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ISRAEL

Zelensky’s Ahistorical Speech to Israel’s Knesset By David Harsanyi

https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/03/zelenskys-ahistorical-speech-to-israels-knesset/

Israel surely sides with Ukraine today. But for the record: Ukraine was one of the most violently antisemitic nations in Europe during WWII.

T witter personality Adam Kinzinger recently demanded that American aid to Israel be conditioned on its actions regarding Ukraine. “If we don’t want to directly attack Russia, then our leverage is in the world uniting in sanctions and assistance for the people of Ukraine,” the congressman went on. “This includes everyone, and Israel doesn’t have a special exemption.”

Kinzinger was reacting to Volodymyr Zelensky’s ahistorical speech to the Knesset. “Why hasn’t Israel seriously sanctioned Russia? Why aren’t you putting pressure on businesses?” asked the Ukrainian leader, who warned that Russians were engaged in their own “final solution.” “Ukrainians made their choice 80 years ago. We saved Jews, and that’s why there are Righteous Gentiles among us. People of Israel, you too now have a choice. Thank you!”

No one can blame Zelensky, in a struggle to save his nation, for attempting to create an emotional and historic bond between Ukraine and other besieged people. It is almost surely the case that the Israeli government is rooting for the Ukrainians. But his speech was a distortion of history. If Israel treated Ukraine as Ukraine did its Jewish citizens during World War II, then the Jewish state would be sending weapons to the Russians.

Zelensky’s unfortunate Knesset address Ruthie Blum

https://www.jns.org/opinion/zelenskys-unfortunate-knesset-address/

Clearly realizing, or having been told by advisers, that he’d crossed a line in his Zoom speech to the Knesset on Sunday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky subsequently softened his tone. In a video message on Telegram several hours later, he said, “Of course, Israel has its interests—strategy—to protect its citizens. We understand all of it. The prime minister of Israel, Mr. [Naftali] Bennett, is trying to find a way of holding talks, and we are grateful for this. We are grateful for his efforts, so that sooner or later we will begin to have talks with Russia, possibly in Jerusalem. That’s the right place to find peace, if possible.”

It is this sentiment that he should have conveyed while calling on Israel’s lawmakers for help. Instead, the leader who is being hailed by much of the world as a heroic David fending off an evil Goliath not only chastised the Jewish state; he totally distorted Holocaust history in the process.

Invoking Golda Meir, he quoted what he called her “famous words.” He said, “We intend to remain alive. Our neighbors want to see us dead. This is not a question that leaves much room for compromise.”
This was his way of tailoring his remarks to the audience, as he had done when speaking to the British Parliament on March 9, the Canadian Parliament on March 15, the U.S. Congress on March 16 and the German Bundestag on March 17. In each case, he cited examples with which the politicians and public could relate. And though his pleas for military aid included criticism that not more is being done to come to Ukraine’s rescue, they also contained clauses of gratitude. His admonitions to Israel, on the other hand, were unequivocal.

A funeral in Israel shows the remarkable power of faith By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/03/a_funeral_in_israel_shows_the_remarkably_power_of_faith.html

“The most important difference, though, as those 750,000 or more mourners show, is religious people have babies, lots and lots of babies. Secular people do not. Secular Europe is dying (including Russia, which no longer has the wherewithal to throw bodies into battle as it once did), while religious communities are demographically booming.”

On Friday, March 18, in Bnei Brak, a city near Tel Aviv, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky passed away at the age of 94. I’m sure that means very little to you. Unless you are an ultra-Orthodox Jew whose life is dedicated to the study of the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible), your life will not have intersected with Rabbi Kanievsky’s. However, he was important enough to Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community that, on Sunday, over 750,000 men (or almost 8.5% of Israel’s total population) poured into the streets of Bnei Brak to be part of his funeral.

Still, why should that matter to you? It matters because a religious text that’s around 2,500 years old in its present form and existed in other forms before then, and that recognizes and seeks to tame and elevate human behavior, has such power. Compared to that, today’s wokism, firmly grounded in fantasy, cannot and will not last.

