RUTHFULLY YOURS

When I made Aliya from the UK years ago, Israel was far different from where it is today. It suffered from lack of water, few energy resources, a weak economy, high unemployment, low currency reserves, low tech and international isolation.

Now Israel has built desalination plants, recycles 90% of its wastewater and discovered huge natural gas deposits. It has become the Startup Nation, with theworld’s 3rd most stable economy. It is at the forefront of medicine andcybersecurity. Together with its humanitarian activities and global development programs, Israel has now raised its profile on the World stage and is especially appreciated in the USA, Africa, India and China.

Just a few weeks into my eleventh year and this progress continues to amaze me. Israeli ground-breaking medical research has just discovered a molecule that canrestore damaged hearts and micro RNA that reduces susceptibility to epileptic seizures. Potentially life-saving treatments include an anti-rabies vaccination,transplants using lab-grown bone, and the curing and prevention of melanoma.

Dozens of innovative Israeli medical devices have been launched or announced recently, e.g. spectacles that read text to the visually impaired; a system that gives mute, “locked-in” patients the power of speech; a minimally invasive implant totreat congestive heart failure; a one-second per year treatment for glaucoma; hyper-MRI scanners to detect cancer; bandages that stop massive bleeding in 40 seconds; and a soft suit exoskeleton to allow stroke patients to walk again.

Recent Israeli global humanitarian activities include disaster relief for USA, the Caribbean and Mexico; expanding the free treatment for wounded Syrians; aid for South Sudan and Sierra Leone; firefighting in Montenegro; free surgery for children in Ghana and Fiji; plus renewable electricity and clean water for Ugandan schoolchildren.

Latest technological breakthroughs include advanced systems for driverless cars andbuses, wave energy systems for China, India, Chile, Gibraltar and now Mexico. Israeli companies make water purification systems that utilize ultraviolet light and hybrid biofilters. Israelis developed hyperspectral imaging for amazingly detailed photos and video, including on a new Israeli satellite that monitors the environment. Israeli start-ups plant solar trees; use 3D printing for facial surgery and prosthetics; construct high-tech fish farms and produce smart pesticides to combat fruit fly androotworm infestation.

Israelis even beat their swords into ploughshares with unmanned drones delivering purchases to customers and military training systems being adapted for tennis, basketball and soccer.

Israel’s economy goes from strength to strength with international trade andexports on the rise. Israel’s 300 cybersecurity companies exported $6.5 billion last year. Tourists visit Israel in record numbers and unemployment is at a record low. Massive foreign investment in Israeli start-ups means that they no longer have to make early exits, but grow to become Unicorns (over $1 billion in value).

Far from being isolated, Israel is the “go-to” place for international organizations, politicians, companies and celebrities. The World Health Organization has just appointed the first Israeli for 21 years to its Executive Committee. Israel’s Prime Minister has been feted in Latin America. Visiting Prime Ministers include fromGeorgia and the Ukraine plus the first-ever visit from a Quebec Premier. Recent delegations to Israel include business leaders from Iowa, Chicago and Australia;Massachusetts police, French doctors, Indonesian Muslim leaders and JordanianSheikhs.

Barely a week goes by without the announcement of another airline’s new service to Tel Aviv or Eilat. In the same week Air Canada and Air Transat began separate services from Montreal, Canada. China’s Hainan Airways has launched its direct flights to Shanghai. El Al and Aerolíneas Argentinas are soon to begin scheduled flights from Buenos Aires and Ryanair will be flying in from Rome.

Following Israel’s lightning Six-Day War victory over the Arabs, Israel’s military leaders determined that the time was ripe for the acquisition of a new tank to meet the challenges of the modern battlefield. The Soviets had begun supplying the Arabs with more modern T-62 tanks and Israel needed to maintain its qualitative edge.

After conducting extensive tests and trials and examining alternatives, the Israelis determined that the British Chieftain tank, Britain’s own successor to the venerable Centurion, would be best suited for Israel’s needs. In 1968 Britain’s Ministry of Defense agreed to the sale but the following year, the British Foreign Office, which had always maintained hostility toward the Jewish State, nixed the deal.

