RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.jns.org/opinion/an-israel-prize-laureates-anti-government-stance-reveals-a-sinister-view-of-the-jewish-state/

Anyone still puzzled by the outcome of the Nov. 1 Knesset elections should listen to professor Asa Kasher’s interview on Sunday with Kan radio. A fierce opponent of the new government in Jerusalem, the Israel Prize laureate, author of the Israel Defense Forces’ Code of Conduct, inadvertently did more to explain the victory of the right than most of its own champions.

Though not a jurist, the esteemed philosopher and linguist was invited by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation to discuss (i.e. bash) Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s plan, unveiled last week, to reform the judicial system.

Clipping the wings of the overly interventionist, politically biased Supreme Court—to restore the power vested in the legislature—was among the campaign vows that drew voters. Nevertheless, oppositionists have been decrying it as the beginning of the end of Israeli democracy. The opposite is the case, of course. Yet that’s of little concern to the naysayers engaged in literal and figurative demonstrations against their loss at the ballot box.

Kasher, famous for crafting the IDF’s “purity of arms” credo—and criticized in the past for backing the targeted assassination of terrorists—is a particularly noteworthy protester. It’s not that his false claims are more original than those of his colleagues in academia, like-minded members of the media or politicians in the “anybody but Bibi” camp who failed to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partners. On the contrary, they’ve all been invoking the same platitudes.

But Kasher used his microphone to rattle off the tired talking points in a way that reveals just how dim a view he and his cohorts have of Israel.

http://theettingerreport.com/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi

Saudi order of priorities

*The State Department and the Western foreign policy establishment have contended that the Palestinian issue features prominently on the Saudi order of national priorities. Therefore, they have maintained that a substantial enhancement of Israel-Saudi cooperation – and certainly, the attainment of an Israel-Saudi Arabia peace treaty – would be preconditioned upon substantial Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, including the establishment of a Palestinian state.

*However, contrary to the State Department’s worldview, Saudi Arabia’s strong man, the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), does not consider the Palestinian issue a top priority.

*Moreover, conversely to State Department assessments, MBS is aware that the Palestinian issue is not the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict, neither a crown-jewel of Arab policy-making, nor a core cause of regional turbulence.

*Furthermore, unlike the State Department, MBS accords critical weight to the Palestinian intra-Arab track record, which is low on moderation but, top heavy on subversion, terrorism, treachery and ingratitude (especially the Palestinian collaboration with Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait); as well as, the deeply-rooted Palestinian collaboration with international terror organizations, Muslim Brotherhood terrorists and Iran’s Ayatollahs’ regime (which constitute lethal threats to the House of Saud), North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.

*Simultaneously, MBS is absorbed with the strategic goal of evolving Saudi Arabia into a modern regional/global superpower, by reinforcing regional stability, minimizing the threat of existing rogue entities (e.g., Iran’s Ayatollahs and Muslim Brotherhood terrorists), preventing the rise of additional rogue entities (e.g., the domestic Shiite subversion in the oil region in eastern Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s Houthis, the proposed Palestinian state and Hezbollah), and bolstering investment, infrastructure development and economic diversification (e.g., hightech).

*Irrespective of MBS’ deep Islamic beliefs, and notwithstanding the 280-year-old alliance between the House of Saud and the fundamentalist Wahhabi establishment in central and southwestern Saudi Arabia, MBS has recognized the value of Israel’s military, technological capabilities, and Israel’s special standing among most US voters and Capitol Hill legislators, as well as Israel’s reliability and effectiveness in the pursuit of MBS’ game-changing strategic goal.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/how-now-brown-cow-israels-bovine-spies/

In the annals of animal absurdity, the Palestinians are determined to leave their mark. Recently they were alarmed that Israel was setting loose wild boars that had somehow been trained to uproot Palestinian crops but leave Israeli crops alone. Never mind that the increase in the wild boar population is even worse in Israel proper than in the West Bank, the result of more garbage being available because of the residential spread. And now they have charged that Israeli cows have been spying on Palestinian villagers. A preliminary Jihad Watch report is here, and more on this craziness can be found here: “Palestinians accuse Israel of training spy cows – report,” Jerusalem Post, January 6, 2023:

A Palestinian villager encountered Israeli cattle and fabricated a story about how Israel has been secretly training the cattle to spy on Palestinians, according to Palestinian Media Watch, citing the official Palestinian Authority daily news outlet Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.

These are recruited and trained cattle, Palestinian villager Rushd Morrar reportedly told the daily. “On the neck of each cow, they hang a medallion with an eavesdropping and recording device on it and sometimes cameras, in order to monitor every detail in Khirbet Yanun large and small.”

