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ISRAEL

The Palestinian War on the Trump Peace Plan by Khaled Abu Toameh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14298/palestinians-vs-trump-peace-plan

In the past few days, the Gaza-based groups have issued several statements hinting that they would use all means, including terrorism, to foil the US peace plan.

What is perhaps most worrying for the Arab leaders are the threats coming from Iran’s puppets — Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. It now remains to be seen whether the Arab heads of state will be deterred by these threats or ignore them at the risk of becoming the Palestinians’ terror targets.

Clearly, the very Palestinians who are boycotting a conference — whose aim is to help them move beyond their leadership-imposed economic devastation — will wind up the big losers in this spiteful scenario of hate. This time, however, it also seems that the Palestinians will not only deprive themselves of billions of dollars, but will also damage — perhaps irrevocably — their relations with influential Arab countries. By all accounts, the Palestinians appear to be heading toward another “nakba” (catastrophe).

The Palestinians seem to be moving on two fronts to thwart US President Donald Trump’s plan for peace in the Middle East, also known as the “Deal of the Century.”

The Palestinian Authority and its political allies in the West Bank have launched a diplomatic and media campaign to rally worldwide support for their rejection of Trump’s upcoming plan. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian extremist groups, for their part, are already hinting that they will resort to violence in an effort to thwart the “Deal of the Century.”

Last week, Hamas called on Bahrain not to allow the “Zionist enemy to defile its lands” by attending the economic conference.

“Israel is a Defensive State” Former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper tells it like it is. VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXy4NXbuE-k

Palestinian Authority TV Series Features Uncle Teaching Nephew How to Shoot at ‘the Jews’ By Debra Heine

https://pjmedia.com/trending/palestinian-authority-tv-series-features-uncle-teaching-nephew-how-to-shoot-at-the-jews/

Official Palestinian Authority TV is running an ahistorical and blatantly anti-Semitic series that features an adult man teaching a child how to shoot “the Jews,” and characterizes the Jewish people as “cowards,” rapists, “impure schemers,” and “the enemy.”

This evil propaganda is being broadcast during the month of Ramadan, which is considered the holiest month of the year for Muslims.

The series, called “Children of the Village Chief, portrays Arab life in a “West Bank” village around the time of the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 until the 1980s, according to Palestinian Media Watch.

The first episode starts with the so-called Palestinian nakba—the “catastrophe” of the establishment of modern-day Israel—and the series takes the audience up to the 1980s.

In one episode, a cherubic young boy asks his uncle to teach him how to use a rifle so he can shoot at “the Jews” if they come to his village. Happy to oblige, Uncle Ibrahim instructs his nephew to only aim at “the enemy,” who the boy then again identifies as “the Jews.”

In another episode, a woman wonders how the Arab forces were defeated by the Jews since “the Jews are cowards.” The man replies that “the British are a snake in the grass … they gave [the Jews] everything.” (Britain did not arm Jewish forces during Israel’s War of Independence.) CONTINUE AT SITE

BREAKING THE SILENCE SMEARS ISRAEL IN ‘THE GUARDIAN’ – AGAIN BY EMANUEL MILLER

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Breaking-the-Silence-smears-Israel-in-The-Guardian-again-590654?

With the emergence of the hard Left in the UK in recent years, many British Jews are worried about the rise of antisemitism. 

At the same time as claiming to be anti-racist, papers like The Guardian and The Independent have normalized the language of delegitimization. The constant stream of anti-Israel articles, unparalleled in intensity and level of scrutiny, have done much to create an atmosphere in which any justification of Israel’s right to self-defense is regarded as beyond the pale.
 
The Guardian displays a Pavlovian loathing for Israel. Anything, even something as simple as holding an international music contest, becomes an opportunity to censure Israel while exempting the Palestinians from even a modicum of criticism. 
This is the newspaper selected by Yehuda Shaul, co-founder of the Israeli anti-occupation group Breaking the Silence (BTS), as the most appropriate place to publish an op-ed criticizing the presence of Israeli civilians and the IDF in Hebron, calling it “legal discrimination.”
 

530 multinationals from 35 countries innovating in Israel Amir Mizroch

https://www.forbes.com/sites/startupnationcentral/2019/05/27/530-multinationals-from-35-countries-innovating-in-israel/#c8bbdd33f5d1

Israel is emerging as a leading innovation destination for a growing number of multinational corporations looking to the country’s 6,000 plus startups for new ideas, quick prototyping ability, and infectious entrepreneurial culture, a new report shows.

The PwC report, commissioned by tech NGO Start-Up Nation Central, maps for the first time the activities of some 539 multinational companies (MNCs) representing 35 countries, who are currently active in Israel. It tracks the evolution of their innovation activity, showing that companies tend to increase and diversify their innovation activity with time in market, for example, going from tech-led R&D centers to operating startup accelerators and engaging in joint ventures. Download the full report here.

