RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.frontpagemag.com/one-year-later-israel-is-still-in-agony/

One full year after October 7, the nation of Israel is still traumatized and many of its people are still in agony. One full year later, there are still scores of hostages languishing in Gaza, if not dead, and their families remain in daily agony. One full year later, the war with Hamas continues, but now there is also war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as possible war with Iran itself. One full year later, rather than sympathy for Israel growing it is hatred for Israel that is growing.

One year ago, the unthinkable happened on Israeli soil. A mass pogrom took place within the borders of this tiny state, the one place that was supposed to be safe for Jewish people. The nation’s vaunted security systems failed miserably and babies were slaughtered, women were raped, the elderly were executed, and whole families burned alive.

I remember waking up the morning of the 7th to the news that Hamas terrorists had flooded Israel and that as many as 100 Israelis had been killed. Impossible, I thought. Not today, in Israel. This cannot be. Then there were reports that several soldiers had been taken hostage. This, too, was unthinkable, with horrific potential consequences.

After all, IDF soldier Gilad Shalit had languished as a hostage in Gaza for five long years before his release, which required Israeli releasing 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for his life – yes, 1,027 prisoners, including Yahyah Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 massacre. What would Hamas do with several Israeli hostages?

But as that dreadful day unfolded, the news was far more devastating than anything we could have imagined. This is what I wrote one year ago as the news began to unfold: “Heartbreak. Shock. Agony. Devastation. Confusion. Rage. These are just a few of the emotions flooding the hearts of millions of Israelis in the midst of an unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas. This is a time to stop and pray for the merciful intervention of God.

https://mailchi.mp/929a3eddd75d/100-blasts-israels-positive-newsletter-to-29924?e=fb15f100f3

Can one name another country with war on its borders and terrorism within its cities, constantly bombarded with missiles and rockets, that works 24/7 to continue research and development of  state of the art  science, technology, medicine, and defense that benefit civilization itself?  The answer, cleared of bias, libel, defamation and anti-Semitism  is simply no. Only Israel does the foregoing, and Michael Ordman proves it every week.  rsk

POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR
 
IDF soldier saved by his prayers. An IDF soldier was praying in Gaza, wearing tefillin (phylacteries). When warned about a nearby Hamas terrorist, he removed his tefillin, but had no time to remove the metal night vision support plate on his helmet.  The terrorist shot 3 bullets at his head, which were absorbed by the plate.
https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-idf-soldiers-miraculous-story-shows-the-power-of-tefillin/  
 
Pre-school program to treat PTSD. NGOs SASA Setton (see here previously) and Alumot Or have partnered Israeli bank Hapoalim to set up early-years centers of educational excellence in areas most affected by Oct 7. The program will help hundreds of children aged 3 to 6 who have experienced trauma, along with their parents.
https://nocamels.com/2024/09/innovative-israeli-project-supporting-negev-preschoolers-in-wartime/Jo
https://sasasetton.org.il/en/  https://www.alumotor.org/en
 
Galvanizing Jewish advocates. Eitan Chitayat, creative director and founder of Tel Aviv-based international Natie Branding Agency, has dropped all his commercial work to focus on promoting Israel to the world. He created the slogan “I’m that Jew” and urges his 100,000+ followers, and all of us, to be advocates for Israel.
https://www.israel21c.org/since-7-10-everything-takes-a-backseat-to-my-advocacy-work/
https://www.instagram.com/eitanchitayat_words/?hl=en
 
Quiet heroism is everywhere. Reporter Canaan Lidor lives in the north of Israel. He was looking for ordinary brave people who are inspiring others. He found people eating outside bomb shelters; zoom-learning schools; sharing safe rooms with neighbors; plus ex-pats returning to Israel to defend the country.
https://www.jns.org/in-israels-targeted-north-quiet-heroism-is-everywhere/
 
Starlink for the north. Dozens of satellite internet stations from Elon Musk’s Starlink have arrived in Israel’s north for government offices, hospitals and emergency centers. Israel’s Communications Ministry approved Starlink’s use, enabling Israelis to access broadband services if ground-based communications are disrupted.
https://www.jns.org/starlink-stations-arrive-in-israel-for-embattled-north/
 
