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GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

In the 9th Oct 22 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
 

An Israeli breakthrough delivers chemotherapy without side-effects.

An Israeli emergency NGO aided hurricane victims in Puerto Rico and Florida.

Israeli satellite technology is saving global water supplies.

Israel’s electric airplane takes off.

Israel’s Free Trade Agreement with South Korea has been ratified.

Israeli soccer celebrates two major successes.

A hundred babies were born at one Jerusalem hospital during the Jewish New Year.

All the foregoing, and much more is listed by Michael Ordman. Israel’s global reach gives the lie to B.D.S.-the boycott, divest and sanction libels.

Here is true B.D.S. about Israel: Breathtaking Diagnostic Science every single day which reaches Botswana, Denmark, Senegal. rsk

 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Nanotech to deliver precision chemotherapy. Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute have developed a nano-material that can deliver different toxic cancer therapies directly to tumors, without harming healthy cells. Robot chemistry was used to test different materials. The breakthrough can vastly reduce chemo side effects.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-tech-can-reduce-side-effects-and-increase-range-of-cancer-drugs-scientists/  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0142961222004409?dgcid=author
 
Detecting tumors via fungi. Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have discovered that most tumors have fungi growing inside them. They have also documented their types using records from 17,000 cancer patients. DNA from fungi is detectable in the blood and can be used to develop a new cancer screening method.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/fungus-is-telltale-cancer-sign-possibly-screenable-by-blood-test-israel-us-study/
 
Diagnosing CJD. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) was well known during the “mad cow” epidemic. But it can also be caused by an inherited gene mutation. Tel Aviv’s Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center is one of only a dozen hospitals globally to use a 92% accurate spinal fluid test for early onset CJD.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/cutting-edge-test-for-fatal-brain-disorder-now-available-in-israel/
 
AI startup to assess new treatments. AION Labs – the Israeli innovation lab for startups (see here previously) has itself launched a startup.  OMEC.AI aims to predict if a new treatment will succeed following pre-clinical trials. Its next-generation computational platform will gauge effectiveness and expose safety issues.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-innovation-lab-backed-by-pharmaceutical-biotech-giants-mints-1st-ai-startup/  https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/aion-labs-launches-ai-startup-addressing-drug-trial-improvement-301635181.html
 
AI engine thinks like a doctor. Israel’s Kahun (see here previously) has expanded from merely a Covid-19 diagnosis system to a full “digital medical advisor”. Its XAI engine bases its clinical reasoning decisions on Kahun’s proprietary map of over 30 million evidence-based medical insights.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bkswkgqmo
 
CE Mark for AR ophthalmic exoscope. Israel’s Beyeonics Vision (see here previously) now has European as well as US approval for its Beyeonics One™ ophthalmic exoscope. The augmented reality (AR) surgical headset gives eye doctors vastly enhanced abilities when performing eye surgery (e.g., cataracts).
https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/beyeonics-vision-has-completed-the-ce-mark-registration-for-its-beyeonics-one-ophthalmic-exoscope-301636525.html
 
Matricelf wins 3rd place in Startup World Cup. Israel’s Matricelf (see here previously) was placed third out of 17,000 contenders for the 2022 Startups World Cup in San Francisco. Matricelf developed the technology for the heart 3D-printed by Tel Aviv University scientists in 2019 (see here).
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/r1vns800fo
 
WHO conference in Tel Aviv. For the first time, the World Health Organization came to Israel to hold its 72nd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe. 53 nations attended the conference from Sep 12-14 during which Israel signed bilateral health cooperation deals with Germany, Croatia, Cyprus, and Kazakhstan.
https://www.jns.org/opinion/heart-of-the-middle-east-israel-a-medical-and-ethical-leader/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tvOeu-ETf0  

Yair Lapid’s holiday bloopers Ruthie Blum

https://www.jns.org/opinion/yair-lapids-holiday-bloopers/ 

During a memorial ceremony for Israel Defense Forces soldiers who fell 49 years ago in the Yom Kippur War, interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid made a blooper that gave his rivals further cause to ridicule him.