An unexpected benefit: many of the MNC’s themselves say they’re starting to take on some of the characteristics of the startups they’re working with, including regular pivots to new technology focus areas, faster execution of projects, and a higher tolerance for failure. “The Israeli way of approaching risk and failure, and the importance of giving startups independence and space to innovate – these core characteristics of the Israeli ecosystem allow MNCs to step outside of their comfort zone, re-think their approach to innovation and effectively tap into Israeli innovation,” the report states.

It is no longer just technology companies expanding innovation footprint but MNCs from a wider blend of industries. Deutsche Telekom, for example, regularly host management teams in Israel to absorb startup thinking. Pfizer, Genpact, Flex and Johnson Controls all have senior executives located in Israel who manage their companies’ global scope of technology scouting, product development, or open collaboration activities. Siemens’ Dynamo and Innogy’s Innovation Hub are unique innovation vehicles, not replicated anywhere in those groups’ global innovation portfolios.

Florida governor forges new ties, makes history on Israel visit

https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/05/28/florida-governor-forges-new-ties-makes-history-on-israel-visit/

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs Memorandum of Understanding between Florida State University and Ariel University, becoming the first sitting governor to establish a relationship between a U.S. state and an Israeli university in Judea and Samaria. De Santis tells audience: “I say here: BDS has no place in Florida.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding between Florida State University and Ariel University on Monday, becoming the first sitting governor to establish a relationship between a U.S. state and an Israeli university in Judea and Samaria.

The majority of the international community considers Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria as illegal, and shuns, or even boycotts, Israeli institutions located there, such as Ariel University.

In appreciation, DeSantis received an Honorary Fellowship Award from the university. At the ceremony were philanthropists Sheldon and Dr. Miriam Adelson, Ariel Mayor Eli Shaviro, and Ariel University President Yehuda Danon.

“I promised to be the most pro-Israel Governor in America and I sincerely thank Ariel University for presenting me the Honorary Fellowship Award,” DeSantis said at the event. “This recognition means a lot and I am humbled to be the recipient. Let it be known that Florida will always stand with Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East.”

Syrian army shoots at Israeli jet, IDF returns fire

https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/05/28/syrian-army-shoots-at-israeli-jet-idf-returns-fire/

IDF: Our aircraft “was carrying out a routine flight in Israel. The projectile landed in Syrian territory. In response, we targeted the Syrian launcher that was responsible for firing it.” Syrian army says one of its soldiers was killed, another wounded in the Israeli response strike.

Israel’s military said it attacked a Syrian anti-aircraft position that fired on one of its warplanes on Monday, and Syrian state media reported that a soldier had been killed in what it called “Israeli aggression.”

A statement from the IDF said that earlier Monday a Syrian anti-aircraft system fired at one of its aircraft “as it was carrying out a routine flight in Israel. The projectile landed in Syrian territory. In response, we targeted the Syrian launcher that was responsible for firing it.”

The IDF “sees any threat against its aircraft with great severity and takes measures to defend them.”

A Syrian military source was cited by state news agency SANA as saying “the Israeli enemy targeted one of our military positions” in Quneitra province, which is adjacent to the Israeli Golan Heights.

It said one soldier was killed, another wounded and a military vehicle damaged.

The back-to-back statements come amid heightened regional tension over Iran’s role in Syria and other parts of the Middle East. They also follow a number of reported Israeli strikes on Syria in the past ten days, according to state-run media.

Arab-Israelis Today And why they prefer to live in a Jewish democratic state. Joseph Puder

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/273825/arab-israelis-today-joseph-puder

British Labor party shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry, speaking at the British House of Commons (May 13, 2019), accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of taking steps that pushed Israel “away from democracy, and away from the rule of law while also attacking the freedoms of Israeli Arabs…” It is apparent that Ms. Thornberry’s accusations against Prime Minister Netanyahu have to do with the Jeremy Corbyn led Labor party policies rather than with reality on the ground. This reporter has just traveled throughout Israel and experienced a different reality insofar as Arab-Israeli citizens are concerned. Ms. Thornberry should do likewise and travel throughout Israel before making a judgement about Arab freedoms in Israel.

In the last Israeli parliamentary elections on April 9, 2019, the combined Arab parties, Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am-Balad lost 3 seats (mandates) in the Knesset. Ahmed Tibi and Ayman Odeh decided to run on an independent list and garnered 6 seats while the more radical and Islamist Ra’am-Balad party, led by Mansour Abbas received 4 (it barely passed the threshold of 3.25% of the vote), down from 13 in the previous 2015 elections when the two parties ran on a combined list. These results reflect the disenchantment of younger Arab-Israelis with their Knesset representatives. The Arab Knesset members, in the words of many young Arab voters, care more about the welfare of Palestinian Arabs than about their own constituents, who seek to integrate into Israeli society and partake in Israel’s prosperous economy.

The New York Times, with its anti-Netanyahu bias, reported (by David Halbfinger) on March 20, 2019 that according to a new poll from the University of Maryland suggested that Mr. Netanyahu’s racial provocations may spur turnout among Arab voters motivated to usher him out of office.

The Left against Zion On liberals’ views of Israel. by Dominic Green…*****

https://www.newcriterion.com/issues/2019/6/the-left-against-zion

“So good to see you sis!,” Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) tweeted on April 2. “I will always speak truth to power because I got you to protect.”

