RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/olmert-and-abbas-laughing-and-crying/2020/02/12/

“Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas will hold a joint press conference in opposition to US President Donald Trump’s peace plan,” according to Channel 12 News. Unbelievable, right? A former Israeli prime minister and a one-time star of the Likud party allied with Yasser Arafat’s heir and protégé? It must be fake news. But, alas, it is not.

Perhaps more than any other leader in the State of Israel’s history Olmert believes that his personal opinion of what Israel’s borders should be set as is always correct.

When he was a hawk and advocated the retention of all of the lands liberated in 1967 and later, when as a dove when he showed a full desire to retreat from all of those same exact lands. The one thing that Olmert never wavered on was that his view of what to do with Judea and Samaria was the right way. Olmert’s political journey from one camp to the other had been the story that dominated the public view of him at least until he was convicted of corruption in 2015.

At the time it was happening, Olmert’s political metamorphosis was given nearly the same intense news coverage as former PM Ariel Sharon’s was at the time. Was Olmert’s story as straight forward as the media portrayed or was there something that the news outlets missed?

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/02/israeli-sovereignty-and-fate-trump-plan-caroline-glick/

On Wednesday morning, NeverTrump propagandist Bill Kristol told his MSNBC audience that Democratic chances of victory over US President Donald Trump will rise if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is defeated in Israel’s elections on March 2.

Along the same lines, if Netanyahu fails to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria before the election, not only will he almost certainly lose those elections, his defeat will bury Trump’s peace plan and harm Trump’s reelection chances.

To understand why this is the case it is first necessary to understand the nature of the Blue and White party and its relationship to Trump and his peace plan.

After Trump’s peace plan was published, Israelis discovered significant problems with the map attached to the plan. Among other things, the map places large sections of Highway 60, which crosses Judea and Samaria from south to north outside Israeli jurisdiction. If left uncorrected, the designation will endanger the security of tens of thousands of Israelis whose communities will be rendered isolated enclaves. Since ensuring Israel’s ability to defend itself and its citizens on a permanent basis is a major goal of the plan, this omission was obviously an oversight. Netanyahu announced this week that he has assembled a team to work on the map.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-israeli-left-vs-palestinian-and-arab-world-pragmatists/

Hearts that bleed for the enemies of Western democracy who subjugate their own people and terrorize everybody else are attached to heads in need of psychiatric examination.

In an attempt to downplay the role played by U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the attitudinal Arab-world shift—due mainly, but not exclusively, to a shared mission to halt Iran’s race to obtain nuclear weapons—the Israeli left had a gleeful “we told you so” moment at the beginning of the month, when the Arab League unanimously rejected the “deal of the century.”

At an emergency meeting held in Cairo on Feb. 1 at the behest of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, the pan-Arab bloc declared that Trump’s “Peace to Prosperity” plan “does not meet the minimum rights and aspirations of Palestinian people,” and vowed not to cooperate with the United States to implement it. Among the nay-saying countries at the summit were the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain, each of which had sent representatives to Trump’s joint press conference with Netanyahu at the White House on Jan. 28.

To clarify the above about-face, an anonymous Arab diplomat told the left-wing Israeli daily, Haaretz, that Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Manama had been misled by Washington with a document stating that the plan included the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital as the basis for peace negotiations.

In other words, they were duped into accepting an invitation by the White House. Yeah, right.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15555/palestinians-danger-singing

The only songs Hamas and its followers want are those that promote hate and violence…. “I will eat you alive, tastes best without salt, Zionist – Yes, yes, you.”

The members of Sol Band did not call for “scattering the body parts” of Jews; that is probably why they are being targeted by Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip.

What is disturbing, however, is the silence of the international community, specifically the EU partners of Islamic University in Gaza, where Farra serves as a lecturer. Do the Europeans working with the university condone threats against musicians?… The EU countries and educational institutions are most likely ignoring such threats because they were not made by Israel.

The silence of the international community emboldens Hamas… and allows them to continue their repressive measures against Palestinians. It also allows Hamas and terror groups to continue calling for blowing up the skulls of Jews and eating them alive.

Palestinian musicians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip are facing death threats after a Muslim scholar, Sheikh Mohammed Sliman al-Farra, published a fatwa (a legal opinion or ruling issued by an Islamic scholar) prohibiting a local band from performing.

Farra works for Islamic University of Gaza, a member of four regional and international associations of higher education, and has project partnerships with more than 130 European universities and research centers located in 21 EU countries.

