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ISRAEL

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Jewish apathy, Jewish privilege and antisemitism Whatever one feels about the danger that assimilation poses to Jewish continuity, juxtaposing it with mass murder is immoral.

By on July 23rd, 2020

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/jewish-apathy-jewish-privilege-and-antisemitism-636135

At a meeting on Monday of the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs, participants bemoaned the condition of world Jewry. The discussion centered on the implementation of a plan – approved earlier this month by the Israeli government – to protect Jewish communities abroad from extinction.

“We are swimming against the current,” said Diaspora Affairs Ministry Director-General Dvir Kahana, claiming that 80% of Jews outside of Israel “live comfortably” and feel no connection to their Judaism.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevitch concurred that “large segments of our nation are moving away from their Jewish identity and from Israel,” warning, “We have to wake up before it’s too late.”

Aside from the fact that the discussion itself is as old as the hills, and that the plan involves education and outreach – not exactly an innovative concept – it comes on the heels of reports that the COVID-19 pandemic is spurring many Jews to consider immigrating to Israel. Some are even in the actual process of doing so, though it means entering quarantine for two weeks upon arrival in the Holy Land.

So the pandemic may be doing more to encourage aliyah than any educational program requiring multi-millions in taxpayer shekels. And the last thing that Israelis have on their minds at this moment is funding greater competition in the work force. Indeed, the economic pressure felt by those who have lost their jobs, and by small business-owners whose enterprises are in jeopardy as a result of coronavirus closures, is not conducive to a sense of Jewish unity.

Israelis are human, after all. Not that they’re acting like it these days, mind you, engaging in violent riots more reminiscent of tantrums than expressions of political malaise. Such mob behavior is something to which American Jews have grown accustomed of late. Yet only those who wish to escape the cancel-culture chaos would consider Israel a welcome alternative.

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China-Iran Strategic Accord Changes Calculus for Israel Now that China has chosen to stand with Iran, Israel must recognize the implications and act accordingly. Caroline Glick

By on July 23rd, 2020

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/07/china-iran-strategic-accord-changes-calculus-caroline-glick/

When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Tehran in 2016, most observers dismissed the significance of the move. The notion that Beijing would wreck its relations with America, the largest economy and most powerful global superpower, in favor of an alliance with Iran, the world’s greatest state sponsor of terrorism, was, on its face, preposterous.

But despite the ridiculousness of the idea, concern grew about Sino-Iranian ties as Iranian political leaders and military commanders beat a path to China’s door. Now, in the midst of the global recession caused by China’s export of the coronavirus, the preposterous has become reality.

Following weeks of feverish rumors, Iran and China have concluded a strategic accord. Last weekend, The New York Times reported on the contents of a final draft of the agreement.

In its opening line, China and Iran describe themselves as “two ancient Asian cultures, two partners in the sectors of trade, economy, politics, culture, and security with a similar outlook and many mutual bilateral and multilateral interests.”

Henceforth, they, “will consider one another strategic partners.”

Substantively, the deal involves Iran supplying China with oil at below-market prices for the next 25 years and China investing $400 billion in Iran over the same period. China committed to expanding its presence in the Iranian banking and telecommunication sectors. Among dozens of infrastructure projects, China will construct and operate ports and train lines. China will integrate Iran into its 5G internet network and its GPS system.

The implications of the deal are clear. China has opted to ignore U.S. sanctions. Beijing clearly believes the economic and diplomatic price it will pay for doing so will be smaller than the price the U.S. will pay for the diminishment of its position as the ultimate arbiter of global markets.

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Indoctrinated in Hate: Palestinian Schools Are Typical Muslim Schools No Israeli “oppression” is needed to explain the hate. Raymond Ibrahim

By on July 23rd, 2020

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/07/indoctrinated-hate-palestinian-schools-are-typical-raymond-ibrahim/

Indoctrinating Palestinian schoolchildren to hate and oppose the existence of Israel is rife, a recently study found after examining nearly 400 textbooks and over 100 teachers’ guides issued by the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Education between 2013 and 2020.