Israel was outraged and its prime minister, Golda Meir, personally visited London to persuade Prime Minister Harold Wilson to change his mind, but to no avail. The Foreign Office was to have the last word on the matter. To add insult to injury, the British had agreed to sell Chieftain tanks to Israel’s enemies, including Libya!

Britain’s perfidious conduct turned out to be a blessing in disguise, for it planted the seeds for the development of the Merkava tank, Israel’s own indigenously designed creation. In 1978, the Merkava was unveiled to the world and has undergone continuous improvements since that time. It is currently the mainstay of Israel’s vaunted armored corps, and is rated to be among the finest tanks in the world.

Throughout its history, Israel has had to endure similar betrayals. For example, up until 1967, France had been Israel’s principle supplier of jet fighters but just prior to the Six-Day War, it imposed an arms embargo on Israel. Israel had already placed an order for 50 Mirage V fighters, which it had paid for in full but the French refused to deliver them and like the British, ended up selling them to Israel’s enemies. That betrayal planted the seeds for the development of Israel’s indigenous Kfir fighter bomber, which saw combat during Operation Peace for Galilee and saw service with the U.S. Navy, and the air forces of Columbia and Sri Lanka.

In the summer of 2014, Israel was forced to go to war yet again, this time with the genocidal Arab terrorist group, Hamas. Hamas has deliberately placed its military infrastructure adjacent to civilian areas, cynically exploiting Gaza’s civilian population as human shields. In some instances, Hamas appallingly used UNRWA schools to store weapons and as a platform to fire rockets and mortars at Israel. Israel quickly identified the sources of fire and retaliated in measured fashion with precision guided munitions, neutralizing the threats.

Barack Obama, who had always harbored deep-seated hostility and resentment toward Israel, tried to force Israel into accepting a lopsided ceasefire agreement brokered by the pro-terrorist regimes of Qatar and Turkey. To facilitate this goal, he adopted a series of measures aimed at pressuring Israel. He ordered the State Department to issue a travel advisory against Israel. The following day, his Federal Aviation Administration issued a directive prohibiting U.S. carriers from flying to or from Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport after a rocket launched by Hamas fell harmlessly about a mile south of Tel Aviv airport. These directives were insidiously designed to inflict economic harm on Israel.

But Obama did not stop there. While Hamas was firing rockets at Israeli cities and digging tunnels for the ghoulish purpose of kidnapping kindergarten-aged children, he ordered the Department of Defense to withhold shipments of Hellfire missiles to Israel. Israeli Apache attack helicopters utilized the Hellfire missile in support of ground operations and where pinpoint precision was required.

It was an unprecedented move. While Israel was at war with a genocidal enemy committed to its destruction, Obama decided to withhold vital military equipment in an effort to place Israel at a military disadvantage.

Despite his best efforts to harm Israel, the Israelis decidedly won the 2014 Gaza War and taught Hamas a lesson it would soon not forget but Israel drew lessons of its own. It realized that Obama was at best, an unreliable ally and Israel could potentially be held hostage to the irrational whims of an unfriendly administration in times of war.

Following the Gaza War, the Israeli company Rafael, maker of the battle-tested and proven Spike precision missile, was asked by the government to modify the Spike so that it could be integrated with the Apache platform. Rafael obliged and soon after, Israeli Apaches were photographed equipped with the NLOS (Non-Line Of Sight) variant of the Spike.

Both the Spike and the Hellfire are precision guided but the Spike possesses capabilities lacking in the Hellfire. It has a range of up to 25 km, surpassing the Hellfire’s and renders the Apache less vulnerable to anti-aircraft defenses. The Non-Line Of Sight option means the target can be hit without the operator actually seeing the target and the missile can be guided via a laser designator or real-time wireless data link. The operator can also abort the mission after launch or change targets. This is an important feature that enables the operator to limit collateral damage should civilians suddenly appear or alternatively, to direct the missile toward a more valuable or dangerous target. The dynamic and fluid nature of the modern battlefield makes this feature invaluable.