Published on November 23, 2019, the fatwa targets Sol Band, a Palestinian music group established in the Gaza Strip eight years ago:

“The music group Sol Band, which has been roaming the streets of the Gaza Strip, has been violating God’s sanctities by promoting tabarruj (women dressing up immodestly in violation of Islamic teachings) and the mixing of the sexes… Their actions weaken the young men and encourage sinners. Indulging it leads to great corruption and evil and results in behavioral and intellectual deviation among young people. It is not permissible to promote or meet with them or listen to their songs, even if they are patriotic.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/25162

Thank heaven for fools

The worry is that these people, such as Abbas and Olmert, will wake up and realize that the deal of the century is a boon for the Palestinian Arabs.

Meantime, the big deal is a big flop, for reasons some people, like this observer, don’t understand.

I mean, I hate it too, but for opposite reasons. I registered my qualms here, here and here, but would rather not mention it again, lest it gives them ideas.

Ideas about how sweet it is for the Arab side, and how bitter it is for the Israelis, for whom a two-state solution has always been anathema. 

The Palestinian Arabs, under Kushner’s plan, get their own country, for crying out land. What more do they want? Plenty, I know.

But having your own country means you get to pretend you’re part of the civilized world. The Palestinian Arabs get it after producing, some would say, nothing, except terrorism.

Shouldn’t they be thankful? Doesn’t work that way, apparently, and not for the rest of the world, either, neither the UN or the EU.

http://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Inhibiting an enzyme may cure Alzheimer’s. Israel’s ProteKt Therapeutics is developing a treatment for early stage Alzheimer’s disease. It inhibits the PKR enzyme that is over-expressed in Alzheimer’s patients and may slow or even reverse the progress of the disease. It also has potential for ALS, Huntington and Parkinson’s.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-startup-hopes-to-battle-alzheimers-with-enzyme-busting-drug/

Orphan status for pancreatic cancer treatment. (TY Atid-EDI) The European Commission has just granted Orphan drug status to the BL-8040 (Motixafortide) pancreatic cancer treatment from Israel’s BioLineRX (see here). BioLineRX can now receive benefits including EU funding, less regulation, and market exclusivity.

https://ir.biolinerx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/biolinerx-receives-orphan-drug-designation-motixafortide-bl-8040

HealthTECH World Cancer Day. Tel Aviv University represented Israel on World Cancer day as one of five European cities simultaneously broadcasting news of the latest technological developments in cancer diagnosis and treatment. The event was sponsored by the NOBEL Project, which is revolutionizing healthcare in Europe.

https://en-med.tau.ac.il/event/healthtech/world/cancer/day/2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sTRkSG6Zwc  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsgEkVqQF0I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBVdtmZz3WA

Sheba’s partners Berlin AI for cancer R&D. (TY Atid-EDI) Berlin’s caresyntax, has launched an R&D partnership with the ARC (Accelerate, Redesign, Collaborate) complex at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center. They will use Artificial Intelligence to develop algorithms for predicting outcomes for cancer treatment procedures.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200107005204/en/caresyntax-ARC-Sheba-Medical-Center-Launch-Collaboration   https://caresyntax.com/news/caresyntax-sheba-medical-launch-collaboration/

US approves complete AI stroke detection package. (TY Atid-EDI) The US FDA previously approved the brain scan software from Israel’s Aidoc (Oct 2018),. It has now approved all four of Aidoc’s AI products, so its comprehensive package can quickly identify and triage both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in CT scans.

https://www.aidoc.com/blog/news/ai-saving-brain-fda-clears-aidocs-complete-ai-stroke-package/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OQOZedPlmY

Accelerating regenerative medicine. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s CollPlant is partnering with US-based 3D Systems to spur breakthroughs in regenerative medicine. It brings together top 3D-printing technology with Collprint’s bioink technology for 3D bioprinting of tissues and organs.

https://ir.collplant.com/press-releases/detail/83/3d-systems-and-collplant-biotechnologies-join-forces-to

https://www.3dsystems.com/press-releases/3d-systems-and-collplant-biotechnologies-join-forces-accelerate-breakthroughs

Space medical research with Italy. (TY WIN) Israel and Italy are to launch a satellite in March, on which medical research will be conducted in zero gravity. The mission involves Israel’s SpacePharma (see here), Israel’s Technion, Sheba hospital, the Hebrew University and the Israeli and Italian space agencies.

https://www.israelhayom.com/2020/02/06/israel-italy-eye-joint-scientific-space-venture/

https://www.jpost.com/Jpost-Tech/Israeli-scientific-experiments-to-be-performed-in-outer-space-597127

https://www.space4p.com/missions

Body on a chip. (TY David F) A team of over 50 researchers at Harvard University and Tel Aviv University (TAU) have successfully built human “organs-on-chips” that aim to speed up trials of new treatments. They have linked 10 chips together to form a “functional human Body-on-Chips platform”.

http://nocamels.com/2020/02/tau-harvard-researchers-human-body-chip-drug-response/