The Yesh Atid chairman took the opportunity of the somber event, held on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, to talk about “societal unity,” a favorite campaign mantra of the parties in the anti-Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu camp. The point that the caretaker premier wanted to make was that the Israeli public had banded together when a coalition of Arab armies, led by Egypt and Syria, launched their infamous surprise attack on the country.

“When thousands of worshipers were torn from synagogue and forced to replace their tallit [prayer shawl] with uniforms and their tefillin [phylacteries] with rifles, they did not ask who was right-wing and who was left-wing, or who fasted and who did not,” he said of the response to the massive Oct. 6, 1973, assault, which began on the holiest day in Judaism.

“The religious person exiting the synagogue and the secular one teaching his children to ride bicycles [on the vehicle-free] streets all donned uniforms and headed shoulder-to-shoulder into battle,” he added.
What Lapid hadn’t realized was that tefillin aren’t laid on Yom Kippur or on any other holiday. Ditto where Shabbat is concerned. Woops.

In fairness, the former journalist-turned-politician—like many of his colleagues and much of the populace—is a secular Jew. And though he would have been taught some level of Torah in elementary school (he didn’t matriculate from high school), his unfamiliarity with the rituals of his religion isn’t terribly shocking.

It’s Always About Iran (Even when it’s about Palestinians) Shoshana Bryen

https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2022/10/07/it-is-always-about-iran/

Lest you think Israel is waging war on the Palestinian people or the Palestinian Authority—the nominal government of the West Bank territory—it is not. The P.A. is under siege by Iranian-supported Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, and P.A. strongman Mahmoud Abbas is thoroughly incapable of defending the government or the people. He is looking to Israel to save him and his regime. And Israel, to the extent it can, will try.

To call the relationship complicated is a severe understatement, but it always, always goes back to Iran.

On the one hand, the P.A. is corrupt to its eyeballs, and increasingly, its own people have been protesting the regime’s failures; it is hugely repressive—it jailed people for their Facebook posts, and killed regime critic and journalist Nizar Banat; and it incites violence against Israel and Jews as a way to maintain its revolutionary credentials.

At the U.N. General Assembly, Abbas lauded “the righteous martyrs of the Palestinian people who enlightened the path of freedom and independence with their pure blood.” The Fatah website has been calling for violence against Israelis, and more than once Abbas has announced he is abrogating all the P.A. agreements with Israel—including those regarding security cooperation. But that’s only until he needs security cooperation with the IDF to survive.

Which is the other hand for him and for Israel.

In the midst of rumbling unrest among West Bank Palestinians, Abbas is facing the latest round of the Hamas-Fatah civil war that began after Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and ended with the expulsion of the P.A. from Gaza in 2007. With no Israel and no Fatah inside Gaza, Hamas won security control of the area—which should be a warning against a precipitous Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank. With Iran as a patron, Hamas has since determined the level of aggression that would be used against Israel—and against Fatah.

With American friends like these By Ruthie Blum

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-719065   

US House Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California) took to Twitter on Monday to “urge Israeli political leaders from all sides of the political spectrum to ostracize extremists like Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose outrageous views run contrary to Israel’s core principles of a democratic and Jewish state.”

These “extremists,” he added, “undermine Israel’s interests and the US-Israel relationship, which I and my colleagues have worked to strengthen.”

Sherman was the second “pro-Israel Democrat” to issue a warning against Otzma Yehudit leader MK Ben-Gvir. According to a report earlier this week in Axios, New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez said something similar last month in a private meeting with opposition leader Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu.

“The senator told Netanyahu he needed to realize [that] the composition of …[a] coalition with the likes of Ben-Gvir] could seriously erode bipartisan support in Washington, which has been a pillar of the bilateral relationship between the US and Israel,” a source cited by the outlet revealed.

As No. 2 on the Religious Zionist Party list, which most polls are predicting will garner some 12-13 mandates in the November 1 Knesset election, Ben-Gvir is guaranteed to retain his seat in Israel’s parliament. More significantly, he could end up with a ministerial portfolio in the next government if Netanyahu is able to form a coalition.