During his tenure, Obama’s relationship with the Mideast’s only democracy was at best, acrimonious, and often times marred by petty feuds initiated by Obama or his shills, who took their cues from their boss. But Israel owes Obama a debt of gratitude for it was his misguided petulance during the Gaza conflict that produced the successful marriage between the Apache and the Spike NLOS, thus providing Israel with an even greater qualitative edge over its enemies.

President Trump said he’s looking at “maybe, ultimately, peace in the whole of the Middle East” before a bilateral meeting today with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Trump called it a “great honor” to meet with Abbas and his team, “who have been working very hard with everybody involved toward peace.”

“I think we have a pretty good shot — maybe the best shot ever — and that’s what we’re looking to do,” he said. “And I just want to thank you for all of the time, all of the meetings, all of the work. It’s a complex subject; always been considered the toughest deal of all. Peace between Israel and the Palestinians — the toughest of all.”

“But I think we have a very, very good chance, and I certainly will devote everything within my heart and within my soul to get that deal made. Our team is expert; your team is expert. Israel is working very hard toward the same goal, and I must tell you, Saudi Arabia and many of the different nations are working also hard.”

Trump added, “We’ll see if we can put it together. Who knows? Stranger things have happened. But I think we have a good chance, and it’s a great honor to have you with us.”

Abbas said he was “very delighted” to meet again with Trump. “And if this is any proof to anything, it means — it attests to the seriousness of Your Excellency, Mr. President, to achieve the deal of the century in the Middle East during this year or in the coming months, God willing,” he added.

“And we are very certain that you, Mr. President, are determined to reach real peace in the Middle East. And this gives us the assurance and the confidence that we are on the verge of real peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis,” he said. “And I would not be giving away any secrets if I say we have met with your brave and active delegation more than 20 times since your ascension to power in the White House. And if this is any indication to anything, it indicates how serious you are about peace in the Middle East.”

Abbas pledged that Washington “will find utmost seriousness on our part to achieve peace, because peace serves our interests and the interests of the Israeli people.”

The Palestinian leader said Rosh Hashanah and the Islamic New Year, which begins Thursday evening, falling “together within a 24-hour period” indicates “it means that we can coexist peacefully together.”

“Once again, Mr. President, we count on you,” Abbas added.

Trump thanked Abbas for the “very great sentiment, frankly” and told the Palestinian leader “you have millions of people rooting for you, that I can say.” CONTINUE AT SITE

WASHINGTON – Israel will not have to return $75 million in U.S. security aid, as the State Department announced last week that Secretary Rex Tillerson will not push for a clawback.

According to reports, Tillerson was considering asking Israel to return $75 million in U.S. security aid, which Congress approved in 2016. President Trump has pitched himself as the most pro-Israel president ever, and the White House announced in May a $75 million commitment of support for Israel’s missile defense program. That amount would be in addition to funds committed through President Bush’s 10-year agreement reached with Israel in 2007.

The Obama administration secured their own deal with Israel in 2016, but President Obama’s memorandum of understanding prohibited Israel from requesting additional aid. The terms of the deal dictate that Israel return any funds that exceed the amount included Bush’s MOU for fiscal years 2017 and 2018.

Many lawmakers criticized Obama’s stipulation, saying that it ties the hands of Israel and the U.S. and limits response to potential emergency situations in the turbulent Middle East region. Congress signed off on the $75 million package for Israel during government-funding negotiations at the end of 2016.

“They’re going to get the money. … Israel is an important, trusted ally of the United States,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters at a press briefing. “That hasn’t changed and that won’t change. We have a strong relationship with Israel.”

The potential clawback drew criticism from Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who one week ago penned a letter to Tillerson asking that he drop the consideration. The senators argued that the $75 million return would “damage the U.S.-Israel security relationship, diminish Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region, and send a terrible message to allies and adversaries alike regarding the steadfastness of U.S. commitments.”