Microsoft Israel gives patients hope. As reported previously (Feb 2019) Microsoft’s Israeli R&D team developed the Microsoft Healthcare AI virtual medical assistant. Team leader Hadas Bitran describes the project. They are now working on the New Hope project to match patients with clinical trials around the globe.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/this-microsoft-health-assistant-bot-was-made-in-israel/

The first Hasid to graduate from Israeli med school. Dr. Yehuda Sabiner is the first Israeli-born Haredi to graduate from medical school. A member of the Gerrer Hasidic sect, Yehuda enrolled at Israel’s Technion, graduated and will intern at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center. 35 Haredim are now following in his footsteps.

https://unitedwithisrael.org/first-israeli-born-hasidic-doctor-blazes-new-trail-in-medicine/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vtf2pPywyY

https://www.algemeiner.com/2020/02/06/idf-soldiers-wounded-in-jerusalem-car-ramming-attack-attend-their-western-wall-swearing-in-hours-later/

In spite of their injuries, a group of IDF soldiers managed to make it their swearing-in ceremony on Thursday night at the Western Wall in Jerusalem despite being wounded in a car-ramming attack near the city’s old train station in the early morning.

Twelve Golani Brigade soldiers were hit by a car driven by a Palestinian terrorist while on their way to the induction event following the completion of their military training. There were no fatalities, and the perpetrator was arrested Thursday evening at the Gush Etzion junction in the West Bank.

The attack came amidst a wave of terror attacks, including a shooting near the Temple Mount and another in the West Bank.

Several of the injured soldiers, some using crutches, arrived at the Western Wall to be sworn in. Others watched a live broadcast of the ceremony from the hospital.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15547/palestinians-arab-leaders-israel

Why is it permissible for Egypt’s Abdel Fattah Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah to have diplomatic relations with Israel, and not permissible for the leader of Sudan to sit with the Israeli prime minister?

Several key Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, seem to be fed up with the ongoing Palestinian rejection of every proposed Palestinian-Israeli peace plan. The Palestinians have never even proposed a counter-offer.

The Palestinians’ threats and condemnations… seem primarily aimed at deterring Arabs from even considering the possibility of making peace with Israel. The former stand-off was working brilliantly for the Palestinians; why stop?

The Palestinian leadership would like to continue holding the entire Arab world hostage to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What the Palestinian leaders clearly do not want is for Arab leaders to act in the interests of their own people.

Arab heads of state now have the opportunity to decide whether they will permit Palestinian leaders to continue their time-tested strategy of terrorizing everyone into submission, or — unlike the Palestinian leaders — to seek the best for their own people.

After rejecting and strongly condemning US President Donald Trump’s plan for Mideast peace, the Palestinian leadership has now found the time to threaten Arabs not to make peace with Israel. In addition, Palestinian leaders have also stepped up their attacks against the US and are inciting Arabs against the Americans and Arab leaders who maintain close ties with the Trump administration.

The vicious Palestinian attacks on the US increased after Trump announced last week his “Peace to Prosperity” plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Shortly after the announcement, Palestinians took to the streets of Ramallah and other West Bank and Gaza Strip cities to burn photos of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as US and Israeli flags. The protests erupted shortly after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivered a speech in Ramallah in which he rejected the Trump plan, dubbing it a “conspiracy” and “slap of the century.”

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/02/trumps-heroic-truth-caroline-glick/

In Israel’s early years, every time the U.S. ambassador traveled to Jerusalem to meet with government leaders, he would have his chauffeur stop his car at the entrance to the city, and replace its diplomatic license plates with regular civilian plates. The State Department refused to recognize that Jerusalem was part of Israel. The license plates were for Israel. And so, in a show of contempt and rejection of Israel’s right to its capital city, he removed his diplomatic plates before entering Jerusalem, and put them back on when he left.

President Harry Truman was the first world leader to recognize the State of Israel, just moments after David Ben-Gurion declared its independence on May 14, 1948. But his recognition was skin deep. Truman, like all of his successors until Donald Trump, recognized Israel’s existence but didn’t recognize the Jewishness of Israel. He saw Israel as a refuge for Holocaust survivors and other Jews fleeing persecution, but he didn’t accept that the nation of Israel in 1948 was the nation of Israel from the Bible. He didn’t accept that the Jewish refugees in European DP camps were the descendants of the prophets or that the forefathers of the kibbutzniks in the Jezreel Valley were the priests at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Israel, as far as he was concerned, was a new state, a poor state of Jewish refugees. And he treated it accordingly.

Truman’s anti-historical view of the Jewish state produced a two-faced American policy towards Israel. On the one hand, the American officials spoke warmly of the Jewish homeland. On the other hand, they treated Israel like a beggar that should be thankful for scraps and loose change.