RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/04/hamas-top-dog-tells-israel-deliver-ventilators-or-robert-spencer/

Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the jihad terror group Hamas, on Thursday boasted that if Israel didn’t come across with more ventilators for “Palestinian” coronavirus victims in Gaza, the jihadis “take them by force.” As if that weren’t enough, Sinwar added: “If ventilators are not brought into [Gaza], we’ll take them by force from Israel and stop the breathing of 6 million Israelis.” Of course, Sinwar wasn’t articulating any new imperative for the jihad group: a new genocide of the Jews has always been a cherished Hamas aspiration.

As The Palestinian Delusion explains, destroying Israel is, in Hamas’ view, a religious imperative — even an act of worship. In 2012, Hamas published a music video that included a lyric apparently inspired by the “drive them out from where they drove you out” command and the Hadith calling on Muslims to kill Jews in order to hasten the Last Day: “Killing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah.”

To a Gaza imam, Ahmad Okasha, the only solution to the problems of the Palestinians was decreed by Muhammad himself in his own End Times prophecy of Muslims killing Jews. On Hamas’ Al-Aqsa TV on November 5, 2018, Okasha said: “The most obvious Jihad on the face of the Earth is the Jihad in Palestine. There is no doubt or dispute about it. Muslims fighting Jews who occupied their land— there is no dispute here.”

Indeed, Okasha added, Jerusalem itself “shall only be liberated in the way decreed for us by Allah: ‘Judgment Day shall not come until you fight the Jews, and the trees and the rocks will say: “Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”’”

https://www.jns.org/opinion/is-a-request-for-economic-patriotism-taking-israels-lockdown-too-far/

Towards the end of his latest address to inform the Israeli public of increased lockdown measures due to the coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added words of cautious optimism ahead of the Passover holiday.

“There is a real possibility that if the positive trends in Israel continue, we will gradually exit the lockdown after Passover,” he said on Monday evening. “[This] will breathe new life into the economy. It will give hope to employers and employees, and to small and big businesses. … As soon as we begin to change direction—the minute that economic activity is increased—everything will begin to change. In the meantime, in order to get through this chapter, we in the government reached a decision to inject NIS 90 billion [into the economy] … ”

Before extending a wish for a “happy and kosher Pesach,” along with the hope that “we will get through this hardship together and emerge from quarantine to freedom,” he concluded with a request.

“One more important thing that I ask of you,” he implored. “Especially during these times, I ask that you buy Israeli-made products.”

http://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Testing coronavirus treatment. As reported in the 22nd Mar newsletter, Israel’s Pluristem is developing a treatment for severe coronavirus patients. Latest news is that Pluristem has begun human testing in Israel.

https://www.jpost.com/health-science/israels-company-uses-placenta-cells-to-treat-critical-covid-19-patients-622960

Treatment for ARDS. The US FDA has approved a Phase 2 compassionate care trial of Aviptadil by the US-Israeli biotech NeuroRx at Rambam Medical Center on coronavirus patients. Aviptadil combats coronavirus- triggered Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) in the lungs, which is fatal in 50% of sufferers.

https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-israeli-drug-could-treat-condition-that-kills-50-of-corona-patients/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgmpS2N8124

UV light kills the coronavirus. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has developed a machine that uses ultraviolet (UV) light to kill viruses and bacteria on hospital surfaces. This will allow medical centers to speed up the sterilization of rooms (previously used chemicals) and make them ready for new patients.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/from-swords-to-plows-iai-seeks-to-battle-coronavirus-with-uv-light-tech/

MyHeritage to perform coronavirus testing. Last week, Israeli genealogy company MyHeritage.com announced it is donating 66,000 swabs to boost Israel’s coronavirus testing efforts. Now it is building a COVID-19 testing lab (at its own expense) and will perform at least 10,000 tests a day from 9th April.

https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Chinese-Israeli-labs-team-up-to-build-emergency-COVID-19-testing-facility-622647 https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3804577,00.html

Anti-viral sticker can transform surgical masks. The Galilee Medical Center is testing Maya – a 3D-printed sticker that Technion Professor Eyal Zussman has developed. When stuck on a surgical mask, it adds the extra layer of a biological filter. Its nanometric fibers are coated with disinfectants to effectively neutralize viruses.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3804900,00.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuNYNj6plDo

Israeli-Arab bus driver released from hospital. The bus driver (see 22 Mar) who caught the coronavirus from Greek tourists has now been released from hospital. The 38-year-old Israeli-Arab was the first person who required a ventilator in Israel to recover from the virus. He had been treated with Remdesivir.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/1st-person-in-israel-in-serious-condition-from-covid-19-recovers/

Sleep app offered free to boost immune system. As reported (here) Israel’s Dayzz and its app help diagnose sleep problems. Now Dayzz is offering the app free to organizations and individuals, in the hope it will boost immunity during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. Lack of sleep also increases anxiety levels (& vice-versa).

https://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-app-improves-sleep-to-bolster-immune-system/

Special MDA ambulances to protect medics. (TY UWI) MDA has 50 ambulances that are sealed inside, to protect the driver and paramedics from being infected by coronavirus patients they are transporting to hospital. The only need to be in physical contact with the more serious cases, when they wear full protective suits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROWbsMYhia4

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Yuli-Edelstein-and-the-struggle-for-Israels-democracy-623589

In order to understand the political drama of former Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein’s resignation, one needs to put it into the context of three on-going political struggles: 1) recent inconclusive elections in which there was no clear majority for either major party; 2) a highly aggressive High Court, legal advisers and state prosecutors which sought to impose their agenda on the executive and legislative branches of government; and 3) efforts to depose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Faced with an ultimatum by the High Court to convene the Knesset and vote on his replacement, Edelstein’s dilemma was considered a “constitutional crisis.” Condemned by many in the media and his opponents, he risked his political career. It was for him a moment of Truth that also created the possibility of healing and reconciliation.      
             
