RUTHFULLY YOURS

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1. 2000 to 2019:

*Population – from 6.2 million to 9.1 million (47% growth);
*Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – from $132BN to $404BN (206% growth);
*GDP per capita – from $21,000 to $44,000 (110% growth);
*Export – from $47BN to $117BN (149% growth);
*Women in the workforce – from 48% to 60% (25% growth);
*University/college students – from 70,000 to 316,000 (351% growth);
*Incoming tourists – from 2.31 million to 4.87 million (108% growth);
*Water desalination – from 2% to 26% (1,300% growth);
*Foreign exchange reserves – from $24BN to $119BN (396% growth);
*Government debt per GDP – from 77% to 58.5% (24.7% reduction);
*US “aid” per GDP – from 2.3% to 1% (57% reduction);
*Defense budget per GDP – from 9% to 5% (44% reduction);
*Tax burden – from 43% to 32% (26% reduction);
*Number of vehicles per 1,000 people – from 277 to 396 (43% growth);
*Emigrants per 100,000 people – from 340 to 160 (51% reduction).

Source: 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.

http://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

US approves freezing of tumors. The US FDA has granted approval for Israel’s IceCure Medical to use its tumor-freezing technology to destroy cancerous and benign tumors of the kidney, liver, ear, nose, and throat. It already has FDA approval for benign breast tumors and European approval to treat malignant breast tumors.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3777254,00.html

UK hospital introduces Israeli remote diagnostic device. (TY OurCrowd) As reported previously (see here), Israel’s TytoCare device allows for doctors to examine patients from remote locations. Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is to be the first provider in the UK to partner with TytoCare.

https://pharmaphorum.com/news/uk-hospital-introduces-tytocare-remote-medical-exam-device/

https://www.tytocare.com/

Israeli treatment in Mass trials. (TY Atid-EDI) Pridopidine, from Israeli biotech Prilenia, has been chosen by the Healey Center at Massachusetts General hospital for the first-ever platform (multiple treatments) trial for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Prilenia is trialing Pridopidine for several neurodegenerative disorders.

https://www.prilenia.com/18-september-2019-pr

https://www.massgeneral.org/neurology/als/research/platform-trial

Two potential IBD therapies. (TY Atid-EDI) As reported previously (see here) Israel’s Biomica is using the human microbiome (stomach bacteria) to fight cancer, IBD, acne etc. Bionica is starting pre-clinical studies for BMC321 & BMC322, two developed microbial consortia aimed to treat Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

https://www.biomicamed.com/press-releases/biomica-announces-advancement-to-pre-clinical-studies-in-it inflammatory-bowel-disease-program/

Spotting problems that doctors may have missed. Israel-based medical device startup IMedis AI develops technology that analyzes medical images and documents to reveal discrepancies and unreported findings. The technology can assist in the early detection of cancer, heart diseases, and vascular diseases.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3777150,00.html   https://www.imedis.ai/

Women at risk of diabetes during pregnancy. Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have developed an algorithm that can predict which women have a high risk of gestational diabetes. Records of 600,000 Israeli pregnancies were examined. Those found to be at risk could avoid diabetes with exercise and diet.

https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/new-algorithm-predicts-gestational-diabetes

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0724-8

An all-in-one genetic test. Israel’s Variantyx has developed the first comprehensive, all-in-one diagnosis test for rare inherited disorders. It eliminates the need to order multiple tests, saving time, money and (potentially) lives. There are more than 7,000 rare diseases, affecting 30 million in the US and over 350 million globally.

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Hillels-Tech-Corner-Genome-sequencing-gets-deeper-613721

https://www.variantyx.com/solutions/diagnostic-testing/

Helping patients breathe. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Biovo Technologies manufactures the Airway Medix line of disposable respiratory devices, used for mechanically ventilated (usually unconscious) intubated ICU patients.

https://www.biovo-tech.com/  http://www.airwaymedix.com/en,2,products

Don’t over-vaccinate your pet. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Biogal-Galed Labs (reported here previously) has launched CombCam, an automated reading device that helps veterinarians interpret antibody and vaccine tests on animals. Biogal’s various veterinary diagnostic products are now available in over 35 countries.

https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/biogal-galed-labs-launches-combcam-an-automated-reading-device-for-biogals-vaccicheck-and-immunocomb-kits-300920779.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nur-i347hU  https://www.biogal.com/products/combcam/

From cancer to shrimps. This article focuses on Dr Avi Schroeder of Israel’s Technion Institute. His company PEEP Therapeutics is developing a cancer treatment based on Elephant protein gene P53 (see here).  He is also working on personalized chemotherapy and a cure for a deadly shrimp virus. He is a manager in four startups.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3777084,00.html

Israeli medical startups in San Francisco. 16 of OurCrowd’s Israeli medical portfolio companies attended the 38th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco (Jan 13-15). Their innovative solutions include cancer treatments, blood testing, wound care, care for older adults, diabetes management and more.

https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/353882/OurCrowd%20@%20JPM%20Health.pdf

Israeli startups to help UK healthcare. Ten Israeli heath tech startups have been invited by UK Government’s Israel Tech Hub to help UK healthcare organizations build more modern and effective healthcare services. They will meet AstraZeneca, NHSX, Care UK, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Amazon Web Services in London.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-health-tech-startups-to-head-to-uk-to-showcase-wares/

ttps://www.spectator.com.au/2020/01/keep-an-eye-out-for-israel-derangement-syndrome/

I am not a psychiatrist, but I’ve observed a kind of psychosis in far-left activists of the West who claim to be progressives championing the Palestinian cause: Israel Derangement Syndrome, or IDS.