Because the Daily Mail has the best photographs, I’ll quote from its report:

Born in Pinsk, Belarus, he had moved to the country when he was a child and when it was still British-ruled Palestine. He remained there for the rest of his life, becoming revered by many in the Jewish religious world, and was one of the few remaining leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel born before the Holocaust. 

Police closed several highways in Israel’s densely populated Tel Aviv area to traffic for several hours, and other main thoroughfares were expected to be gridlocked. Authorities urged the public not to drive into the area by car.

A separate women’s section was created in the streets of Bnei Brak for the funeral that the Magen David Adom, Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross, said was likely to be one of the largest ever gatherings in ‘Israeli history.’ 

Rather to my surprise, Reuters live-streamed all two hours of the event.

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 
As of December 2020, Israel, once the battered orphan state of the United Nations, has diplomatic relations with 164 of the 193 total UN member states. How did this come about? Much credit is due to the Abraham accords forged by former President Donald Trump, his Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, the Israeli political establishment, and modern new leaders in the Arab world.

The credit must also go to Israel for the reasons that Michael Ordman catalogs on a weekly basis, namely, Israel’s dazzling research, technology and innovation which could be tapped into by cooperative nations.

By every measure, in spite of its biased detractors, Israel is a successful modern democracy on the cusp of its birthday of 74 or 5, 782 years. rsk

With so much in the world to worry about, the Jewish festival of Purim arrived just at the right time. It coincided with Israelis bringing relief to Jews sheltering in Ukraine, to refugees in border countries and those rescued and now safe in Israel. Israeli volunteers flew to the region to treat, donate aid and bring Purim cheer to Ukrainians of all religions. In other news, Israeli medical advances have put smiles on the faces of many of those suffering from Covid-19 and cancer. There was further uplifting news of Israel’s improving relations with the UAE, Morocco and Egypt. Meanwhile, two inspiring Israeli startups launched “out of this world” innovative technology. No wonder Israel has leaped up to ninth place in the United Nations-sponsored World Happiness Index. Michael Ordman

 

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

 

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Tons of equipment for Israeli Ukraine field hospital. Israel airlifted some 17 tons of equipment to build its $6.5 million “Kochav Meir” (Shining Star) Ukraine field hospital (see here previously), which is expected to treat around 100 patients per day. Also, Magen David Adom is sending 4 bullet-proof ambulances to Ukraine.
https://www.jns.org/el-al-planes-take-off-with-17-tons-of-equipment-for-israeli-field-hospital-in-ukraine/
 
Dental NGO relieves pain for Ukrainian child. 4-year-old Feiga arrived in Israel from Ukraine, unable to eat due to her poor dental condition. Just 24 hours after contacting Dental Volunteers for Israel, Feiga had root canal treatment to alleviate her pain, while pediatric dentists gently prepared her for further treatment.
https://dental-dvi.org.il/feige-a-4-year-old-jewish-refugee-from-ukraine-newly-arrived-in-jerusalem/
 
New Covid treatment available. Ziv Medical Center in Tzfat (Safed) is currently offering AMOR-18 from Israel’s Amorphical (see here previously) to all moderate to serious COVID-19 patients. It is also undergoing clinical trials at four Israeli hospitals. All 18 patients in Ziv’s trials of AMOR-18 recovered quickly.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/new-israeli-covid-drug-offered-to-ziv-medical-center-patients/
 
Diagnostic blood test advances. Israel’s OncoHost (see here previously) has opened a new laboratory in North Carolina for its PROphet blood test to identify which cancer treatments are likely to work. Israeli Nobel Prize winner Aaron Ciechanover is an OncoHost’s advisor. PROphet may also help autoimmune disease sufferers.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/spotlight/lifting-the-veil-of-uncertainty-around-cancer-treatments/
 
Remote monitoring pilot success. Israel’s Essence SmartCare has completed a successful pilot of its VitalOn remote patient monitoring system. Patients of Clalit Health Services and homecare provider Sharan Medical Center were monitored at home on transfer from hospital.  VitalOn even saved a patient suffering low oxygen.
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-701244  https://www.essencesmartcare.com/
 