The implosion of the Blue and White Party clearly demonstrates why the High Court’s impulsive intervention was wrong, and explains why Edelstein’s resignation was a wise decision. The High Court demanded that Edelstein accept Blue and White’s claim that it had the support of 61 members of Knesset and was entitled to replace Edelstein with its own candidate.

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/no-coronavirus-vaccine-can-inoculate-against-anti-vaxxers-623377

In a televised address on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued the latest of what have become additional near-daily directives aimed at preventing the contracting and spreading of COVID-19.

“Citizens of Israel, we are still at the height of an international tsunami,” he said. “The coronavirus pandemic is washing powerfully over continents and countries…. All of us are making a gargantuan effort to overcome the virus… but this doesn’t mean that the danger is behind us. We cannot fall into the trap of complacency.”He added that Israeli is at a crossroads from which it either can progress or regress.

“Over the past day in New York alone, a person died every four minutes. In Spain, the situation is similar…. We are doing everything in our power not to reach that point.

I know that this has caused severe economic damage… but our first priority is to save the lives of thousands and thousands of Israelis.”

Netanyahu then demanded that everyone wear masks in public. Those who don’t possess store-bought ones can improvise with scarves or other face-coverings, he said, “to minimize the spread of the virus to others.”

He also stressed that only family members already sharing a household may celebrate Passover together, even if it means forfeiting the presence at the Seder of daughters, sons, siblings and particularly grandparents, who are in the highest risk group.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15805/coronavirus-palestinians-gaza

The Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership has done virtually nothing to help the Gaza Strip confront the coronavirus pandemic. Ironically, the only country that has been helping the Gaza Strip in the past few weeks is Israel.

The question is, why is the PA ignoring calls to help the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip in their effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus? One explanation — that accords with history — is that if a large number of Palestinians living in Gaza there are infected… the PA leadership wants the world to blame Israel.

It is important to emphasize that there is no Israeli “siege” on the Gaza Strip. First, the Gaza Strip shares borders not only with Israel, but also with Egypt. It is Egypt, not Israel… that is effectively blockading Gaza.

The United Nations, regardless, is also trying to pave the way for holding Israel responsible for the possible spread of the virus in the Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud Abbas is undoubtedly looking forward to a day when he can hold Israel fully responsible for the outbreak of the coronavirus in the Gaza Strip. He is also likely waiting for the UN and many in the international community to join him in blaming Israel and Jews for the spread of the pandemic among his people while ignoring his own responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

After the discovery of the first coronavirus cases in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority (PA) is ignoring appeals to lift a series of sanctions it imposed on the two million Palestinians living there. Actually, the PA leadership has done virtually nothing to help the Gaza Strip confront the coronavirus pandemic. Ironically, the only country that has been helping the Gaza Strip in the past few weeks is Israel.

The question is, why is the PA ignoring calls to help the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip in their effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus? One explanation — that accords with history — is that if a large number of Palestinians living in Gaza there are infected with the disease and there is a huge catastrophe there, the PA leadership wants the world to blame Israel.

The Palestinian Authority has a long record of hiding its own responsibility for the suffering of its people, and instead blaming Israel for the woes of the Gaza Strip.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/israel-gives-palestinians-desperately-needed-covid-19-aid-gets-bizarre-blood-libels-in-return/

Israel has been providing the Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza with crucial aid against the coronavirus—not simply out of love and charity, but because populations in such close proximity to each other have a mutual interest in tackling the problem. Israel fears the security implications of a meltdown of Palestinian society in either or both enclaves, which could result in massive rocket fire or large numbers of desperate people storming Israel’s borders.

For now, the aid and cooperation have prompted even the United Nations, known for obsessive and severely disproportionate criticism of Israel, to sing the praises of the Jewish state.

The Palestine branch of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs—not considered one of Israel’s greatest fans—reported that the Israeli and Palestinian Authority ministries of health, along with Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), have been meeting regularly.

“As part of this effort,” the UN agency said, “COGAT is facilitating four trainings for Palestinian medical teams, while the Israeli [Health Ministry] donated over 1,000 testing kits and thousands of PPEs [Personal Protective Equipment] to the West Bank and Gaza.”

https://www.jns.org/opinion/haredi-statistics-show-that-social-distancing-works/

The carry-on about the dangerous spread of COVID-19 within the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community in Israel is understandable. While the rest of us are cooped up at home, with increasingly severe limitations on our freedom of movement, certain ultra-Orthodox towns and neighborhoods have been conducting business as usual.

Indeed, the contrast between Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood and the city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv with the shuttered shops and empty playgrounds of cities from Metula to Eilat naturally causes rage on the part of a populace forced to comply with regulations aimed at flattening the curve of the coronavirus. Video footage from a funeral in Bnei Brak this past Saturday night—attended by masses of members of an extreme haredi sect all huddled together, yet not arrested by police for ignoring the two-meter-apart rule—elicited furious reactions from secular and religious Israelis alike.

For the past month, health officials have bemoaned the situation in the nation’s hospitals and warned that the exponential rise in infection, due to the incredibly contagious nature of the virus, would result in disaster. More specifically, it would lead to a situation in which the number of patients requiring ventilation outweighed the equipment. At such a point, doctors would face dilemmas about which people to put on respirators. It is imperative—the authorities tell us ad nauseam—for everyone to comply. No exceptions.