On the neck of each cow, they hang a medallion with an eavesdropping and recording device on it and sometimes cameras, in order to monitor every detail in Khirbet Yanun large and small.”

He also reportedly claimed that “the settlers release herds of wild boars” as a way to destroy any and all Palestinian crops. “The settlers’ crimes are diversifying and becoming sophisticated and the means they employ in their war are unlimited,” he alleged. “Starting with direct acts of murder and ending with incidents of car ramming on the roads; starting with burning agricultural crops, uprooting trees and stripping lands and ending with releasing boars towards the farmer’s lands.”

The only “acts of murder” involving “settlers” are those committed by Palestinian terrorists; the settlers are victims, not perpetrators, of murder. Not a single car-ramming incident has been caused by Israelis; they have been the victims of such attacks, which take place especially at checkpoints, where Palestinian drivers suddenly swerve to hit the IDF soldiers on duty.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19293/european-union-war-israel

A confidential leaked document, composed by the EU mission in east Jerusalem, shows that the Europeans are actively working with, and on behalf of, the Palestinian Authority to take over Area C of the West Bank — although the area was clearly agreed on, by both Israel and the Palestinians, until further negotiations, to be under Israeli control.

“[T]he EU… insists that its positions are based on meticulous compliance with international law, EU law and charter, and also the Oslo Accord. This claim is surely defied by the leaked document in which we can see an activist EU striving to help the Palestinians take over Area C, the very area that is designated to Israel’s control per the Oslo Accord which the EU claims to uphold.” — Jenny Aharon, Jerusalem Post, December 28, 2022.

Aharon noted that while the EU was insisting that Israel abide by the Oslo Accords and that a Palestinian state should be established within the framework of a comprehensive peace agreement, the EU, at the same time, is trying to strip Israel of its rights according to that same agreement, which gave Israel responsibility over security, public order and all issues related to territory, including planning and zoning, in Area C.

The EU, in short, is encouraging the Palestinians not to return to the negotiating table with Israel. Instead, the EU is telling the Palestinians that the EU will help them steal land as an alternative to reaching a peaceful settlement with Israel through negotiations.

“The EU’s reported clandestine activity to undermine Israeli control in Area C and to advance illegal Palestinian development in those areas constitutes a clear and present threat to the security of the State of Israel, and is an act of blatant hostility and aggression.” — Letter from the Israel Defense and Security Forum, consisting of 16,000 former military, security and police officers; i24 News, December 21, 2022.

“As this document confirms, Europe’s use of labels like support for ‘civil society’ and ‘human rights’ were designed to hide the millions of euros given every year to selected allied NGOs, particularly in Area C, to create facts on the ground.” — Dr. Gerald Steinberg, quoted by JNS, January 5, 2023.

These revelations show that no one should be surprised when the E.U. condemns the new government for trying to save land in Yehuda and Shomron [the West Bank] — they [the EU and Palestinians] are the ones responsible for stealing it. – Dr. Eugene Kontorovich, quoted by JNS, January 5, 2023.

In 2022, illegal Palestinian construction in Area C increased by 80%. The report documents 5,535 new illegal structures built in 2022, compared to 3,076 structures in the same period in 2021. — Regavim, October 11, 2022.

The EU support for the Palestinian efforts to take over Area C is actually undermining the prospects of reaching a peaceful settlement between the Palestinians and Israel. The EU has not only damaged any chance for a negotiated settlement, but has duplicitously endorsed the Palestinians’ ongoing attempt to impose a solution on Israel rather than — as both parties involved agreed — to reach one through negotiations.

It is time to tell the EU to mind its own business and stop its anti-democratic meddling in other countries’ affairs.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19297/netanyahu-moderate

After decades, some genius pretended to have discovered the “two-state solution.” That “solution”, of course, had been offered by the United Nations and accepted by the Jews under the “extremist” David Ben Gurion in 1947, but rejected by neighboring Arab states. Its revival by Western powers, notably the United States, was an exercise in diplomatic wild goose chasing.

The fact is that repeated opinion polls and elections show that a majority of Israelis and Palestinians do not want the “two-state solution…”

[T]he dismantling of all settlements in Gaza never led to the peace expected.

As the theme of the settlements began to appear shopworn, a new version of the “Palestinian problem” was put into circulation: “Israeli Apartheid.” But that, too, was never defined. In South Africa under Apartheid, black and colored citizens were not allowed to vote or get elected. In Israel, non-Jewish citizens can and do. Palestinians in the West Bank do not have those rights because they are not Israeli citizens.

Opinion polls in the West Bank, too, show that bread-and-butter politics and cleaning corruption are the top concerns of Palestinians.