According to its author, Dr. Arnon Groiss of the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, there are three aspects to this education:

[1] De-legitimization of the State of Israel’s existence and the very presence of Jews in the Land of Israel, including the denial of the existence of Jewish holy places in the Land of Israel; [2] demonization of Israel and the Jews: “The Zionist enemy,[”] according to the description appearing in the schoolbooks, is wholly evil and constitutes an existential threat to the Palestinians who are depicted as the ultimate victim, with no shared responsibility for the conflict; and [3] education for a violent struggle for the liberation of the Land of Israel (Palestine) with no education for peace and co-existence. In none of the PA’s schoolbooks has any call for the resolution of the conflict peacefully, or any mentioning of co-existence with Israel been found.

A distinctly religious element further permeates if not dominates Palestinian views of Israel.  According to an earlier report on this topic, also by Groiss, “Jews are demonized as well in the religious context, outside the context of the conflict. They are depicted as a corrupted nation from its very beginning and as enemies of Islam since its early days.”

Citing the Koran and other Islamic scriptures, Palestinian textbooks teach that “The corruption of the Children of Israel on earth was and will be the reason of their destruction”; and, though allied to them, Muhammad “was aware of the Jews’ deceitfulness and conspiracies.”

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HISTORY, ISRAEL Comments turned off

The Ben Gurion Legacy: Independent National Security Policy Ambassador (Ret.) Yoram Ettinger

By on July 23rd, 2020

 https://bit.ly/39lOus0

The Ben Gurion legacy contradicts conventional wisdom. It rejects the assumption that a White House “green light” is a prerequisite for the application of Israeli law to the Jordan Valley and the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria (West Bank).

Ben Gurion’s May 14, 1948 Declaration of Independence was not preconditioned upon a “green light” from President Truman. Ben Gurion demonstrated independence of national security action in defiance of the US State Department, the Pentagon, the CIA, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Furthermore, President Truman was irresolute until the day of the declaration, while the US Mission to the UN was preoccupied with rounding up votes for a UN Trusteeship in Palestine (instead of an independent Jewish State).

Moreover, Ben Gurion applied Israeli law to areas in the Galilee, coastal plain, the Negev and Jerusalem – which were acquired during Israel’s War of Independence, expanding Israel’s land by 30% – in defiance of a glaring “red light” from the White House and the entire foreign policy and national security establishment in Washington, DC.

According to James McDonald, the first US Ambassador to Israel: “[Ben Gurion] warned President Truman and the US Department of State that they would be gravely mistaken if they assumed that the threat, or even the use of sanctions, would force Israel to yield on issues considered vital to its independence and security…. Much as Israel desired friendship with the US, there were limits beyond which it could not go.  Israel could not yield at any point which, in its judgement, would threaten its independence or its security. 
The very fact that Israel was a small state made more necessary the scrupulous defense of its own interests; otherwise, it would be lost (My Mission in Israel 1948-1951, Simon and Schuster, p. 49)….

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Israeli startup’s synthetic cornea could restore sight to millions around the world First implants of CorNeat KPro’s synthetic cornea, which bio-integrates with the human eye, to be run on human patients at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.

By on July 21st, 2020

https://www.israelhayom.com/2020/07/19/israeli-startups-synthetic-cornea-could-res

The Israeli startup CorNeat Vision has received approval to conduct clinical trials of a synthetic cornea that bio-integrates with the human eye.

The Health Ministry-approved trial of the CorNeat KPro will be run at Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva on 10 patients suffering from corneal blindness who are either not candidates for or have experienced one or more failed cornea transplants, the company announced last week.

The CorNeat KPro implant is designed to replace deformed, scarred or opacified corneas and restore the vision of corneal blind patients immediately following implantation. The lens of the device is designed to integrate with ocular tissue using a patented synthetic non-degradable nanofabric skirt, which is placed under the conjunctiva.

Dr. Gilad Litvin, chief medical officer at CorNeat Vision and the inventor of the KPro device, said the implantation procedure is “relatively simple” and takes less than an hour.

“We expect it will enable millions of blind patients around the world, even in areas where there is no corneal practice nor culture of organ donation, to regain their sight,” Litvin said.

The first in-human implant of the CorNeat KPro will be led by head of Beilinson’s Ophthalmology Department, Professor Irit Bahar, who called the technology behind the KPro “key to turning the tide on global blindness.” 

