RUTHFULLY YOURS

The United States is officially opening its Israeli embassy in Jerusalem today, making May 14, 2018 an historic day for the Jewish State of Israel. Other U.S. presidents have made campaign promises to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, only to abandon their promises in deference to the foreign policy establishment and “international” opinion. In moving forward to fulfill his promise to move the embassy to Jerusalem, President Trump ignored the foreign policy establishment and “international” opinion, much as President Harry Truman did when he gave de facto recognition to the newly created State of Israel only eleven minutes after Israel’s proclamation of its independence.

President Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law and key adviser Jared Kushner are representing President Trump for the opening of the new embassy. The Israelis are celebrating. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at his weekly cabinet meeting, “President Trump promised to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and he did so. He promised to move the American Embassy to Israel and he is doing so. Of course we will all celebrate this day.”

President Trump’s decision, denounced not only by the Palestinians themselves, as expected, but by amoral government leaders and opinion makers all around the world, should not be so controversial. Each nation has the sovereign right to locate its own embassies wherever it chooses. The U.S. embassy will be located in West Jerusalem, not in any area claimed by the Palestinians to be part of their future “capital” in East Jerusalem. Moreover, President Trump clearly stated that U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is not intended to decide any final status issues regarding Jerusalem as a whole. Finally, the United Nations resolutions that the critics of President Trump’s decision rely upon to support their objections on “legal” grounds do little to help their case. The General Assembly has no legal authority under the UN Charter to require anything of the member states except payment of their annual budget assessments. The Security Council has huffed and puffed about so-called “illegal” Israeli settlements including in East Jerusalem and called upon member states to withdraw their embassies from Jerusalem, but did so solely in the form of completely non-binding resolutions.

On Saturday night, while yet another jihadist was terrorizing Paris, people all over Europe were tuned in to the Eurovision Song Contest, an annual display of the depressingly low level to which the quality of popular music has descended. First broadcast in 1956, Eurovision gave the world such songs as ABBA’s “Waterloo” (which won in 1974) and – um – did I mention “Waterloo”?

Seriously, the music wasn’t always so bad. During its early years, the competition was something of a cultural smorgåsbord, with songs sung in native languages and in accordance with national musical traditions. If you’re old enough, you’ll probably remember the Eurovision entries “Volare” and “Al Di La” and “L’amour est bleu.” There were nice ballads and cute novelty numbers.

Over time, however, more and more of the songs were all but interchangeable U.S.- and UK-influenced pop and dance tunes, increasingly sung in English. Among the memorable titles: “Boom Bang-a-Bang” and “Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley.” By degrees, songwriting gave way to spectacle. The whole thing had started off as a competition among composers and lyrics, but now the singer was the star. In the first few decades, at least one person onstage needed to be playing a musical instrument; nowadays, believe it or not, that’s totally prohibited. Any number of back-up dancers, acrobats, lighting effects, explosive devices, etc., etc., are permitted, but the singer or singers are required to sing to a pre-recorded track, just like at a karaoke bar.

After the Iron Curtain fell, Eastern European countries not only joined NATO and EU – they were swallowed up into the madness of Eurovision. For several years, many of their entries were even worse than the crap from Western Europe – illuminating the sober fact that Communism had produced even more appalling notions of popular music than capitalism had. One measure of the gradual adaptation of Eastern Europe to Western culture has been that the entries from countries like Moldova and Estonia are now, by and large, indistinguishable from the entries from France and Sweden.

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Eliminating major side-effects. A breakthrough by Israeli scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Weizmann Institute can reduce side-effects in chemicals. Treatments (e.g. thalidomide) contain both right and left-sided molecules. One type causes the side-effect and magnets can remove the “bad” sided molecules.
https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-05/thuo-dac051018.php https://vimeo.com/257954972
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jz300793y

99% success for freezing tumors. I’ve been reporting on Israeli-based IceCure for some time (see here). It has just reported results of clinical trials showing 99% effectiveness in eliminating cancerous breast tumors through freezing with liquid nitrogen without surgery. Of the 146 trial patients, the cancer re-occurred in only one.
https://www.globes.co.il/en/article-icecure-jumps-on-positive-breast-cancer-treatment-data-1001234568

European patent for bio-turmeric extract. Israel’s Arjuna has produced BCM-95 – an All-in-One formulation of natural curcumin & ar-turmerone, the most potent component of turmeric with its highest level of oral bioavailability. BCM-95 has just received a European patent to accompany its patents in the US and globally.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arjuna-naturals-bcm-95-curcumin-granted-new-patent-300644354.html http://www.arjunanatural.com/bcm95.html
https://www.youtube.com/embed/NdBatH3y27U?rel=0