With friends like these, the Jewish state doesn’t need the rest of the increasingly left-wing Democratic Party’s actual enemies. Leaving aside the chutzpah of American politicians basically demanding that Israel cancel an Israeli counterpart whose views they don’t share, the idea that the elevation of a certain candidate could and would damage the country’s ties with America is as outrageous as it is disingenuous.

Menendez’s moaning that it “could seriously erode bipartisan support in Washington” is particularly laughable. As Israel’s failed outgoing government illustrates, ideological schisms do not allow for the crossing of aisles without one side utterly capitulating to the other on matters of import.

When anger undermines atonement By Ruthie Blum

https://www.jns.org/opinion/when-anger-undermines-atonement/

 As always in the lead-up to Yom Kippur, Israelis have been wishing one another an “easy fast” and a “good signing” in the Book of Life. It’s a customary greeting, which slips off the tongue without a moment’s thought for the actual process of penitence and prayer that is supposed to accompany the 25-hour fast.

The print and broadcast media also tend to focus on the more superficial aspect of the high holy day, with tips on how best to get through the round-the-clock abstinence from food and drink. These include warnings about caffeine withdrawal and dehydration, the latter being of particular concern during what always turns out to be a heavy-duty heat wave.

Taking for granted the serious business of atonement for sins against God—after spending the nine days beforehand asking forgiveness from the people around us whom we have hurt or wronged in some way—is a function of familiarity with the ritual, even on the part of those who don’t practice it. Ironically, the casualness of this period of deep religiosity contributes to the secular Jewish state’s unique character and beauty.

The climate surrounding the upcoming national election has been putting a bit of a damper on this year’s Days of Awe, however. Though there’s nothing new about the mutual hostility of politicians in competing camps, the fact that Nov. 1 will constitute the fifth time in three and a half years that the public is called to the ballot box—amid a cynical game of musical Knesset chairs—has caused an almost contradictory societal mixture of apathy and anger. Naturally, neither of these is conducive to self-reflection and remorse on the path to purification and renewal.

Indeed, it’s hard to imagine that when the Israeli airwaves go dark on Tuesday at sundown and remain so until Wednesday night, campaign rivalries will really be set aside for a higher purpose. In fairness to both lawmakers and voters, there’s a lot more at stake than merely the identity of the candidates or the parties they represent.

A political ploy to curb free speech By Ruthie Blum

https://www.jns.org/opinion/a-political-ploy-to-curb-free-speech/

 In an act of chutzpah characteristic of the Israeli left, Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party has petitioned the Central Elections Committee (CEC) to declare Channel 14 a “propaganda platform” for Likud, headed by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to the petition, submitted to the CEC on Wednesday by Economy and Industry Minister Orna Barbivai and Energy Minister Karine Elharrar, the right-wing news outlet, owned by billionaire Yitzchak Mirilashvili, “is a real threat to the basic principles” of Israeli elections, as it is “fully harnessed in favor of a candidate and a party, without balance and contrary to every standard of reasonableness, fairness and common sense.”

Barbivai claimed that the move isn’t intended to “influence the content of the broadcasts,” but to demand transparency—to report to the public that the “content constitutes election propaganda.”

Elharrar accused the outlet of “posing as a news channel [but whose] entire purpose is improper propaganda” for Netanyahu.

“Allowing the channel to continue deceiving the public is a real danger to the press in Israel and to democracy as a whole,” she said.

At UN, King Abdullah Warns that ‘Christianity is Under Threat’ in Jerusalem A speech that was unfair and unhinged. Hugh Fitzgerald

https://www.frontpagemag.com/at-un-king-abdullah-warns-that-christianity-is-under-threat-in-jerusalem/

Uneasy lies the crown on this kinglet with a historically spurious claim to any role in Jordan. The Israelis probably provide his food tasters.  rsk

King Abdullah used his speech to the UN General Assembly on September 20 to attack Israeli control of Jerusalem where, he claimed, “Christianity is under threat.” A report on his charge can be found here: “King Abdullah blasts Israel: Christianity in Jerusalem is under fire,” by Tovah Lazaroff, Jerusalem Post, September 20, 2022:

Christianity is under attack in Jerusalem, Jordan’s King Abdullah warned as he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday morning prior to his meeting with Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

“The rights of churches in Jerusalem are threatened,” said Abdullah, who as the head of the Hashemite Kingdom is also considered to be the custodian of Muslim and Christian holy sites in the city.