Quiet diplomacy at work in Europe. Israel has many supporters in Europe, “but they are in need of relevant information,” says IDSF’s Brig-Gen Amir Avivi. Meetings between IDSF and Italian Chamber of Deputies officials resulted in the Italian Parliament’s lower house passing a multifaceted pro-Israel resolution in July.
https://www.jns.org/italian-pro-israel-resolution-shows-power-of-quiet-diplomacy/
https://idsf.org.il/en/team-members/brigadier-general-res-amir-avivi-2/
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Protein missing in lung cancer patients. Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute have discovered that the protein RBM10 is absent or has mutated in 40% of lung cancer patients. The protein helps the body to repair damaged DNA. The scientists inhibited the WEE1 gene to eradicate RBM10-deficient lung cancer in mice.
https://nocamels.com/2024/09/missing-protein-could-unlock-treatment-for-aggressive-lung-cancer/
 
ALS treatment slows progression. A 12-months Phase 2b trial of PrimeC from Israel’s NeuroSense (see here previously) showed a 73% improvement over placebo in slowing ALS progression among patients. It also achieved a 63% increase in survival rates.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/neurosenses-paradigm-als-clinical-trial-132700722.html
 
The remedy is skin deep. Israeli startup Dermab.io is developing personalized biologic therapies for people suffering from chronic and autoimmune diseases. It aims to produce tailored, precision treatments, based purely on individual biomarkers gathered in a simple, non-invasive skin swab.   
https://nocamels.com/2024/08/simple-skin-swab-is-key-to-precision-drugs-for-autoimmune-disease/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dermab-io/
https://finder.startupnationcentral.org/company_page/dermab-io
 
Early warning of Parkinson’s. (TY Ron M) Tel Aviv University researchers have developed a method to detect protein aggregation in cells that are the hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. With super-resolution microscopy, they analyzed skin cells on patients with gene mutations on specific cells .
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular- neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2024.1431549/full
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-breakthrough-israeli-researchers-detect-parkinsons-markers-15-years-before-symptoms/ 
 
Wolt rider delivers baby. Remember last week when MDA began the medical training of 1,000 Wolt delivery drivers. Well Ilan had already been trained, so when he was called while delivering pizza, he knew what to do.  He didn’t deliver pizza, he delivered a baby instead.  Meanwhile, the ambulance team ate the pizza.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-food-order-worker-delivers-baby-instead-of-pizza/
 
1-2-3. Motti, a United Hatzala volunteer EMT, rushed to an Ashdod apartment to deliver a baby – the second in two days (to different mothers of course!). It is rare for an EMT to deliver one baby at home, and extremely unusual for two on consecutive days.  It was also the third birth that he had helped deliver in the same month!
https://israelrescue.org/stories/united-hatzalah-volunteer-delivers-two-babies-in-two-days/
 
11th down. Einat had already brought 10 children into the world.  But her 11th was the first to be born underground. The maternity ward at Israel’s Rambam Medical Center had been relocated to the level minus 3 car park. Nevertheless, a healthy baby was born and all 10 siblings came to visit mother and newborn.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/defying-hezbollah-missiles-israeli-woman-gives-birth-to-11th-child-in-underground-facility/
 
A better MRI. Researchers at Israel’s Technion Institute have used new materials to enhance Magnetic Resonance Imaging signals by up to 4 times and preserve the signal for 10 mins (previously only 1 min). This gives doctors time to track metabolites in the tissues – important clinical markers for diseases including cancer.
https://nocamels.com/2024/09/technion-team-develops-materials-to-improve-mri-performance/
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ado2483
 
US approval for heart ultrasound system. Israel’s AISAP (see here previously) has received US FDA approval for its CARDIO point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) platform. It allows accurate diagnosis of up to 90% of the most common cardiac parameters within minutes, either in an incident or during treatment.
https://nocamels.com/2024/08/startup-gets-fda-approval-for-cardiac-ultrasound-software/
https://streetlight.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/Review-screen.mp4
 
Why he developed stroke therapy device. Yaron Segal’s son Lear was born with familial dysautonomia (Riley-Day syndrome). Yaron established the startup BrainQ (see here previously) to search for a solution. His brainwave helmet doesn’t help Lear, but its low-intensity electromagnetic field is curing many stroke patients.
https://www.israel21c.org/dads-quest-to-aid-son-leads-to-stroke-recovery-technology/
https://www.brainqtech.com/
 
Treating knee replacement infections. 2% of the millions of knee replacements each year result in untreatable infections due to the bacteria protecting themselves with an impenetrable biofilm. Israel’s Dimoveo Medical has developed a process using nanoparticles to “sandblast” the biofilm and allow antibiotics to kill the bacteria.
https://nocamels.com/2024/09/nanoparticles-sandblast-hard-to-handle-bacteria-from-joint-implants/
https://dimoveomedical.com/   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLHrdDoTZQ8
 