A fierce medical company. (TY Atid-EDI) Israel’s MeMed (see here previously) has been named as one of the “Fierce MedTech Fierce 15” most promising medical technology companies. The annual list is produced by the prestigious medical magazine and resource Fierce Biotech.
https://www.me-med.com/_files/ugd/6a0f21_298b9f7e9e074852a576b8bf12773912.pdf
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-reports/fierce-medtechs-2021-fierce-15
 
A breath test for any disease. Israel’s Breath of Health (BOH – see here previously) was featured on I24 News. Its trial at Israeli hospitals showed that it could replace the PCR test for COVID detection. Its blow test pattern analysis can be adapted to detect any pathogen – e.g., different cancers, Alzheimer’s, or diabetes etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIpBD_5Hk_U
 
Improving outcomes for cancer patients. The Israeli-developed Intelligent Care platform of US-based Canopy improves life-saving care provided to cancer patients. Canopy’s suite of intelligent, electronic health-record integrated tools helps cancer centers engage with their patients and streamline clinical processes.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/rkgqe9lfc  https://www.canopycare.us/
 

Making America weak again and endangering Israel Ruthie Blum

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-701624

With global efforts underway to penalize Russia for invading Ukraine, it’s uncanny that the only player preventing the US-led P5+1 countries from inking their disastrous nuclear pact with Iran is President Vladimir Putin. 

But even his demand that Tehran be exempt from sanctions on Moscow isn’t enough for Washington to cancel the whole charade in Vienna.

That’s just how desperate the administration of President Joe Biden is to have the revamped version of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed, sealed and delivered on a silver platter to the world’s greatest state sponsor of terrorism.

Yes, this is how bent America is on giving the mullahs multi-billions of dollars, while favorably weighing the reversal of former president Donald Trump’s decision to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. 

To justify the insanity, the current administration, like that of former president Barack Obama from which it was cloned, pretends that appeasing the ayatollahs and President Ebrahim (“the butcher”) Raisi will enhance regional stability and security by preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear bombs. In the first place, this is false. 

In the second, it doesn’t take into account the other kinds of weapons in Tehran’s vast arsenal, such as the more than 3,000 ballistic missiles that outgoing US Central Command head Gen. Kenneth McKenzie bemoaned on Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Many of these projectiles, according to McKenzie, have the range to reach Israel. 

US working to change ‘stupid’ Israeli policies; ambassador ‘infuriated’ with Jewish settlement growth “We can’t do stupid things that impede us for a two-state solution,” Ambassador Tom Nides told Americans for Peace Now. By Batya Jerenberg

https://worldisraelnews.com/us-working-to-change-stupid-israeli-policies-ambassador-infuriated-with-jewish-settlement-growth

In a Tuesday webinar with left-wing Americans for Peace Now, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides firmly espoused the “two-state solution” and said he is working to change Jerusalem’s policies that stand in its way.

“If we talk about anything but a two-state solution, it’s not good for the Palestinians, it’s certainly not good for Israel, it’s not good for the Jews, it’s not good for anyone,” Nides told his virtual audience.

There are “four or five” issues that he said he constantly brings up in order for his plan to come to fruition. Interestingly, the very first example he gave was higher internet speed.

“Who the he** has 3G [today]?” he asked. He said he’s been “pounding the table” at the Communications Ministry so that the Palestinians could all have “4G or even 5G” on their phones.

Nides has also urged the biggest corporations working in Israel today, such as Google and Microsoft, to “open offices in the West Bank” in order to provide Palestinians with better employment possibilities.

These kinds of ideas “don’t compromise Israel’s security,” he said, while if the Palestinians don’t see avenues to prosperity, “we’re going to wake up with a bigger catastrophe than we currently have.”