Cotton and Rubio cited the “flawed” Iran nuclear deal signed by the Obama administration, which freed up more than $100 billion in frozen assets for Iran – one of three countries the State Department has designated as state sponsors of terrorism. The lawmakers also pointed out that there are no other security-related MOUs that carry stipulations like the one Obama included, a provision that encroaches “on Congress’s core constitutional power to determine the national security interests of the United States and how best to use public funds to defend those interests.”

“If the United States were to seek those funds back at this time, it would send a message of irresolution to our strongest ally in the Middle East. And the move would be duly noted by our mutual adversaries in the region,” the letter reads.

Zionist Organization of America president Morton Klein said in an interview on Friday that Trump has been a disappointment.

“I thought he was going to be the greatest pro-Israel president we’ve ever had,” Klein said. “I said that after he was elected, and now I’ve said publicly that I’ve spoken too soon, that he’s refused to move the embassy to Jerusalem.” CONTINUE AT SITE

The agreement makes no reference to Hamas’s security control over the Gaza Strip. This means that Hamas and its armed wing, Ezaddin Al-Qassam, will remain the main “law-enforcers” in the Gaza Strip. The idea that Hamas would allow Mahmoud Abbas’s security forces to return to the Gaza Strip is pure illusion.

There is no mention in the agreement of Hamas’s political and ideological agenda. The agreement does not require Hamas to abandon its charter, which calls for the elimination of Israel. Nor does it require Hamas to lay down its arms and accept Israel’s right to exist.

The agreement absolves Hamas of its financial responsibilities towards its constituents in the Gaza Strip. The resumption of Palestinian Authority (PA) funds to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will allow Hamas to redirect its resources and energies to building up its military capabilities in preparation for war with Israel. Hamas will no longer have to worry about salaries and electricity and medical supplies to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip because Abbas will be taking care of that.

The agreement facilitates Hamas’s effort to project itself as a legitimate player in the Palestinian arena and win international recognition and sympathy. Hamas will now be able to market itself as a legitimate partner in Abbas’s Western-funded PA governments.

Since 2007, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have announced at least four “reconciliation” agreements to end their rivalry, which began a year earlier when Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections. This week, under the auspices of the Egyptian authorities, the two rival Palestinian parties announced yet another deal to patch up their differences and achieve “national unity.”

The latest agreement between Hamas and the PA requires the Islamist movement to dismantle its shadow government in the Gaza Strip — known as the Administrative Committee. It was this shadow government that prompted PA President Mahmoud Abbas to impose a number of punitive measures against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including cutting off salaries to civil servants, forcing thousands of employees into early retirement, halting payments for electricity supplied by Israel and reducing medicine supplies to hospitals in the Gaza Strip.

Pictured: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas talks with then Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on April 5, 2007 in Gaza City. Since 2007, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have announced at least four “reconciliation” agreements to end their rivalry. (Photo by Mohamed Alostaz/PPM via Getty Images)

The Egyptian-engineered “reconciliation” agreement is being described by some Palestinians as a “historic” deal and a “positive development” toward ending the schisms and discord among the Palestinians. But judging from the reactions of Palestinians, the agreement holds little promise. Only the non-skeptical few think that the agreement will differ from all the previous, non-implemented ones.

Abbas’s sanctions appear to have hit Hamas where it hurts. With electricity supplies for 3-4 hours a day and thousands of civil servants who lost salaries or were forced into early retirement, Hamas has been feeling the heat and feels forced to seek a solution.

A beleaguered and isolated Hamas turned to Abbas’s number one enemy, former Fatah strongman Mohamed Dahlan. In the past few weeks, reports surfaced that Hamas was close to reaching a deal with Dahlan that would see him return to the Gaza Strip as the “savior.” Dahlan is based in the United Arab Emirates and enjoys the political backing of a number of key Arab countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Hamas was hoping that the return of Dahlan to the Gaza Strip would bring with it funds from the United Arab Emirates and a lifting of the Egyptian blockade — by reopening the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

The new enemy of the left-wing establishment.

Yair Netanyahu, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 26-year-old son, has been getting some harsh press in recent weeks.

Yair walked (or toddled) onto the stage of public life when he was five years old as he and his then two-year-old little brother Avner accompanied their parents, Bibi and Sara, into the Prime Minister’s Residence for the first time in 1996.