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Beinart’s Rejection of a Jewish State What his envisioned unitary, bi-national state would mean for Israelis – and for Palestinians. Joseph Puder

By on July 21st, 2020

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/07/beinart-doesnt-believe-jewish-state-joseph-puder/

The New York Times has eagerly accepted Peter Beinart’s opinion piece published on July 8, 2020, titled, “I No Longer Believe in a Jewish State.” The piece by Beinart rejects the existence of the Jewish state of Israel and calls for a bi-national state. Would the NYTimes dare solicit an opinion piece that suggested that Turkey should be a bi-national state made up of Turks and Kurds with equal rights? It’s doubtful! It is not the first time the NYTimes has published an op-ed piece that advocates the elimination of the Jewish state and the creation of a bi-national state. In 2009, the NYTimes published such an op-ed by the Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, that argued for replacing the Jewish state with “Isratine,” as the name implies, an Israel-Arab-Palestinian state. In his Twitter account, NYTimes editor Max Strasser, expressed his belief that Beinart’s views might at first seem controversial, but will before long become mainstream opinion among American Jewish liberals. Strasser has obviously not considered the majority of American Jews, or the wishes of Israeli-Jews.

The arrogance of both Beinart (editor at large of Jewish Currents) and the NYTimes are clearly exposed in ignoring the will and wishes of the Israeli people. The overwhelming majority of Israeli-Jews are proud of their Jewish state and would not be compelled to share it with an Arab-Palestinian people who seek their destruction, to kill them, or displace them. A look at the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) charter, not to mention Hamas’ charter, reveals those very intentions. After two millenniums of persecution in the diaspora, both in Christian and Muslim lands, Israeli-Jews cherish their one Jewish state in the world, a state that has been a major Zionist success story. 

Frankly, few Jewish people care about Beinart “disbelief” in the Jewish State. Beinart’s views regarding the Jewish state are shared by many enemies of the Jewish state, the Palestinians in particular. These enemies couldn’t destroy the Jewish state by war, terror, or economic and political warfare. Some Palestinians might agree to a bi-national state as the first stage before eliminating Jews by sheer weight of importing Palestinians from throughout the Middle East. Once they have become a majority, they would democratically or otherwise (through terror) abolish the Law of Return, and all the symbols of the Jewish state. 

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The Hamas-Houthi Plan to Attack Arabs as Well as Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh

By on July 20th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16260/hamas-houthi-plan-attack

These Arabs and Muslims are worried, however, that the Hamas-Houthi alliance would not stop [with eliminating Israel] but also strengthen an Iran-led axis to threaten the stability of Arab countries.

For first time, the Houthi movement spoke of possessing information about “vital targets.” The announcement is a clear indication that the two Iranian-backed groups, Hamas and the Houthi movement, are planning to launch terrorist attacks not only against Israel, but also against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“For the Muslim Brotherhood traitors [Hamas], supporting Palestine means firing missiles at Saudi Arabia.” — Yaqoub al-Rayssi, a United Arab Emirates political activist, Twitter, July 11, 2020.

Hamas, by seeking to enlist the Houthi movement for its jihad against Israel, is sending a message that it is prepared to cooperate with any group in order to achieve its goal of destroying Israel and replacing it with an Islamic state.

The Hamas-Houthi alliance also shows that Iran is seeking to expand the terrorist activities of its agents in the Gaza Strip, Yemen and Lebanon not only against Israel and the US, but against Arab and Islamic states as well.

Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip, is seeking to forge an alliance with the Iran-aligned Yemini Houthi movement, officially called Ansar Allah (Supporters of God), whose members have launched repeated missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia for the past few years.

The Hamas-Houthi partnership does not come as a surprise to Arabs and Muslims. The two groups share a common goal: Eliminating Israel.

These Arabs and Muslims are worried, however, that the Hamas-Houthi alliance will not stop there, but also strengthen an Iran-led axis to threaten the stability of Arab countries.

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Alan Baker and Michel Calvo: The Indigenous Rights of the Jewish People and the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

By on July 20th, 2020

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16258/indigenous-rights-jews-israel

From time immemorial, up to the present day, there has been continuous Jewish presence in this area, with elements residing today within the Jewish people’s own sovereign national State of Israel, and others residing in the areas of the Holy Land in Judea and Samaria that are subject to an ongoing negotiation within the Middle East peace process as to their final political status.