A free lunch for Amnesty’s anti-Semitism Ruthie Blum

https://www.jns.org/opinion/a-free-lunch-for-amnestys-anti-semitism/

 It’s not clear what it will take for critics of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to admit that it wasn’t he who turned support for Israel into a “wedge issue” in the United States between Democrats and Republicans. The current government in Jerusalem, formed precisely to oust him, certainly won’t acknowledge it, especially not while boasting of repairing the ostensible damage to “bipartisanship” wrought by its predecessor.
Given the increasing radicalization of the Democratic Party, embodied in but not exclusive to “The Squad,” it’s odd for anyone at home or abroad to believe the nonsense. Even the “anti-Israel is the new pro-Israel” camp knows that it’s false.
In fact, members of this group have no desire to cross the literal and figurative aisle. It’s the liberal Jews in America and Israel who don’t grasp that the Jewish state itself—not one policy or another—has become a bone of contention, an issue to be debated.
If any skepticism remained about this situation, the Women’s National Democratic Club (WNDC) dispelled it last week, when it hosted Amnesty International USA executive director Paul O’Brien and listened attentively while he said that Israel “shouldn’t exist as a Jewish state.”
Yes, the WNDC, a self-described “hub for civic engagement, learning and political action in the heart of the nation’s capital … a meeting place for Democrats, Independents and Progressives to come together in order to protect and promote our democratic values … [and] advance shared political interests,” invited O’Brien to address a ladies’ lunch.
Thanks to Jewish Insider, which covered the March 9 event, O’Brien’s remarks can’t be brushed under the carpet. Not that the 20 attendees in person and another 30 via video would have considered his words outrageous enough to warrant keeping under wraps.

The False Narrative of Israeli Neutrality in Russia’s Ukraine Invasion By Lahav Harkov

https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/03/the-false-narrative-of-israeli-neutrality-in-russias-ukraine-invasion/

The nation is not ‘sitting on the fence,’ but is playing an important mediating role.

Jerusalem — “We condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid said this week, during an official visit to Romania. “[The invasion] has no justification, and we call on Russia to stop the shooting and the attacks and solve the problems around the negotiating table.”

Additionally, Lapid said, “Israel will not be a route to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other western countries.”

But Israel’s prime minister, Naftali Bennett, has been a bit vaguer in his messaging. He’s spoken about “solidarity with the people of Ukraine” and is careful not to mention Russia when he talks about the war. In fact, he doesn’t talk about war; his messages speaking out against the bloodshed mostly say “the situation” — which is a more commonly used catch-all in Hebrew than in English, but still fairly weak — and recently, “the fighting.”

Israel also hedged at the U.N. when the war in Ukraine began. The U.S. gathered signatures for a Security Council resolution from countries that are not on the council in order to show a united front against the Russian invasion, even though Moscow would inevitably veto it. Israel declined to sign. Days later, Lapid said that Israel is “on the right side of history,” and announced that Israel would vote in favor of the resolution against Russia in the U.N. General Assembly — and it did.

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

 

This newsletter could well be titled “Israel Abroad.” First, Michael Ordman highlights the enormous contributions Israel is making in providing material help to Ukraine’s beleaguered citizens. Second, Israeli medical innovations and technology are used in hospitals throughout the world; famine and drought in Africa are prevented with agricultural tools and techniques developed in Israel; traffic is relieved with Israeli systems in South Korea; 5G networks from Israel are deployed in Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, the U.S, and Greece; Finland’s defense ministry has decided to purchase defense systems from Israeli companies. Finally, the increasing number of Jewish refugees who find a haven in Israel evokes the grim memory of the infamous Evian conference of July 1938 when the Dominican Republic was the only Western nation that would grant some refuge to the millions of Jews trapped in Europe and targeted for genocide. Their last words were “hear oh Israel. “As Michael Ordman records, Israel heard and has responded. rsk

 

 

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Medics rush to Ukraine. Israeli emergency NGO United Hatzalah chartered a plane and sent 40 paramedics, EMTs, doctors, psychologists, and therapists, to join its volunteers already treating local Ukrainians. The plane also delivered tons of medical supplies, donated food, plus other aid, and brought back 150 refugees to Israel.
https://israelrescue.org/blog/united-hatzalah-charters-plane-to-send-additional-teams-and-supplies-to-ukrainian-border-and-return-150-israeli-refugees-to-israel/
 