For nearly 20 years, the Netanyahu boys were little more than a silent presence standing to the side of their parents on election nights. But while Avner remains on the sidelines while serving as a combat soldier, Yair is no longer a stage extra in his parents’ story.

In recent years the older Netanyahu boy has taken to Facebook. And it works out that he is quite an iconoclast.

Yair’s iconoclasm is unsurprising. The Israeli establishment has been bludgeoning his parents since Yair was learning to finger-paint. It would be bizarre if he sought its approval.

Not only does he not seek acceptance from the leftist elite, he clearly hold its members in contempt.

And he’s happy to tell everyone what he thinks about them. Indeed, over the past month, as the criminal probes against his parents have dominated the news cycle, the frequency of Netanyahu’s controversial postings has steeply intensified.

In the last month alone, Yair’s posts have caused media furors three times.

At the beginning of August, Molad, a far-left NGO that supports the BDS movement, published a scathing attack on him on 61, a satirical website it runs.

Titled “Five things you didn’t know about Crown Prince Yair Netanyahu,” the piece attacked him for his political views, for continuing to live with his parents and for having publicly funded security guards, and a publicly funded car and driver.

In response, after pointing out that Molad never criticized the children of any other premier despite ample reason to do so, Yair referred to Molad as a “radical, anti-Zionist group financed by the Fund for Israel’s Destruction, and the European Union.”

Molad, which is funded by the New Israel Fund, European EU-funded foundations, anti-Israel, Jewish- born billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, responded in fine democratic form.

It filed a libel suit against Yair Netanyahu.

Two weeks after the Molad brouhaha, there was the face-off between the neo-Nazis and the violent leftists from Antifa at Charlottesville which left one leftist demonstrator murdered by a neo-Nazi.

The Israeli political and media classes stood as one with the US political establishment and condemned the neo-Nazis while ignoring the violent far-left protesters.

In so doing Israel’s national leadership incidentally or, in some cases deliberately, lent support to the US establishment’s condemnations of President Donald Trump for his decision to condemn “both sides” for their resort to violence rather than just the neo-Nazis.

Just as the conventional wisdom that only the neo-Nazis were to blame was getting set in stone, along came Yair Netanyahu and his Facebook page.

In a post in English, Yair condemned the neo-Nazis as “scums” who “hate me and my country.”

But, he said, “Their breed is dying out.”

Harb’s ordeal began in June 2016, when she published an investigative report that disclosed how Hamas and the Palestinian Authority were using medical care to blackmail Palestinian patients. Her report exposed how some physicians and Hamas and Palestinian Authority officials were demanding bribes in return for issuing permits to patients to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in Israel, the West Bank and Arab and Western countries. Those who cannot afford to pay the bribes are left to die in understaffed and under equipped Palestinian hospitals.

Instead of launching an investigation against those involved in the corruption scandal, Hamas chose to punish the journalist who revealed how patients were being mistreated and abused by senior health officials.

Hajer Harb, a courageous Palestinian journalist, has been found guilty by Hamas of exposing corruption in the health system in the Gaza Strip. On September 13, a Hamas court sentenced her to six months in prison and a fine. It was the first sentence of its kind to be passed on a female journalist in the Gaza Strip.

Harb, however, is unlikely to serve her prison term in the near future; she recently left the Gaza Strip to Jordan, where she is receiving medical treatment after being diagnosed with cancer.

Her illness, however, did not stop Hamas from pursuing legal measures against her for her role in exposing corruption in the Palestinian health system. Instead of suspending the legal proceedings against her, the Hamas court chose to sentence her to prison in absentia.

When and if she recovers from her illness and returns to the Gaza Strip, Harb will be arrested and sent to prison for six months. She will also be required to pay the 1000 shekel ($250) fine that was imposed on her by the Hamas court.