King Abdullah controls the Waqf Council that manages Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. This was recognized by Israel the 1994 peace treaty between Jordan and the Jewish state, whose ninth article says that Israel commits to “respect the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem.” Nothing was said about Jordan’s “custodianship” over Christian sites in the city. The King may hold himself out as the “custodian of Christian sites” in Jerusalem, but certainly neither the Vatican nor any of the Protestant denominations have granted him that role. He’s self-appointed.

“Christianity in the holy city is under fire. This can not continue,” King Abdullah said.

“We are committed to defending the rights, the precious heritage and the historic identity of the Christian people of our region,” King Abdullah stated.

Is King Abdullah “committed” to defending the Copts in Egypt from attacks by Muslims? Or reassuring the Assyrians and Chaldeans who have fled Iraq since Saddam Hussein was overthrown, reducing the Christian population in the country from 1.5 million to 150,000, that they will be safe in Jordan? Has he demanded of the Saudis that they permit Christian worship in the Kingdom? Did he denounce Erdogan for turning the Hagia Sophia, once the greatest church in Christendom, from a museum into a mosque? Where else in the region, other than Jerusalem, does King Abdullah claim to be defending Christianity?

Israel’s ‘Peace Partner’ Is Slaughtering Israelis by Khaled Abu Toameh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18941/israel-palestinians-peace-partner

These two bodies [Palestinian Authority (PA) and its ruling faction, Fatah] are headed by one man: Mahmoud Abbas, who has zero compunction about his loyalists murdering and wounding Israelis. On the contrary, he encourages it and pays generously for it — with money from Europe and the United States.

Despite [an extremely long list of terrorist attacks against Israel], Fatah is also often mystifyingly referred to by some Israelis and Westerners as a “moderate” Palestinian faction as opposed to the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Fatah, however, has proved over the years that its actions and rhetoric are actually no different from those of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the terror groups that openly call for the elimination of Israel.

In 1993, Yasser Arafat, then leader of Fatah and the PLO, committed “to a peaceful resolution of the conflict” with Israel and claimed that the PLO “renounces the use of terrorism and other acts of violence.” His loyalists, however, continued to murder and wound Israelis even after making these commitments, signing the Oslo Accords and supposedly beginning an Israeli-Palestinian “peace process.”

The groups are so proud of their terrorism that they have started filming their gunmen preparing and carrying out the attacks. They are, in addition, calling on Palestinians to escalate the fight against Israel, while enthusiastically and warmly endorsing the terrorists.

The growing involvement of Fatah and PA members in terrorism is one of the direct results of the Palestinian leadership’s extreme incitement against Israel. Abbas and his aides continue to level the worst charges and libels against Israel. It is this kind of rhetoric, as well as generous payments, that encourage Palestinians to carry out attacks against Israelis. The fact that Abbas and his entourage do not even bother to rein in or denounce the terrorists is apparently seen by many Palestinians as a green light to continue the attacks.

The international community, for its part, is so preoccupied with bashing Israel that no one is calling out these putative Palestinian “peace partners” over their role in terrorism. This silence is also encouraging these Palestinian “peace partners” to continue their attacks.

That is why the Fatah-affiliated Lions’ Den group has felt confident enough to publish a new threat: “O Jews, The Countdown For Your Demise Has Begun; Stabbings, Car-Rammings, Clashes.”

This is the “peace partner” that the Biden administration is hoping to assist in establishing a Palestinian state next to Israel. With a partner like this, it is easy to imagine what the situation in the Middle East will look like — more violence, terrorism and bloodshed. Israel’s “peace partners” are doing everything in their power to confirm the fears of Israelis about the presence of a Palestinian state just a handful of kilometers from their homes.