Palestinian claims that they are the indigenous descendants of the Canaanites is a canard that has no basis in fact or history, especially in light of the fact that the entry of Islam into the area of the Holy Land occurred only in the seventh century of the common era.

The premise of the peace negotiation process is the mutual acknowledgment of each party’s basic rights. Thus, the peace negotiation process cannot avoid taking into account the indigenous character and rights of the Jewish People as set out in the 2007 UN Declaration. This premise must serve as the basis for any agreement covering the issues of permanent status, including borders, settlements, Jerusalem and other issues.

It is to be hoped and expected that the Government of Israel will come around to acknowledging the importance and centrality of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and will finally, and without any further delay or excuse, announce its endorsement of this important and central international document.

On September 13, 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted the “UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”. 144 states voted in favor, 4 voted against and 11 abstained (A/RES/61/295).

While those countries that have considerable indigenous populations, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, initially opposed the declaration, they subsequently endorsed it in 2010, with various interpretative declarations.

Representatives of Israel did not participate in the vote, as the day was the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah).

Curiously, even though the vast majority of states have endorsed the declaration, and even though Israel represents one of the oldest indigenous peoples still existing in the world, Israel has never endorsed the declaration.

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James Sinkinson:How Israel rescued the Promised Land from devastation and neglect

By on July 20th, 2020

https://www.jns.org/opinion/how-israel-rescued-the-promised-land-from-devastation-and-neglect/

Part of the Israeli miracle is the restoration of a depleted, deteriorating land through determination, ingenuity and back-breaking work.

 Last week I toured much of northern Israel, from the Jezreel Valley and the Lower and Upper Galilee regions to the Golan Heights. The natural beauty of this part of Israel, as well as the explosive proliferation of agriculture, was striking and inspiring.

The abundance of flora in Israel today makes it easy to forget that this land at the turn of the 20th century was a parched wasteland. It also raises the questions: How did this miraculous transformation take place, and who was responsible?

On his visit to Palestine in 1867, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) called the Sea of Galilee “a solemn, sailless, tintless lake, as unpoetical as any bath-tub on earth.” On the other hand, last week I found the Kinneret (its Hebrew name) a sparkling blue jewel surrounded on its north, south and west by vegetable fields, orchards and forests.

Traveling by horseback through the Jezreel Valley, Clemens noted: “There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent—not for 30 miles in either direction. There are two or three small clusters of Bedouin tents, but not a single permanent habitation. One may ride 10 miles, hereabouts, and not see 10 human beings.”

Clemens continues, “Of all the lands there are for dismal scenery, I think Palestine must be the prince. … Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies.”

According to Allon Tal’s 2002 book, Pollution in a Promised Land, the Jezreel Valley around 1900 remained an undeveloped swamp—described as “barren and boring, a miserable plain without a tree or river … all in ruins.” Tal relates how one traveler in 1905 described mud so deep that the mules fell and the donkeys almost vanished in it. It wasn’t until 1924 that Zionist settlers finished the herculean two-year task of converting these marshes into the rich, fertile farmland of today.

Later, in 1918, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, Herbert Samuel was named British High Commissioner of the Mandate for Palestine. In his 1921 “Annual Report on the Civil Administration,” Samuel wrote:

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GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

By on July 19th, 2020

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

Ten years ago I read a copy of a new book containing the reasons for Israel’s transformation into a nation of entrepreneurs.  “Start-Up Nation” by Dan Senor and Saul Singer inspired me to start compiling a weekly newsletter of positive news about Israel.  The photo is of some of the many inspiring books about Israel published in the last 10 years. They reinforce the thousands of articles in these positive newsletters……Michael Ordman

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Treat fat in lungs to kill Covid-19. Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at Mount Sinai in New York, have prevented Covid-19 from reproducing. In lab tests, the virus was destroyed in 5 days on lung tissue that had been exposed to the anti-cholesterol treatment Fenofibrate (Tricor).
https://www.timesofisrael.com/existing-drug-may-downgrade-covid-threat-to-common-cold-level-jerusalem-study/  https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3650499
 
From psoriasis to Covid-19. One of the treatments being developed by Israel’s Can-Fite (see here) is CF-101 (Piclidenoson) which is in Phase 2 & 3 trials for psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases.  Can-Fite is shortly to commence a Phase 2 trial of CF-101 on Covid-19 patients.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200715005283/en/Can-Fite-Completes-Phase-II-COVID-19-Protocol-Based
 