Keeping mosquitoes away. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a cellulose-based gel that dries on the skin and blocks mosquitoes from detecting human scents. Even those mosquitoes that get through are unable to lay eggs due to the effects of the gel.
https://nocamels.com/2024/09/gel-that-stops-mosquitoes-biting-and-reproducing-is-creating-a-buzz/
https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/4/pgad069/7103447
 

https://www.city-journal.org/article/365-days-of-october-7

How do you commemorate something still unfolding? That question looms large, on the 365th day since October 7, as we grapple with the brutal reality of a world irrevocably changed. How do we honor the lives lost on that terrible day and in the ensuing war for Israel’s survival, while also committing to build a future defined not by tragedy but by strength and resilience? We might never find a satisfactory answer. But to begin our search for one, we must recognize that the struggle spans both physical and ideological battlefields.

First is the literal battlefield. The horrific attack by Hamas on October 7 was not just a terrorist assault; it was an attempt to break the spirit of a nation, to humiliate and destroy it. That day will be forever etched into our collective memory, a deep national wound. But out of that darkness, and perhaps because of it, Israel has risen with a fierce resolve, fighting an existential war that has now spread far beyond its original borders, as the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies besiege the Jewish state from all sides.

And yet, the tragedy of October 7 has been followed by victories that nobody could have imagined. Hamas, whose brutality knows no bounds, is now on its knees. Hezbollah, until last week viewed as an existential threat to Israel, has been defeated in what will inevitably be viewed as the most jaw-dropping counterterrorism campaign in history. The targeted killings of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran serve as a stark warning to the Grand Ayatollah that nowhere, not even within the heart of Iran, is safe.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20998/palestinians-celebrate-death-of-jews

Palestinians have a custom of celebrating in the streets every time Israel is attacked or a Jew is murdered by terrorists.

It is hard, if not impossible, to find one senior Palestinian official who is willing to criticize his own people for celebrating terrorist attacks. It is also hard, if not impossible, to find one senior Palestinian official who is willing to condemn the October 7 atrocities and massacres against Israelis. Palestinian leaders have good reason not to speak out: they are afraid of being killed by their own people.

Last month, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, ignored the Hamas attack and instead accused Israel of committing “massacres,” “crimes,” and “genocide” against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Needless to say, Abbas also ignored the fact that a large number of Palestinians expressed support for the Hamas-led October 7 attack and took to the streets to celebrate the brutal mass-murder of Israeli women, children and the elderly.

Palestinian leaders who do not have the courage, or are unwilling, to denounce terrorism will never be able to call on their people to recognize Israel’s right to exist, let alone make peace with it. Palestinians who celebrate the murder of their neighbors are not ready for a state, which will undoubtedly be used as a springboard to slaughter more Jews and to try to destroy Israel.

There is no excuse for celebrating murder. A society that celebrates murder will never be a partner for peace. True peace will only come when Palestinian leaders values their people’s lives more than celebrating the murder of Jews.

Palestinians have a custom of celebrating in the streets every time Israel is attacked or a Jew is murdered by terrorists.

The latest Palestinian celebrations took place on October 1, 2024, when Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel. The celebrations occurred even though some of the missiles fell in Palestinian areas in the West Bank and the only person killed was, ironically, a Palestinian man in the city of Jericho.

In one West Bank village, Palestinians erected a monument from the tail of an Iranian missile to celebrate Iran’s attack on Israel.

Similar celebrations took place in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and in many countries when Iran launched its first direct missile and drone attack against Israel in April. According to a report by Iran’s Tehran Times:

“It was also a sleepless night in Ramallah and other cities in the occupied West Bank, that saw excited crowds of Palestinians gathering in the streets and pointing to the skies amid the visible trails of Iranian missiles flying, with a celebratory mood until the early hours of Sunday morning.”

The largest celebrations occurred a year ago, on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Iran-backed Hamas terrorists and “ordinary” Palestinians invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip and murdered 1,200 Israelis. During the attack, thousands of Israelis were raped, tortured, and burned alive, while more than 240 others were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip. A year later, 101 Israeli hostages are still being held by Hamas terrorists.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-oct-7-war-one-year-later/

On Oct 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel. Their mission was to wipe out the Jewish population in the nearby towns, secure them and use them as forward operating bases for the next phase of the war. While the atrocities they committed in that initial assault, entire families burned alive in their homes, women raped and kidnapped, and babies killed, made it look like a terrorist attack on a large scale, Oct 7 had not been meant as a hit and run operation.