The “sis” in need of protection is Zahra Billoo, the executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (cair). In 2009, Judge Jorge Solis of the Fifth Circuit found that the fbi had presented “ample evidence to establish the associations” of cair, the Islamic Society of North America, and the North American Islamic Trust with Hamas and the Holy Land Foundation, which, until its designation in 2001 as a terrorist organization, had been the largest Islamic charity in the United States.

Billoo disapproves of Memorial Day because it’s wrong to “honor people who commit war crimes.” She believes that the fbi fabricates terrorism cases against American Muslims, and her cair chapter in 2011 advised them to “build a wall of resistance” between themselves and law enforcement. She has claimed that the U.S. government intends to intern American Muslims: “they’re going to send us to concentration camps.” She calls Israel an “apartheid state” and the Israel Defense Forces a “genocidal group” like isis. She believes that “Israel ‘defending’ itself from Palestinians is analogous to Nazi Germany defending itself from Jewish uprising.” Her Twitter feed includes the slogan “From the river to the sea, #Palestine will be free,” as well as a lovely picture of her with Bernie Sanders.

Also in early April, Barack Obama told Tlaib, a spouter of coarse anti-Israel propaganda and a follower of anti-Semitic material on Instagram, that he is “proud” of her. The Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke called the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “racist,” with O’Rourke claiming that Netanyahu, who, with his Likud Party, won his fifth election in April, does not represent “the true will of the Israeli people.” Another Democratic candidate, Tulsi Gabbard, opined that “Netanyahu and Saudi Arabia want to drag the United States into war with Iran, and Trump is submitting to their wishes.”

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

http://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Dual therapy to treat neurological disorders. BGN Technologies, the technology-transfer company of Ben-Gurion University, has introduced a therapy for neurological disorders such as stroke and Alzheimer’s. Memantine and Losartan are combined to protect the blood-brain barrier from neurotoxic blood products.

https://www.israel21c.org/novel-combination-therapy-treats-neurological-disorders/

Combining medicine with positivity. Sanofi of France has partnered Israeli-founded Happify Health to develop digital therapy solutions. Medicine nearly always works better when the patient is in a positive frame of mind. The partnership aims to generate new solutions combining treatments with mood improvement games.

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-digital-therapeutics-co-happify-teams-with-sanofi-1001286428

https://happify.com/health/   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2pGxCGYypM

Stroke prevention system expands to China. I reported previously (Oct 2016) on Israel’s Rapid Medical after the 500th aneurysm operation using its innovative Comaneci mesh device. Its products will shortly be marketed in China for the removal of blood clots from the brain. Rapid Medical has just raised $20 million of funds.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3760926,00.html

Simulation training for medical professionals. (TY UWI) 3D Systems acquired Israel’s Simbionix in 2014 but the Israeli R&D center is still the vital heart of the new company. It has developed a virtual environment where surgeons can get hands-on experience of new technology and new medical procedures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nW4SkTXFTc

Investing in precision medicine research. The Israel Science Foundation has awarded grants totaling NIS 60 million to the first 14 Israeli research teams in the Israel Precision Medicine Partnership. They are among the largest grants ever awarded to Israeli researchers by an Israeli body.  https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-announces-NIS-60-million-investment-in-precision-medicine-research-590176  https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-fund-chooses-14-research-teams-in-bid-to-boost-personalized-medicine/

Heal yourself – hug a teddy. Research has proven the positive psychological effects of hugging. Since 2002, Israeli non-profit Healing Teddies has gifted about 37,000 teddy bears to cancer patients, trauma survivors and others. The patient is instructed to hug the bear for 10 minutes, three times a day to “activate” its abilities.

https://www.israel21c.org/healing-teddies-give-therapeutic-hugs-to-israeli-patients/  http://healingteddies.org.il/

https://www.jgive.com/new/en/ils/donation-targets/8677

The full spectrum of healthcare. Israel’s Mixiii-Biomed 2019 conference in Tel Aviv focused on the “full spectrum of healthcare.” 6.000 delegates from 45 countries discussed clinical care from cure to prevention, as well as the importance of rehabilitation to quality of life. In addition, an exhibition featured 150 exhibitors.

http://nocamels.com/2019/05/biomed-confab-advanced-tech-rehabilitation/

The future for medicine is bright. Israeli VC fund aMoon Partners organized a summit near Jerusalem for health-tech startup entrepreneurs and investors pursuing futuristic technologies. Ideas presented included virtual doctors, crowdfunding for shared ailments and personalized “Waze-like” health maps. (See also JPost article.)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/patients-of-the-future-will-be-treated-by-virtual-doctors-health-waze/

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/IDFs-Medical-Innovation-Branch-dreams-far-589941 (TY Hazel)

Genetic health screening. MyHeritage, the Israeli online genealogy and DNA testing company, is to offer customers a genetic health report. It will identify carriers of recessive genetic diseases, or the inherited BRCA gene or genetic markers for risk of so-called “polygenic” diseases, like heart disease and type-2 diabetes.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-genealogy-company-myheritage-takes-on-dna-health-screening/