$9 million for 25 Covid-19 projects. Israel’s Council for Higher Education and philanthropic foundations have selected 25 research projects to share NIS 9 million from their “killCorona” program to help combat Covid-19. The projects include diagnostics, vaccines, treatments for severe cases and curbing the spread of the virus.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/25-research-projects-to-whip-coronavirus-get-nis-9-million-in-funding/
 
Plasma cancer treatment. Israel’s CAPS Medical has developed a small disposable catheter that can reach deep inside the body to deliver cold atmospheric plasma (CAP). The plasma is a stream of high-energy ionized gas that kills solid cancer cells and triggers a tumor-destroying immune response without harming healthy cells.
https://www.israel21c.org/new-plasma-cancer-treatment-designed-to-kill-malignant-cells/
https://www.capsmedical.com/
 
Antibodies to fight cancer. There are some “nectin” proteins that help cancer cells evade the immune system. Israel’s Nectin Therapeutics (at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem) places novel monoclonal antibodies into these nectins to stimulate the immune system and help it fight cancers in solid tissue and in the bloodstream.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3839716,00.html   http://www.nectintx.com/
 
Matching cancer treatment to patients. Israeli biotech Nucleai (reported here previously) has progressed from merely analyzing biopsies. It now uses its computer vision and machine learning to study the characteristics of tumors, helping predict which cancer patients will react to which immunotherapy medication.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/nucleai-raises-6-5-million-to-help-pharma-firms-match-drugs-to-cancer-patients/
 
A Smart colonoscope. (TY Atid-EDI) The US FDA has approved the G-Eye Colonoscope from Israel’s SMART Medical Systems. Its unique balloon innovation provides an enhanced field of view and demonstrates a substantial increase in the detection of cancerous polyps – the precursors of colon cancer.
https://www.smartmedsys.com/us/g-eye-colonoscope-now-fda-510k-cleared/
 
Diagnosing sports brain injuries. Scientists at Israel’s Ben Gurion University have developed a combined MRI scan plus an analysis of the brain’s blood vessels to detect Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. CTE is a neuro-degenerative disease caused by repeated head injuries – a major issue in contact sports e.g. US football.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-creates-first-of-its-kind-test-to-detect-football-players-brain-injuries/
 
Aging process reversed. Tel Aviv University’s Dr Shai Efrati used hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to improve the cognitive function and brain tissue of dozens of over-65-year-old volunteers. They received a 60-day course of 2-hours in a pressurized chamber 5 times a week, breathing pure oxygen for some of the time.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-doctor-claims-to-reverse-aging-with-pure-oxygen-treatment-study/
 
Preventing blindness. Israel’s AEYE Health can save millions of people from going blind with its easy-to-use, hand-held retina camera. Together with AEYE’s AI algorithms, even the untrained can perform automated diagnostic screening for retinal imaging and instantly detect various eye diseases.
https://www.aeyehealth.com/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YJjfw2QtKk
 
Synthetic corneas. Israel has approved the first-in-human synthetic corneal transplants. Surgeons at Israel’s Beilinson Hospital will operate to restore the sight of 10 Israelis using KPro implants from Israel’s CorNeat Vision (reported here previously). If OK, Canada, the US, France, China and the Netherlands will follow.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israel-to-perform-first-synthetic-cornea-transplant-returning-sight-to-blind/
https://www.corneat.com/news/CorNeat-Vision’s-Synthetic-Cornea-Approved-for-First-in-Human-Implantation
 
Automating cell analysis. Israel’s Accellix supports vital medical research into cell therapy with its automated flow cytometry devices. Now laboratories can get accurate analyses of their cell samples in minutes without complicated procedures and training or having to send the samples to a central lab.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200611005290/en/Accellix-Cell-Therapy-QC-Company-Raises-9.5   http://www.accellix.com/   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh9giMuJsik
 
Medical robots more advanced than F-35 jets. (TY Yehoshua) Great article featuring many of the tasks and procedures performed by hi-tech robots at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center, that would have previously been impossible. These include spine surgery, 3D imaging during operations and automated blood tests.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283730
 
 

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