Sufferers of this insidious illness don’t rationally advocate for Palestinians and criticise Israeli policies, in the same way they’d criticise other states. They are doctrinaire cultists possessed of an unadulterated, unhinged hatred for Israel, which they see as a uniquely evil state that must be eradicated. Until then, it will be their all-consuming, defining cause; never mind the Uyghurs, Kurds or Iranian women. In indulging in the delusion that the end (of Israel) goal will eventually occur, they are complicit in perpetuating the conflict and emboldening the despotic regimes that act against the interests of the very people they purport to champion, the Palestinians.

Corbynism is the most recent prominent example of IDS. While we will no longer be bombarded with its leader’s sneering visage, the animosity towards Israel that its dogmatism exemplifies, replete with conspiracism and terrorist sympathising, is unlikely to fade. And it is rising across the Atlantic

https://www.jns.org/opinion/israels-education-minister-gets-taught-a-lesson/

Israeli Education Minister Rafi Peretz, an Orthodox rabbi and head of the right-wing Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) Party, indicated this week—for the second time since being appointed last June to the interim post—how poorly suited he is for his job.

Peretz caused an uproar in July, a mere few weeks into his temporary tenure, when he said in a televised interview that he had experience in conducting successful gay conversion therapy.

In a move illustrating his inability to learn a lesson, Peretz put his foot in his mouth again over the past weekend, telling the Hebrew daily Yediot Achronot that marriage between a man and a woman is the definition of a “normative family.”

When asked what he would do if one of his own kids came out of the closet, he basically replied that he’s lucky not to have to worry about such a scenario. “Thank God,” he said, “my children were raised in a natural and healthy way … and are building their homes on Jewish values.”

Oy.

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-EU-PAPLO-strategy-to-destroy-Israel-613862

The European Union and the Palestinian Authority have developed a plan to destroy Israel; it’s called, “European Joint Strategy in support of Palestine (EJS),” and the “Palestinian Authority National Policy Agenda (PANPA).”

According to the PANPA, their mission is to “reassert full Palestinian sovereignty over the whole of its territory on the 1967 borders; to end Israel’s illegal, methodical and continuing expropriation of Palestinian land, resources and water; to lift the protracted siege of Gaza while ensuring a geographical link with the West Bank; to cease and reverse Israel’s calculated attempts to dismember east Jerusalem from the rest of Palestine; and to dismantle the illegal separation wall that entraps tens of thousands of Palestinians.“Mobilizing national and international support… will be accomplished through the following measures: Reassert sovereignty over the whole territory of the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders including east Jerusalem; establish and develop east Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine; internationalize the conflict and mobilize international support for the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination and right of return, and the release of prisoners; increase political, legal, economic and grassroots pressure to end the occupation; lift the siege of Gaza and establish a geographic link with the West Bank; prepare independence transition plans that chart the steps toward asserting full Palestinian authority over all of Palestine in all sectors of a sovereign state.”

By “east Jerusalem” they mean not only the Old City, but all areas which the Jordanian Legion captured in 1948, including the Temple Mount, Mount of Olives (the Jewish cemetery which was desecrated) and the City of David/Silwan. It includes all the Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem which were built after the 1967 Six Day War (Ramot, Gilo, Pisgat and Givat Ze’ev, Har Homa, and Ma’aleh Adumim), the Jewish communities that were wiped out by the Jordanian Legion in 1947-48 (Neve Yaakov and the Etzion bloc, which were rebuilt after 1967), and the strategic Jordan Valley, which terrorists from around the world would use to enter “the West Bank” and attack Israel.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

 This week’s positive Israel newsletter confirms that 2019 was a record-breaking year for the Israeli economy, investment and tourism. Meanwhile, just two weeks into 2020 we see Israeli medical breakthroughs, international awards for debating and technology, and Israeli support for disaster victims in Australia and Puerto Rico. There are major Israeli developments in autonomous vehicles, renewable energy, defense systems and cybersecurity.    Michael Ordman

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Decoy molecule neutralizes dangerous viruses. Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute and at Tel Aviv University have engineered a molecule called Arenacept to fool and destroy viruses that migrate from rodents to humans. Arenacept binds strongly to the virus, acting as a decoy. It also triggers the immune system’s defenses.
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/chemistry/decoy-molecule-neutralizes-range-viruses
 