That problem might find a solution only if both Israelis and Palestinians are convinced that solving it is in their own interest. Whichever way one looks at it, that conviction isn’t there yet. And even if, one day, that conviction materializes, there is no guarantee that those who have built whole carriers and national strategies around perpetuating it will allow a solution to be agreed and applied.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

You know the expression “one day at a time”? In Israel it applies to the unceasing and amazing daily advances in Medicine: treatments for cancer, essential tremors, burns, and dental implants, and fertility; Technology: quantum computers and new facilities to convert waste into hydrogen and bio-plastics, soil management, crop production and water purification.

All the aforementioned are shared with the rest of the world to ease the burdens of illness and want, and are brought to our attention one week at a time by Michael Ordman in this essential newsletter.

Happy New Year Israel! rsk

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Israelis live longer. Israelis have the world’s 10th highest life expectancy, according to the Worldometer’s Life Expectancy of the World Population – a project by NiceR that helps Americans access affordable prescription medications. The average Israeli life expectancy is 83.5 (82 for men and 85 for women). In 2020 it was 82.6
https://www.israel21c.org/israel-has-10th-highest-life-expectancy-in-world/
https://www.nicerx.com/best-healthcare-countries/ https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/israel-life-expectancy
 
Reprogramming the immune system of cancer patients. Scientists at Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital and Bar-Ilan University have developed HBI0101- a CAR-T therapy for multiple myeloma and amyloidosis, benefiting over 90% of patients in trials. Los Angeles-based Immix BioPharma will commercialize HBI0101.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-demonstrating-57-remission-rate-israeli-immunotherapy-licensed-by-us-firm/  https://haematologica.org/article/view/haematol.2022.281628
 
Implants heal 3 times faster. Israel’s Magdent (see here previously) has received CE approval for its Miniaturized Electromagnetic Device (MED) that has been clinically proven to shorten the healing process after dental implants by up to 3 times. The device is being sold in Israel and the EU. FDA approval is being sought.
https://www.ourcrowd.com/companies/magdent  
 
Relieving migraines in the US. (TY OurCrowd) 2,500+ US physicians have prescribed the Nerivio migraine relief device from Israel’s Theranica, benefiting some 35,000 Americans with its neuromodulation technology.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/spotlight/us-doctors-offer-drug-free-migraine-relief-from-israeli-startup/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tbRRWVi1q4
 
From both sides now. Essential tremor usually affects hands and arms on both sides of the body – one side more than the other. Israel’s Insightec (see here previously) has now received FDA approval to treat the second side of the brains of patients in the US a minimum of nine months after treatment of the first side.
https://insightec.com/insightec-receives-fda-approval-to-treat-essential-tremor-patients-second-side-expanding-total-available-market-in-united-states/
 
New way to cure pulmonary embolisms. Doctors at Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital removed a blood clot in an Israeli’s lung (pulmonary embolism) using, for the first time in Israel, a US-developed FlowTriever. It sucked out some of the patient’s blood, cleaned it of the clot and replaced it. No blood thinners, no invasive surgery.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/no-knife-procedure-to-avoid-some-open-heart-surgeries-is-now-in-israel/
 
4th child for ex-cancer patient. (TY UWI) Thanks to the Fertility Preservation Center at Sheba Medical Center, Ayelet, 35, gave birth to her fourth child, following years of aggressive cancer treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma. She is the first woman in the world to give birth to 4 children through cryopreservation of her eggs.
https://www.jns.org/four-little-miracles/
 
US approval for burns treatment. Israel’s Mediwound has received FDA approval for its NexoBrid pineapple plant-based burn treatment (see here previously) to be sold in the US to treat thermal burns. The US already has emergency stockpiles. NexoBrid is now approved for use in 44 countries, including the EU, Japan, and India.
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-fda-approves-mediwound-burn-treatment-1001434234
 
More approvals on the way. This article identifies three more Israeli companies that are expected to receive FDA approval for treatments in 2023. They are Gamida Cell (Omidubicel / NiCord – bone marrow transplants); Protalix (PRX-102 – Fabry disease); and BioLineRX (BL-8040 / Motixafortide – multiple myeloma).
https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-four-israeli-cos-expect-fda-approvals-in-2023-1001434199
 
Lower cost of prescription medicines. The maximum prices for dispensed medicines in Israel are to fall by an average of nearly 7.5%. Israel’s prescription prices are based on the lowest that the medicines cost in Europe on Jan 1st. Israelis then only pay 15% of that price – the remainder being paid by Israel’s health companies.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-725994
 
Training medics in Ethiopia. A team from Magen David (MDA) and three Israeli hospitals are currently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia training doctors and nurses in the treatment of trauma. In a separate mission, Professor Hanoch Kashtan and his Assuta Ashdod team have been training surgeons and nurses, in northern Ethiopia.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/365142  https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-726005
 
1.3 million calls to MDA. During 2022 Magen David Adom EMTs and paramedics attended over 1.3 million emergencies from nearly 200 stations. The call centers received on average one call every 10.8 seconds. MDA’s 31,600 staff include nearly 14,600 youth volunteers. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/365150
 

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-726798

The contrast between the amount of time that the new Israeli government spent concluding its coalition negotiations and the speed at which it has hit the ground running is spectacular. During the nearly full two months of portfolio-haggling that followed the November 1 Knesset elections, some voters on the victorious side were biting their nails with anxiety, while others grumbled about the apparent pettiness of the politicians they’d put in office.