10 seriously ill children rescued from Ukraine. The Israeli embassy in Bucharest, Romania helped rescue 10 Ukrainian children with serious illnesses and bring them to Israel for treatment. Israeli medical personnel flew on a special plane to safely transport the children to Schneider Children’s hospital in Petah Tikvah, Israel.
https://worldisraelnews.com/israel-airlifts-10-hospitalized-kids-from-ukraine-for-care/
https://www.jns.org/israels-romanian-embassy-evacuates-pediatric-cancer-patients-to-israel/

Health monitoring for Ukrainian women. (TY UWI & I24 News) The Gynescope  from Israel’s Illumigyn (see here previously) is being used by medics from Israel’s Sheba Medical Center to diagnose cervical cancer in Ukrainian women.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqw1VZ2IUjo
 
Israeli field hospital for Ukraine. Israel is sending a medical delegation to Ukraine, to set up a field hospital. It will be operated by Sheba Medical Center, Clalit Health Services, and medics from other hospitals. The field hospital will include wards for children and adults, an emergency room, a delivery room, and a first aid clinic.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/323322  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4ulTXTmM2c
https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-israel-sets-up-virtual-hospital-in-ukraine/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH59FSvDNHU
 
Delegation from Moldovia visits Israel. To help understand how a hospital is run during an emergency, a delegation of senior medical officials from Moldova visited Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa. The visit had been planned long before the start of the recent Russian / Ukrainian conflict.
https://www.rambam.org.il/en/rambam_news/Moldovan_delegation_at_Rambam.aspx
 
MS patient regains ability to walk. Malia Litman, from Dallas Texas, was unable to walk due to her MS condition. Then she discovered the stem cell treatment being trialed at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.  Thanks to the treatment, she was able to dance with her son Zachary at his wedding.
https://tjpnews.com/malia-litman-a-hadassah-medical-miracle/
 
Linking diet, bacteria, and the heart. An international study, led by Ben Gurion University Professor Iris Shai, has shown that the green Mediterranean (MED) diet modifies the bacterial population in the gut. These changes in the microbiome can bring substantial health benefits, including reduced cardiac risk.
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/bgu-research-green-mediterranean-diet-mediates-weight-loss-reduces-cardiac-risk/2022/03/10/
https://genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13073-022-01015-z
 
Space medicine course. Professor Sara Eyal of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has launched Israel’s first university course for therapy development research in space, or “space medicine.”  Her first session attracted some 40 students from different disciplines such as medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and biology.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-first-space-medicine-university-course-gets-underway-in-jerusalem/
 
Healthcare agreement with Bahrain. Israel and Bahrain have signed an agreement for health care cooperation in epidemics and emergency management, education, and research.  It will cover the fields of information sharing, digital health, medical innovation, and genetic research.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israel-and-bahrain-sign-agreement-on-health-collaboration/

The left’s war on Israel is coming into the open By Andrea Widburg

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/03/the_lefts_war_on_israel_is_coming_into_the_open.html

Following the Holocaust, many in the world understood that Jews, the ongoing victims of the world’s oldest hatred, needed a safe haven where they would be masters of their own destiny.  That haven was Israel, a land acquired through an unbroken four-thousand-year history, purchase, and gift, and, eventually, through attacks against them, the spoils of war.  For many years, American support for Israel was consistent across the political spectrum.  However, as Israel became associated too strongly with America during the Cold War, the left turned against her — and now leftists, including those in the Biden administration, are increasingly open about their animosity.

A couple of days ago, The Washington Free Beacon revealed that the Biden administration is offering almost $1 million in taxpayer money to whatever groups can dig up dirt on Israel:

The Biden administration is offering nearly $1 million for groups to investigate alleged human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, an effort that will delegitimize Israel, according to sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.

The State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) is soliciting nonprofit groups to apply for grant money up to $987,654 to “strengthen accountability and human rights in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza,” according to a grant notice first posted online in mid-February.