In the past few months, there has been a rise in the number of terrorist attacks against Israelis carried out by gunmen belonging to, or associated with, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its ruling faction, Fatah. These two bodies are headed by one man: Mahmoud Abbas, who has zero compunction about his loyalists murdering and wounding Israelis. On the contrary, he encourages it and pays generously for it — with money from Europe and the United States.

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

The very first newsletter from Israel in 5783 is Michael Ordman’s weekly compilation of Israel’s dazzling contributions to the health and welfare of the entire world in science, medicine, technology and rescue institutions. This adds considerably to wishes for a sweet new year. Rsk

https://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Israeli-led European cancer consortium. Professors from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Hadassah Cancer Research Institute are leading CanceRNA – a European consortium working to develop novel immunotherapy treatments for cancer. The consortium will initially focus on treating acute myeloid leukemia.

https://www.jns.org/israelis-lead-intl-hunt-for-innovative-cancer-treatments/   

Turning cancer into a chronic disease. Ofer Shalev, Founder & CEO at Israel’s New Phase (see here previously) spoke at CTech’s Mind the Tech NY Conference.  New Phase’s hyperthermic therapy reduces cancer from Stage 4 to Stage 2 so patients can live with a better quality of life. Clinical trials have started.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bjux3bn11j  https://newphase.co.il/clinical-trials/

The full picture of cancer diagnosis. (TY UWI) The death of his mother led Dean Bitan to found Israel’s Imagene (see here previously). The startup has developed tech that can conduct a full molecular analysis on a digitized biopsy image in real time and give a result in minutes, instead of the current situation of a few weeks.

https://www.israel21c.org/diagnosing-cancer-from-biopsies-in-minutes-not-weeks/

Finding the right antidepressant. Israel’s Genetika+ is developing a precision tool to determine if a particular antidepressant will work for an individual. It will also apparently highlight any side effects. (See also Taliaz.)

https://nocamels.com/2022/09/brain-in-a-dish-tech-antidepressant/  https://www.genetikaplus.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oovQR2j1M8

Algae for mind and body. A recent clinical study has shown that AstaPure Arava® by Israel’s Solabia- Algatech Nutrition benefits the immune system and lowers stress. It boosts the gut microbiome while lowering the stress hormone cortisol. The result is a much better resistance to infections.

https://www.prnewswire.com/il/news-releases/astapure-arava-microalgae-astaxanthin-shows-beneficial-mind-body-effects-301624135.html

A new center for neuroscience. Israel’s Sheba Medical Center is partnering with Thomas Jefferson University in the USA, to promote neuroscience research and clinical treatment at both institutions. It includes construction of a cutting-edge neuroscience center on Sheba’s Tel HaShomer campus, targeted to open in late 2024.

https://www.jns.org/sheba-medical-center-thomas-jefferson-university-to-build-neuroscience-center/

Why does the EU support terror-linked NGOs? – By Moshe Dann

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-717825

The names of the perpetrators of the war against the Jews have changed since the Nazi era but those who support terrorists and entities who wish to destroy Israel have the same goal: Holocaust.

In response to the recent closure of seven anti-Israel Palestinian NGOs for supporting terrorist organizations, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned Israel, claiming that there was no evidence of wrong-doing. But their work is not secret, nor is their message: Israel is a racist, Nazi, Apartheid state. Resistance (violence and terrorism) against Israeli Jews, therefore, is not only legitimate, it’s a sacred duty.

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas described the work of the NGOs: “to expose the occupation and its crimes against our people.” They are part of a strategy to promote a global intifada against Israel led by Iran, Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood, the most influential organization for Muslims. The Brotherhood backs Hamas and operates throughout the world and in North America via many front groups, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and student groups, such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). It is the basis for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and other organizations that seek to isolate, demonize and destroy Israel.

Abbas acknowledged that the seven NGOs are Palestinian institutions, which operate according to Palestinian law, and he offered them offices in the PLO headquarters in Ramallah.