The sense among the faint-hearted was that the Right’s clear majority was being squandered on minor squabbles. Worse was the fear that the bickering was providing the heterogeneous “anybody but Bibi” bloc – conjoined solely by a shared aversion to Benjamin Netanyahu – with the hope that the coalition would crumble before it had the chance to come into being.

Imagine everyone’s surprise, then, when it finally coagulated minutes before the deadline with hardly any hitches. More astonishingly, the swearing-in ceremony on Thursday caused the previous weeks of worry to evaporate in one fell swoop – for supporters, at least. Those opposed to the most right-wing government in the country’s history channeled their mourning into combat mode.

This hasn’t had the effect they desired, however. On the contrary, warnings on the part of now-former prime minister Yair Lapid and his ilk about the imminent demise of Israeli democracy at the hands of extremists have only strengthened the resolve of the recently instated incumbents to fulfill their campaign promises.

AS A review of the past week alone reveals, they really mean to get down to business. Last Saturday, for instance, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli ordered the halt of an agreement approved by his predecessor, Nachman Shai, to give millions of tax shekels to a left-wing organization associated with the progressive Zionist Berl Katznelson Foundation and the radical New Israel Fund.

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-726559

What if there is no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? What if it never ends?

What if the reason for the conflict is a confusion of terminology: that it is not between Arab Palestinians and Israelis, but between Muslim Arabs and Jews – i.e., a religious conflict? The conflict, therefore, is not only about territory, but about Jewish history and the rights of the Jewish people.

The Torah refers to Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) as sacred to the Jewish people, and it has been so since the time of Abraham. It is the place where Jewish civilization began and flourished for more than a thousand years, where the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, where the kings of Israel reigned, where prophets spoke, and one that is documented in texts, archeology, and literature.

For Muslims and Arabs, however, Palestine, its Latin/Roman name, has little significance, history, or culture. During the Crusades, Muslims sought to restore it to their rule through jihad (holy war), vestiges of which persist.

The modern movement called Palestinianism began only after World War I, when claims by the Zionist movement were recognized by the entire international community. In addition to ancient Jewish communities in cities such as Jerusalem, Safed, and Tiberias, Zionist settlements had been established throughout the area.

Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, reiterates his commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.

According to Western conventional wisdom, the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River would promote the cause of peace, stabilize the Middle East and advance Western interests.

However – just like its policy toward Iran’s Ayatollahs – Western conventional wisdom overlooks the rogue intra-Arab Palestinian track record in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Kuwait, the despotic and corrupt nature of the Palestinian Authority and its abhorrent hate-education, and the impact of such a track record upon the rogue nature of the proposed Palestinian state.  The West takes lightly the adverse impact of such a rogue state upon the Middle East, the survival of pro-Western Arab regimes (e.g., Jordan and the Arabian Peninsula entities) and vital Western interests.

Contrary to Western conventional wisdom, Arabs are aware of the Palestinian track record – just as they are aware of the Ayatollahs’ track record – and are certain that the proposed Palestinian state would resemble the non-controllable, lawless and terroristic Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya much more than the moderate United Arab Emirates. Therefore, they have limited their support of Palestinians to a very positive talk, while conducting a lukewarm-to-negative walk.

Contrary to Western conventional wisdom, Arabs have never flexed their military muscle (and hardly their financial and diplomatic muscle) on behalf of Palestinians. For example, no Arab-Israel war was ever launched on behalf of Palestinians, and no Palestinian war on Israel was ever assisted by Arab military.

Contrary to Western conventional wisdom, Arabs have experienced the Palestinian trait of brutally-biting the (Arab) hand that feeds them: Egypt in the early 1950s, Syria in the 1960s, Jordan in 1968-1970, Lebanon in 1970-1982, Kuwait in 1990.

Contrary to Western conventional wisdom, which considers the Palestinian issue as a primary/central concern in the Middle East, the Arab conduct reflects the conviction (notwithstanding the pro-Palestinian Arab rhetoric) that the Palestinian issue is not the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict, neither a crown-jewel of Arab policy-making, nor a core cause of Middle East turbulence.