Transforming sinus diagnosis and treatment. Israel’s 3NT Medical is developing and trialing its Sinusway platform of specialty single-use endoscopes and therapeutic devices for advancing care of ear, nose and throat (ENT) disorders. 3NT has just raised funds to complete development and commence marketing Sinusway.
https://www.3ntmedical.com/ https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03390257
https://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-ent-endoscopy-co-3nt-medical-raises-15m-1001235075

Using gut bacteria to fight disease. I reported previously (May 2017) on one Israeli biotech using the human microbiome (stomach bacteria) to fight cancer, IBD, acne etc. Now Israel’s Evogene’s new Biomica subsidiary is also developing microbiome therapies, for antibiotic resistant bacteria, immuno-oncology and GI disorders.
http://www.evogene.com/press_release/biomica-evogenes-newly-established-subsidiary-announces-therapeutic-areas-focus/ https://www.youtube.com/embed/xR_-RMe18Zs?rel=0

Eye surgeon sees no boundaries. Dr David Hartstein made Aliya from the USA in 2009. Since 2014 he has been performing eye operations on patients from Ethiopia, Gaza and the Palestinian Authority. He also visits Ethiopia where he treats up to 500 patients each visit – mostly Falash Mura Ethiopians seeking to make Aliya.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/245462

On-line spectacle prescription. I reported previously (Feb 2016) on one Israeli smartphone app to check your glasses prescription. Now here’s another – Tel Aviv based GlassesUSA checks the prescription of your existing spectacles. It allows you to scan simple prescriptions and lenses using an iPhone.
https://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-app-gives-eyeglasses-prescription-1001234738

The Jewish state doesn’t take attacks on its citizens lying down. Why should the U.S.?

One of the great and enduring mysteries of American foreign policy is the ongoing, bipartisan tolerance for Iranian efforts to kill Americans by the hundreds. Iran has been waging an undeclared war against the United States since the Hostage Crisis of 1979–1981. Its hostile acts against the United States are almost too numerous to list, but the lowlights include the Beirut Marine barracks bombing, the Khobar Towers bombing, a successful Quds Force plot to kidnap and kill American soldiers in Iraq, and the hundreds of American deaths and injuries due to Iranian-designed and -supplied explosively formed penetrators, the most deadly form of IED in Iraq.

Yet time and again the American response has been muted at best and downright meek at worst, as in the case of the Obama administration’s dreadful Iran deal, when the world’s most powerful nation went hat-in-hand to the jihadist enemy that was killing its soldiers and actually empowered that enemy’s violent expansionism.

Iran has surged its forces throughout the Middle East. Iranian-backed militias threaten American allies in Iraq. Hezbollah, the Iranian Quds Force, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have helped preserve the Assad regime and tip the balance in the Syrian civil war. Yemen is a killing field. And now, capitalizing on battlefield gains in Syria, Iran has worked to threaten Israel directly, building a military infrastructure that allows its forces to strike immediately across the border.

America should not fear Iran. For too long, we’ve allowed a paper tiger to kill our citizens. Israel has no such patience. We can learn from its example.

But Israel is not the United States. It has far less patience with threats to the lives of its citizens, and the Trump administration’s support allows it greater freedom of action to meet such threats vigorously.

Witness what happened last night: Iran attacked Israel, and Israel responded with devastating force. Utilizing its military assets close to the Israeli border, Iranian forces launched 20 rockets at Israeli positions in the Golan Heights. The Israelis claimed that the attacks were ineffective; the rockets either were intercepted or fell short of the border. Rather than respond tit-for-tat, the Israelis escalated, launching comprehensive attacks against Iranian positions in Syria. In the words of Israel’s defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, “If there is rain on our side, there will be a flood on their side.”

What’s more pathetic: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ latest blast of ugly anti-Semitism, or the hopes that the global community has long invested in him as a true Israeli partner for peace?

If, as Albert Einstein reportedly said, insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” than U.S. and Western investments in Abbas over the years seem to fit the bill.

When, however, even the New York Times editorial board – which almost never misses an opportunity to blame the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Israel – writes that Abbas’ vile words showed that it’s “time for him to leave office,” then perhaps Western elites are beginning to see the light.

“The Jews who moved to Eastern and Western Europe had been subjected to a massacre by one country or another every 10 to 15 years, since the 11th century and until the Holocaust in Germany,” the 82-year-old Abbas declared in an April 30 address.

“They say it was happening because they are Jews,” Abbas said. But, he explained, “the anti-Jewish [sentiment] was not because of their religion, but because of their function in society, which had to do with usury, banks, and so on.”