Harb’s ordeal began in June 2016, when she published an investigative report that disclosed how Hamas and the Palestinian Authority were using medical care to blackmail Palestinian patients. Her report exposed how some physicians and Hamas and Palestinian Authority officials were demanding bribes in return for issuing permits to patients to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment in Israel, the West Bank and some Arab and Western countries. Those who cannot afford to pay the bribes are left to die in understaffed and under equipped Palestinian hospitals, the report revealed.

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Making chemotherapy more effective. Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have discovered why chemotherapy sometimes doesn’t work. Bacteria inside pancreatic tumors metabolize gemcitabine – a common chemo treatment – to make the tumor resistant. After applying antibiotics, the chemo begins to work again.
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/how-bacteria-hinder-chemotherapy

Stem cell treatments for Asia. Israeli biotech Pluristem has been awarded two new patents in Hong Kong for two products – mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of skeletal muscle damage or injury, and adherent cells to treat Critical Limb Ischemia and connective tissue regeneration.
https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/09/13/1120229/0/en/Pluristem-Strengthens-Its-Position-in-Asia-Awarded-Two-New-Patents-in-Hong-Kong-for-Critical-Limb-Ischemia-and-Muscle-Regeneration.html

Turning Sound and Touch into Sight. (TY Nevet) I reported previously (in 2012) about Dr. Amir Amedi of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who is developing innovative sensory substitution devices and technologies to help the blind and visually impaired. Here is a video about his work.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/r1Wgj6tmY18?rel=0
https://www.afhu.org/sensorysubstitution/#.WbpkBtFx3IU

Rehabilitating soccer players. (TY Hazel) Spanish soccer club Real Sociedad is using BalanceTutor from Israel’s MediTouch to help its teams improve balance and dexterity, especially after an injury. The 4D treadmill uses unexpected perambulation (jolting to the side etc.) to deliberately disrupt the player’s balance.
https://www.israel21c.org/real-sociedad-using-israeli-4d-treadmill-to-rehab-players/
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mf12lSfHciM?rel=0

Hear this. Udi Doron, CEO of Israel’s Medton, came on ILTV News to describe his innovative hearing aids. The devices are imported from Oticon Denmark and then adapted and fitted in Israel. They scan the environment to reduce the level of noise. They also connect via smartphone to the Internet of Things.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/wSJgNaHC20I?rel=0 http://www.medton.co.il/sitefiles/1/9634/79515.asp

Free eye surgery for Kenyans. (TY Hazel) I reported previously (three times) on doctors from Israeli charity Eye From Zion performing free eye surgery around the world. They have just returned from Kenya where they treated 723 patients, from infants to senior citizens, removing cataracts and correcting astigmatism.
https://www.israel21c.org/eye-from-zion-treats-723-in-kenya-sets-up-new-eye-clinic/

Helping families of cancer patients. Rivi Kossover of Israeli cancer charity Ezer Mizion arranges transportation for patients, volunteers to make family meals, respite for teenage carers and a tutor for a failing student. And still manages to fit in her own domestic activities.
http://www.ezermizion.org/blog/cancer-support-being-on-the-giving-end/

A virtual safari for bed-ridden kids. Israel’s Ramat Gan Safari has placed cameras in the monkey enclosures and live-streams video to bed-ridden children at Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer. The innovation helps kids deal with the stress of their illness and is to be expanded to video more animals and include more hospitals.
http://virtualjerusalem.com/jewish_news.php?Itemid=26837
https://www.youtube.com/embed/-yYQjcWDBDY?rel=0

Medical treatment for Russian Olympic skater. Russia’s Yulia Lipnitskaya was only 15-years-old when won a team gold medal at the 2014 Olympic games, skating to the theme “Schindler’s List”. She developed chronic anorexia shortly afterwards and retired from skating. In January, she came to Israel for treatment.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/russian-olympic-skating-champion-was-treated-for-anorexia-in-israel/

WHO board appoints an Israeli. The World Health Organization (WHO) has finally rewarded Israel for its vital contributions to the WHO (see here) and global medicine. For the first time in 21 years it has appointed to its Executive an Israeli – Professor Itamar Grotto, the Israeli Health Ministry’s Associate Director-General.
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/First-Israeli-named-to-WHO-executive-committee-in-21-years-505117