US Government buys Israeli wound treatment. As per its 2015 contract with Israel’s MediWound (see here), the U.S. Department of Health (HSS), is stockpiling $16.5 million worth of MediWound’s NexoBrid burns treatment. HSS has options on another $50 million of NexoBrid. 
http://www.globenewswire.com/fr/news-release/2020/01/06/1966319/0/en/BARDA-Initiates-the-Procurement-of-NexoBrid-for-Emergency-Response.html
 
Lowering the cost of X-rays. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s Nanox is an Israeli/Japanese cooperation that has created the world’s first commercial-grade digital X-ray source for medical imaging applications. Nanox’s novel technology can significantly reduce the costs of medical imaging systems.
https://www.nanox.vision/
 
Program benefits patients and doctors. Since 2015 Bar-Ilan University’s ETGAR program requires its med students to visit patients at home after discharge from hospital. A study shows patients benefit significantly, especially those who are poor, isolated, understand little Hebrew, or lack education. Future doctors also benefit.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-hospital-stay-disadvantaged-patients-show-benefit-from-med-student-visits/
 
Lessons learned tackling measles in Samoa. The Israeli team of nine doctors and nurses from Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer has returned from helping Samoa combat its measles epidemic. The team emphasized how vital a vaccination program was in preventing similar outbreaks.
https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Israeli-team-who-treated-measles-patients-in-Samoa-Get-vaccinated-612185
 
Attorney leaves $15 million to Israeli hospital. Although retired attorney Daniel Jacobson led a modest life, he bequeathed 50 million shekels (approximately $15 million) to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital.  It will cover 10 new operating rooms and other major upgrades to the hospital.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-mystery-millionaire-makes-massive-donation-to-israeli-hospital/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdJAPK2lPwg
 
 

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Right-from-Wrong-Israels-not-going-it-alone-after-all-613699

What a difference a new decade makes. The first to admit it might be IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, who just over two weeks ago expressed disappointment with Washington’s Mideast activities, or lack thereof.

In his first major speech on Israel’s military preparedness and future challenges, Kochavi – who assumed his role exactly a year ago – issued a veiled criticism of US President Donald Trump, particularly in relation to Iran.Reiterating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s mantra about the real and present danger posed by Tehran’s fierce pursuit of nuclear warheads and ongoing development of long-range precision missiles with the ability to reach Israel, Kochavi said, “It would be better if we weren’t the only ones responding militarily” to the concrete threat.

In fairness to Israel’s top man-in-uniform, there were signs suggesting that Jerusalem would have to go it alone in any actual confrontation with the Islamic Republic.

In the first place, the IDF has been fighting solo for years against Iranian proxy groups such as Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas, with the former directly commanded and controlled by the mullahs in Tehran, and the latter receiving moral and financial support from the same source.

Secondly, in October Trump announced that he was pulling US troops out of northern Syria. It was a move that not only concerned many of his supporters at home and abroad, but promptly ushered in a Turkish invasion of the area, which included the mass murder of America’s Kurdish allies.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com
An Excellent Year and an Incredible Decade

It’s been ten years since I started collating Good News articles about Israeli innovations, discoveries and achievements. At that time, Israel was still suffering from severe drought, lack of natural resources, major economic problems, global isolation and national despondency.  

Just look at Israel ten years later – what an amazing transformation. Per capita it leads the world in medical breakthroughs and devices, water technology and recycling, agriculture technology, computer processors, satellites, autonomous vehicles, security and defense systems. It enjoys phenomenal economic growth, energy resources, currency strength, reserves and foreign investment. It has matured from just being the Startup Nation to become a powerhouse of hi-tech innovation. Meanwhile, whenever a global disaster occurs, Israel is always the first to send skilled teams and supplies to alleviate suffering.

2019 has been the pinnacle of Israeli achievement.  This article focuses on two areas – Israel’s Medical achievements and its efforts to help its minorities and the disadvantaged across the globe.

Almost every week Israeli researchers announce another medical discovery that promises to eliminate cancer forever. Approved Israeli treatments are already curing children with leukemia in the UK and melanoma patients globally. Trials of new treatments are extending the lives of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer patients. Israeli focused radiation is curing skin cancer tumors and new Israeli treatments have saved many from liver cancer and myeloma. Some 30,000 foreign patients travel to Israel each year for private medical treatments.

Other Israeli drugs and therapies, approved or being trialed, are successfully countering diseases such as Parkinson’s Alzheimer’s, MS, ALS, malaria, diabetes, Age-related Macular Degeneration and many more – especially Orphan diseases that no other country is willing to target. One major global problem that Israel is solving is the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics. It is also at the forefront of stem cell treatments and research into aging – therefore contributing to increased longevity globally. Israel’s importance can be seen by the fact that its treatments are dispensed in one eighth of all US prescriptions and one sixth in the UK.