Israel’s military carried out strikes against Iranian targets in Syria after it said Iranian forces based there fired rockets at its soldiers in the Golan Heights, raising the risk of a wider regional war just a day after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the international nuclear deal with Tehran.

Iran’s attack in the Golan appears to be the first time Iran has opened fire from Syria on Israeli targets. The Israeli military said dozens of Iranian military sites across southern and central Syria were struck. The Israeli military called the strikes—which focused on sites related to logistics, intelligence and ammunition storage—its largest-ever operation against Iranian positions in Syria.

“It will take substantial time for the Iranians to replenish these systems,” said Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman.

In a separate incident, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a barrage of missiles into Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. The pair of attacks were an early indication that Iran and its allies are flexing their muscles in the Middle East after Washington’s move.

The strikes heightened tensions in a region already on edge and underlined the risk of direct confrontation between Iran and Israel following the U.S. exit from the nuclear agreement. Iran, until now, had held back from any retaliatory response to recent Israeli strikes on its assets in Syria.

President Donald Trump’s move to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal has dramatically brightened the political outlook for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose hold on office was at risk just weeks ago.

Mr. Netanyahu—who has long opposed the Iran deal—has faced spiraling police corruption probes that have entangled his wife and polarized Israelis.

But Israelis have rallied beyond Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing backers to support his policies on Iran, a shift that has scrambled the nation’s politics and boosted his fortunes.

Opposition politicians, who only weeks ago called for the Israeli leader’s resignation over alleged corruption, have lined up alongside Mr. Netanyahu. Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party and Avi Gabbay, head of the Labor Party, both welcomed Mr. Trump’s announcement, saying Israelis should display united support for renewed U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

Ze’ev Elkin, a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, said those who doubted the premier’s efforts to rescind the deal should now “eat their hats.” CONTINUE AT SITE

If true, the reported concessions that Israel is being asked to make as part of the US administration’s “deal of the century” will not be perceived by the Palestinians as a sign that Israel seeks peace. As the past has proven, they will be viewed by the Palestinians as a form of retreat and capitulation.

As far as the PA is concerned, the more territory it is handed by Israel the better. Territory in Jerusalem is especially welcome as it would give the Palestinian Authority a foothold in the city. A foothold, that is, for much, much more.

Make no mistake: the Palestinians will see their presence in the four neighborhoods as the first step towards the redivision of Jerusalem.

The Palestinians will say that these Israeli concessions are not enough. They will demand that Israel hand them control over all 28 Arab neighborhoods.

Worse, the Palestinians are likely to use the four neighborhoods as launching pads to carry out terror attacks against Israel to “liberate the rest of Jerusalem.”

Why would anyone think that these neighborhoods will not fall into the hands of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the future?

Any Israeli concessions, particularly at this stage, will be interpreted by the Palestinians as a reward to Mahmoud Abbas and his crowd, who are not being required to give Israel anything in return.

Is it appropriate and helpful to reward Abbas and his associates at a time when he is refusing to stop payments to Palestinian terrorists and their families, and at a time when they are continuing to incite their people against the US administration, Ambassador Nikki Haley, and its Jewish advisors, Jason Greenblatt, Ambassador David Friedman and Jared Kushner?

By lending his prestige and support to the Zionist cause Joseph Herman Hertz, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth, strengthened the movement among both his coreligionists and government officials. The start of his tenure as the spiritual leader of British Jewry began shortly before WWI and ended just after WWII.
Role in Balfour Declaration

Whilst many in the Orthodox world stood aloof from Zionism, Hertz was a robust champion of the cause. In answer to leaders of the organized community who were opposed, Hertz brought the prestige of his office to bear on the side of Zionism.

On May 28, 1917 he wrote a letter to The Times in which he rejected the notion that the recent attack in the newspaper on Zionism by Claude Montefiore of the Anglo-Jewish Association and David Alexander of the Board of Deputies reflected “the views held by Anglo-Jewry as a whole or by the Jewries of the overseas dominions.”

On October 6, 1917 the War Cabinet led by Prime Minister David Lloyd George decided to send out the ‎draft of a planned government statement about a Jewish homeland in Palestine to eight Jews—four anti-Zionists and four Zionists—for ‎comment.

Chief Rabbi Hertz, along with Lord Walter Rothschild and Zionist statesmen Nahum Sokolow and Chaim Weizmann all submitted supporting letters. ‎

Hertz was associated with the Mizrachi Orthodox stream of Zionism which saw the return of the Jewish people to Palestine as part of a Divine plan. In worldly affairs he criticized the British Government’s Mandatory policies as a reversal of the spirit of the Balfour Declaration.

A frequent visitor to Palestine, Hertz took part in the 1925 opening of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Mount Scopus. He went on to serve on the university’s Board of Governors.