www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com
While the “river to the sea” thugs harass diners and shop owners and disturb traffic on bridges and airports, and spoil holiday traditions here in America, in Israel, as Michael Ordman catalogs, research and developments in medicine, science and technology proceed beyond the sirens and screeching headlines of an ongoing war. rsk
“Several welcome potential cures were undergoing human trials last week. A stent for blocked leg arteries; Nitric Oxide for cancer; and a device to prevent delirium in immobile hospital patients. New Israeli technology includes a system that welcomes you and then parks your car automatically. And now that welcome rains have arrived, a solar farm’s systems redirect the water to irrigate crops efficiently. “ Michael Ordman
POSITIVE NEWS DURING A WAR
More heroes of Oct 7. (TY UWI) Brothers Daniel and Neria Sharabi, saved dozens of lives at the Supernova music festival on Oct 7 by providing fire cover for escapees with weapons they found in a tank, while receiving instructions over the phone from an IDF officer. They also treated the wounded who were hiding with them.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/brothers-saved-dozens-at-nova-fighting-terrorists-with-commanders-phoned-in-advice/
Operation Hug. Some very emotional scenes as Nefesh b’Nefesh flies out parents to Israel to greet their lone soldier children serving in combat units. There is no guarantee that the IDF will release the soldiers to meet up with their parents but just see the reaction when they do! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw8T6_lfvTk
https://www.nbn.org.il/operation-hug/ https://twitter.com/i/status/1740680579639882126
https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-french-lone-soldier-reunites-with-family-after-9-months/
Support for parents of IDF soldiers. Parents Beyachad is a worldwide group of parents of IDF soldiers. They have enlisted famous personalities to record 60+ video messages of support.
https://www.jns.org/wire/video-messages-provide-support-to-parents-of-idf-soldiers/
https://www.parentsbeyachad.org/
Word of the Year – Resilience. Israel21c’s Word of the Year for 2023 is Resilience. Israeli NGO Eran defines it as “the ability to enlist internal resources such as flexible thinking, creativity and a willingness to receive help, together with external resources, in order to overcome the challenges and obstacles that always face us.”
https://www.israel21c.org/israels-word-of-the-year-for-2023-is-resilience/ https://en.eran.org.il/
Showers, tailor, laundry, beds. Not a John le Carre book, but some of the innovative mobile services that Israelis have developed to provide IDF soldiers with basic necessities. Thanks to Brothers and Sisters for Israel, (see here) the NGO Restart (see here), Rabbi Shai Graucher (see here), and Bentov Ellipsis.
https://nocamels.com/2023/12/beds-baths-beyond-israelis-get-creative-to-support-the-troops/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPIQpTKUg1k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eTya3ufLZo
https://www.bentov.net/ https://vimeo.com/882815262
The spirit of wounded soldiers. These brave soldiers send out such positive inspirational messages.
https://www.jns.org/a-rare-glimpse-into-the-recovery-of-wounded-soldiers/
Just see what Israelis can recycle. IDF reservist Dan Levit is VP of R&D at Israel’s U-Tron Parking. He assembled a team to rehabilitate 24 decommissioned IDF tanks and then trained volunteers to operate them. The appropriately named “Phoenix” tank battalion is already seeing action in Gaza. And the IDF wants more.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/fixing-up-old-tanks-and-recruiting-old-reservists-a-tech-vp-creates-a-new-battalion/
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Cure for Peripheral Artery Disease sounds good. Israel’s NovaPulse has developed a “virtual” stent that opens blocked arteries in the legs. The implant sits just under the skin on the leg; when the patient moves, they generate ultrasound waves that dilate the implant, allowing oxygenated blood to flow from the heart.
https://nocamels.com/2023/12/virtual-stent-uses-sound-waves-to-open-blocked-leg-arteries/
https://medxelerator.com/almeda-ventures-joins-medx-xelerator-and-israel-innovation-authority-in-vascular-medtech-startup-novapulse-investment/
Nitric Oxide for cancer. Israel’s Beyond Air (see here previously) has partnered with US-based Beyond Cancer to produce a form of immunotherapy for solid tumors known as ultra-high concentration nitric oxide (UNO). The ultra-high concentration of UNO is undergoing Phase 1 human trials.
https://nocamels.com/category/news-briefs/#post-126279
Restoring sanity in the ICU. Two Israeli hospitals (Beilinson and Assuta Ashdod) are trialing the innovative communication headset for locked-in patients developed by Israel’s EyeControl (see here previously). They want to see if it can reduce the incidences of delirium (nightmares & hallucinations) in ICU patients.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-med-tech-companys-innovative-headset-could-reduce-delirium-in-icu-patients/
Computer games can lift depression. Neuroscientist Prof. Moshe Bar co-founded Israel’s Hedonia and created the computer game Mood Bloom to reduce negative feelings. It is based on a therapy called Facilitating Thought Progression (FTP) in which mini games require the player to focus less on circular thoughts.
https://nocamels.com/2023/12/hedonia-mood-bloomanxiety-depression-mobile-app/
Rehabilitating wounded soldiers. More on the Kemtai AI-powered virtual physiotherapist (see here previously) that Israel’s medical institutions and organizations are using to help get wounded IDF service people on the journey back to health. https://vimeo.com/707320029
https://nocamels.com/2024/01/virtual-physio-helping-wounded-soldiers-on-road-to-recovery/
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Guardian angels. (TY UWI) The all-female IDF Sky Rider unit operates the drones (UAVs) that protect troops on the ground. Read here about a battle where they were the eyes in the sky for the 13th Battalion in one of the major battles of the ground incursion Gaza and helped the soldiers on the ground emerge unscathed.
https://www.jns.org/the-guardian-angels-of-golanis-13th-battalion-recall-dramatic-encounter/
Friends despite the war. (TY Diana Bletter) Two Jews and two Muslims share an apartment run by Kivunim, an organization that helps young adults with disabilities. Despite Oct 7, the four flat mates get along just as before. Kivunim’s 45 apartments in Nahariya and Haifa house some 120 residents with disabilities.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/at-group-home-in-nahariya-bond-between-muslim-and-jewish-young-adults-survives-oct-7/ https://www.kvn.org.il/en/about/
No cycle of violence here. (TY Diana Bletter) Zippy Schrager, a 56-year-old Rabbi’s daughter, manages a cycle repair shop in Mailiya, a Christian Arab village in the Western Galilee, just 12 miles from Lebanon. Zippy learned how to fix bikes from the shop co-owner Ron Boutillier who is currently on IDF reserve duty.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/amid-gaza-war-a-us-born-jewish-woman-mans-a-christian-arab-towns-bike-shop/
Man of the Year. (TY UWI) Frontpage Magazine’s Man of the Year is the IDF Soldier. It writes, “In a year of defeatism and surrender, he is fighting back… The men on the front lines are not the politicians or the generals, they’re among the 360,000 reservists … who left behind their homes, families, and jobs to go and fight.”
https://www.frontpagemag.com/frontpage-magazines-man-of-the-year-the-idf-soldier/
Zionist Leadership Academy. (TY Sharon) KKL-JNF and the WZO’s Zionist Leadership Academy is a 10-month program to develop young global leaders who will strengthen connections between their communities and Israeli institutions. Read about the recent mission to Israel of 18 program graduates from 14 countries.
https://baltimorejewishlife.com/news/news-detail.php?SECTION_ID=37&ARTICLE_ID=169222
https://www.wzo.org.il/department/pioneering-youth-and-future-generations/zionist-leadership-academy/en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh5xnJ5cnzk