Hamas had risked too much and put too many men in the field for it to be anything other than an invasion. Its plans to continue advancing into Israel appear unrealistic only out of context.

The thousands of terrorists from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah had been meant as the tip of a larger spear. Thousands of Hezbollah and allied terrorists had been in position on Oct 7. Had Hamas been able to hang on to Israeli territory, they would have invaded the Galilee, but after the initial shock and long delays throughout that first day, the Israeli military regrouped.

The Hezbollah invasion was postponed until it was briefly revived by the Islamic terror group around the time of the pager attacks and then shut down by targeted Israeli strikes.

Oct 7 had been Hezbollah’s plan before it was executed by Hamas. Hezbollah had even spent years boasting about using its network of tunnels to invade and conquer the Galilee, but the funding and plans had come out of Tehran. Yet when push came to shove, Hezbollah hesitated.

Iran had planned for an Oct 7 that would have dealt a catastrophic blow to Israel. The original plot would have seen coordinated Hamas and Hezbollah invasions backed by heavy rocket campaigns not only by Hezbollah, but by the Houthis in Yemen and Iran’s militias in Iraq targeting Israeli bases, military assets and infrastructure. Terror groups in the West Bank would have launched their own assaults creating a multi-front guerrilla war deep inside Israel. Even if Israel had beaten back the attacks, many of the Jewish communities would have been in ashes.

https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/let-israel-decide-how-to-respond-to-irans-missile-attack/

President Biden pushes Israel not to respond to Iran’s ballistic missile attack by targeting its nuclear or oil sites, while former President Trump blasts Biden and suggests that, in fact, Israel should hit Iran’s nuclear sites.

Their public disagreement over Israel’s proper course reminds us that, notwithstanding Senator Arthur Vandenberg’s dictum of the early Cold War years that politics should stop “at the water’s edge,” it rarely has.

Presidents have long shaped their foreign policy with domestic politics in mind. FDR promised the nation just days before his re-election in 1940 that “your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars,” though he knew that America’s entry into World War II was both necessary and inevitable. JFK planned to withdraw U.S. forces from Vietnam but not until his second term, fearing an earlier withdrawal would ignite a “who lost Vietnam” backlash that threatened his re-election in 1964.

Now, a month before our Election Day, Israel is battling Iran and its terror proxies on multiple fronts, civilian lives are at risk in multiple nations, global leaders are pushing for ceasefires and “de-escalation,” and Vice President Kamala Harris is battling Trump for Jewish and Muslim votes in a razor-close contest.

But, however understandable in political terms, Biden and Trump’s comments are nevertheless badly misguided in geopolitical terms because they undercut our closest regional ally at an ominous moment.

Consider, by way of historical example, the absurdity of such public counsel to any nation under siege.

“We shall carry the attack against the enemy,” FDR told Congress a month after Pearl Harbor, with nearly 2,500 service members and civilians dead and the United States now at war with both Japan and Germany. “We shall hit him and hit him again wherever and whenever we can reach him.”

https://www.theblaze.com/return/one-year-after-10-7-israels-alliance-with-a-weakened-america-brings-dangerous-consequences

Betrayed by the United States, Israel will have to maneuver as best it can in a world of diminishing American influence.

“It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal,” said the late Henry Kissinger to William F. Buckley. Israel’s alliance with the United States hasn’t proved fatal — and probably won’t — but it has left Israel with difficult choices and an enduringly dangerous security situation.

Zoom out from the battlefields in Gaza, about the size of Brooklyn and Queens, or the 18 miles from the Israeli-Lebanon border to the Litani River and consider the mess that the Biden administration has made of the world. Israel’s biggest problem is that U.S. influence is imploding around the world and to be an American ally means to wear a target on one’s back. Israel’s second-biggest problem is that its American ally has sandbagged it at every turn.

Instead of peace through strength, Biden has offered promulgation from weakness. That has grave implications for Israel’s position.

October 7, 2023, was the worst day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, with 1,200 dead and many raped and tortured as well as 250 kidnapped. Relative to Israel’s Jewish population of 7.2 million, that’s the equivalent of 55,000 Americans, or roughly 20 times the death toll on 9/11.

America’s Global War on Terror caused 900,000 civilian casualties, according to a Brown University estimate. Taking the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIS during 2016-2017 killed anywhere between 10,000 and 40,000 civilians. Israel’s campaign to extirpate Hamas from Gaza has been measured by comparison.