similarly about Israeli policy toward the Gaza Strip and Hamas. The four are convinced of the need for a judicial revolution, believe that the state should be tough on asylum-seekers, identify with the so-called nation-state law and are hostile to human-rights organizations—everything that must be fought in normal times.”

 www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Another week and another dazzling catalog of Israel’s contributions to every single aspect of a better life. Now, thanks to the genius of the Abraham Accords conceived and implemented by former President Donald Trump, formerly hostile nations are openly benefiting from, and contributing to peaceful and productive research and development exchanges with Israel. Thanks to Michael Ordman for detailing all this good news.  rsk

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Vaccination good news. 5 million Israelis have now received two Covid vaccinations – 80% of the adult population. And a new study shows that vaccinations have saved some 6,000 Israeli lives. Finally, Israel’s Beilinson hospital has discharged all its 257 mothers, infected while pregnant, now with their healthy babies.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-reports-no-new-daily-covid-deaths-for-first-time-in-10-months/
https://www.israel21c.org/israel-may-have-achieved-herd-immunity-against-covid-19/
https://www.jns.org/covid-vaccine-saved-6000-israelis-lives/
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/304842
 
More openings. New Israeli Covid-19 cases have dropped to under 200 a day, allowing the re-opening of all schools, bars, restaurants and indoor gatherings. Israelis no longer need wear masks outdoors in the open air. And UK Minister Michael Gove arrived to explore opening a “green corridor” between the UK and Israel.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/very-strange-very-nice-israelis-shed-masks-outdoors-after-vaccine-victory/
https://www.jns.org/in-light-of-low-covid-19-rates-israeli-schools-resume-full-activity/
 
Israel was a perfect vaccination model. It was the diversity of Israel’s citizens that clinched the Start-up Nation as Pfizer’s preferred choice for the first rollout of its vaccine. Israel’s population includes immigrants from over 100 different countries. Any rare vaccine side effects would soon show up in Israel’s ethnic mix.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/304735
 
The origin of cytokine storms. Researchers at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have identified the molecular mechanisms responsible for the deadly cytokine storms in Covid-19 patients. The source are long non-coding RNA molecules (lncRNAs) which in the past were thought part of “junk” DNA – having no function!
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/304826
 
Probiotic yoghurt molecules treat Covid. Researchers at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University have identified new candidate treatments for Covid and inflammatory bowel disease based on molecules isolated from fermented probiotic yogurt. These have anti-inflammatory properties that can heal cytokine storms caused by Covid-19.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israelis-discover-this-common-food-could-help-beat-corona/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/using-yogurt-molecules-israeli-lab-cures-mice-of-covid-style-inflammation/
 
Reprogramming the immune system to fight cancer. (TY Nevet) Scientists at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University and Hadassah-University Medical Center, have developed a treatment for multiple myeloma. The patient’s T-cells are combined with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) molecule. In Phase 1 human trials at Hadassah.
https://www.jpost.com/health-science/groundbreaking-made-in-israel-treatment-may-offer-cure-for-blood-cancer-664422
 
Early detection of skin cancer. Scientists at Tel Aviv University have developed new optical technology that will enable an immediate, non-invasive diagnosis of melanoma, a form of skin cancer. Special optical fibers can distinguish between benign and malignant lesions on the skin, potentially saving many patients’ lives.
https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/rJhXOTKI00  
https://aapm.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mp.14471
 
Complex surgery saves Gaza boy. (TY UWI) Doctors at Haifa’s Rambam hospital performed three almost simultaneous operations to save Madchat Tapash – a 7-year-old boy from Gaza. They reconstructed his bladder, transferred a kidney donated by his mother and connected it all together in an 11-hour operation.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/complex-surgery-at-rambam-hospital-saves-life-of-7-year-old-gaza-boy/
 
Medics save Arab toddler after heart stopped. A two-year-old Arab boy with chronic heart problems, fell unconscious at his home in Deir el-Asad, northern Israel. Four EMTs (Muslims and Jews) from Israel’s United Hatzalah managed to get his pulse back and transported him and his mother to Haifa’s Rambam hospital.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/304253
 
 

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/04/jihad-murderer-barghouti-running-palestinian-hugh-fitzgerald/

Mahmoud Abbas must be kicking himself. Why did he ever think it would be a good idea to call for parliamentary and presidential elections? He had, after all, gotten along quite well without them. The Palestinian President-for-Life is now entering the 16th year of his four-year term. But he wanted to show the Biden people that he was, in truth, deeply democratic, and what better way – indeed, the only way – to show that was to insist upon elections. Besides, he figured everything would go according to plan.

His handpicked list of Fatah candidates would win a majority in the Parliament. And he would not face any serious opposition in the Presidential race. Abbas would make sure, with carrots and sticks, that Hamas would not field a presidential candidate. The carrots were “jobs for the boys” – Hamas leaders’ relatives suddenly offered employment with the PA, or other financial inducements (including bribes); the sticks would be visits by Fatah enforcers to Hamas leaders, telling them not even to think of running; both worked, and Hamas announced it would not put up a candidate for the presidency. And Mahmoud Abbas figured that both of his most dangerous, because much more popular, rivals — Mohammed Dahlan and Marwan Barghouti — would for different reasons not be able to run.

Mohammed Dahlan, who for the past decade has lived in the United Arab Emirates, where he became a counsellor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, and is now known as “the Emirates’ favorite Palestinian.” Dahlan once headed a small army of Fatah members in Gaza; at the time some called Gaza Dahlanistan, until Hamas came to power in 2007 and drove the Fatah men out.

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/anaphylactic-and-societal-shock-an-israeli-parable-opinion-666060

Israelis were horrified last week by the untimely death of 23-year-old Osher Deri, a resident of the northern town of Hatzor Haglilit. 

Echoes of the collective gasp that the tragedy elicited can still be heard across the country, along with debates about where to place the blame and calls for measures to prevent the same kind of thing from happening in the future.

The unfathomable event occurred on April 14. Finishing dinner with a friend at a kosher meat restaurant in Rosh Pina, Deri ordered her favorite dessert. As she stuck her fork in the chocolate cake covered in what was supposed to be non-dairy whipped cream, her buddy, Eden Shoshan, took a photo and posted it on Instagram. Neither young woman could have imagined that this would be Deri’s last picture – the one that would continue for days to accompany newspaper articles and TV broadcasts about the heartbreaking incident.

It began when Deri took a mouthful of the topping, which she rightly believed to be parve. For one thing, no kosher meat restaurant serves dairy products, or even has them on the premises. For another, Deri had eaten this particular dessert on several occasions. 

No sooner had she swallowed a spoonful, however, did she begin to have an allergic reaction.

“There’s milk in this!” she suddenly blurted out, while Shoshan ran to the chef to ask about the dessert’s ingredients. Though he initially assured her that it couldn’t possibly contain milk, a subsequent check revealed that an egregious error had been made.