RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Right-from-wrong-Is-Gantz-

When the new Great White Hope of the Israeli opposition, Benny Gantz, delivered his first public speech last week, the press couldn’t contain its excitement. During the hours before he took to the podium to address a packed hall of supporters, all Hebrew broadcasters treated the event as momentous enough to warrant an hour-by-hour countdown.

The fervor was palpable. Prior to Gantz’s December 27 announcement of the formation of his party, Israel Resilience, the Left was on the verge of despair. Polls were showing the implosion of the once illustrious Labor Party – whose past prime ministers include David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres – and the fizzling out of the elusive “center.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, on the other hand, was soaring in the surveys. Consensus had it that Likud would emerge victorious in the April 9 elections. To prevent the sure win from being too great – and to force Netanyahu to forge a coalition with others vying for prized portfolios – parties across the spectrum went into high gear, if not high anxiety.

When Gantz threw his hat into the ring, the mood instantly shifted. Here was a guy who might give Netanyahu a run for his money. At 59, the former IDF chief of staff is neither too young nor too old. He is also tall and handsome, with piercing blue eyes that, until four years ago, gloriously contrasted his dark green military uniform.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/primary-concerns/

(February 5, 2019 / JNS) It’s not a hot news flash that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the nemesis of the local left-wing media. Nor is it novel that the feeling is mutual. But ahead of Tuesday’s primaries in Likud, the party Netanyahu chairs, an amusing twist was added to the mix.

Unlike the vast majority of Israeli parties, Likud determines its Knesset list democratically through internal elections in which all dues-paying members are eligible to vote. This means that Netanyahu needs to campaign for the candidates of his choice, rather than simply appointing them at will, the way other party leaders do. Naturally, he has loyalists and rivals within his party. Obviously, he favors the former.

No scandal there. Unless, of course, you’re an Israeli journalist who needs to create one as part of your proverbial putsch attempt.

Whatever else can be said of Netanyahu, he is no dummy, as even his enemies acknowledge. To circumvent the incessant negative coverage aimed at ousting him through ludicrous criminal charges—ironically involving moves on his part to be given a fair shake by the press—Netanyahu launched an Internet channel, Likud TV, for the purpose of broadcasting his message and garnering public support ahead of the April 9 elections. To mock the endeavor, the Israeli media called it a “copycat” version of U.S. President Donald Trump’s weekly “Real News Update.”

http://www.israelhayom.com/2019/02/04/israel-releases-

Several dozen current or former members of Hamas and the PFLP are involved in BDS activity through Palestinian and international NGOs, Strategic Affairs Ministry report says • “What we discovered surprised even us,” says Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan.

The government released a report Sunday claiming to reveal close links between the Palestinian-led boycott movement against Israel and terrorist groups.

The Strategic Affairs Ministry, which leads Israel’s efforts against the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, said it uncovered extensive connections between pro-boycott groups and activists affiliated with Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The BDS movement dismissed the report as “wildly fabricated.”

The 80-page report claims several dozen current or former members of the Palestinian groups, both designated terrorist organizations by the U.S., European Union and Israel, are involved in BDS activity through Palestinian and international nongovernmental organizations.

“We have always seen indications of connections between BDS groups and designated terrorist organizations,” Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan said. “What we discovered surprised even us.”

Most of the cases were based on accusations of affiliation or expressions of sympathy for terrorist groups, in some instances connected to acts that took place years ago. At least two people on the list have received international recognition for human rights work.

https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/israel-red-lines-lebanon-syria/

Israel’s low-profile military campaign against the Iranian-Shiite axis in Syria is continuing despite changes in the geo-strategic environment. But the use of Israeli air power to disrupt enemy force build-up has yet to cross into Lebanon. It is possible that this could represent one of the most significant regional escalation scenarios in the near future.

The “War Between Wars” is an ongoing Israeli military and intelligence effort to disrupt the force build-up of the Iranian-Shiite axis throughout the Middle East. This campaign, which has evolved into an entire force activation doctrine, has seen the Israeli defense establishment employ an approach that differentiates between Syria and Lebanon.

In Syria, Israel launches frequent intelligence-fueled air strikes that target Iranian military build-up sites. The strikes also destroy Iranian weapon transfers that use Syria as a transit zone on their way to Hezbollah bases in Lebanon.

The scope of Israel’s preventative air strike campaign in Syria is enormous, as recently outlined by former IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot. Eisenkot told the New York Times that Israeli jets had fired 2,000 air-to-ground munitions at targets in Syria in 2018 alone.

This has clearly disrupted Iran’s plans to build a Shiite army in Syria under its command, made up of 100,000 militia members. Iran was also planning to build missile factories, launch sites, weapons storage facilities, and a network of cross-border attack positions along Syria’s border with Israel.

All these advances in technology, science and medicine are available to all Israel’s population- Christian, Moslem, Jews, Arabs, Africans…giving the lie to the spurious and venal claims of the myriad pseudo human rights organizations that routinely slander Israel. rsk

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Multiple attack on cancer. Israel’s Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies (AEBi) is developing an anti-cancer technology that identifies multiple peptides (small proteins) for targeting specific cancer cells and any mutations. Each treatment will also include a toxin to suppress the cancer’s ability to deactivate the treatment.
https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/A-cure-for-cancer-Israeli-scientists-say-they-think-they-found-one-578939 http://www.aebi-bio.com/

Using antibodies to treat damaged cells. I’ve reported previously (see here)on Israeli medical innovations to boost the immune system to fight diseases. Israeli biotech Biond Biologics is developing a platform to enable antibodies to enter cells, destroy tumors or treat autoimmune diseases. Biond just raised $17 million of funds.
http://www.biondbio.com/platform/ https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3753832,00.html

Using yeast to find cures for metabolic disorders. Tel Aviv University researchers have uncovered a new pathway that can speed up the search for cures for hundreds of metabolic disorders that are fatal to infants. They have modified yeast cells to generate a toxic build-up of metabolites in the lab, for testing possible therapies.
https://www.jewishpress.com/news/science-and-tech/new-israeli-research-may-lead-to-life-saving-therapies-for-metabolic-disorders/2019/01/17/

US approval for bio bone-fixing pins. (TY OurCrowd) The US FDA has granted clearance to Israel’s Ossio for its OSSIOfiber family of bio-integrative bone pins, which secure broken bones during the healing process while leaving no permanent hardware behind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhiHflP1nGE
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/medtech/fda-clears-ossio-s-integrative-mineral-bone-pins-for-orthopedic-surgeries https://ossio.io/

Pfizer partners with Israeli AI biotech. (TY Calcalistech) I reported previously (16th Dec) on Israel’s CytoReason which uses an Artificial Intelligent learning model to discover treatments related to the human immune system. CytoReason has just partnered with Pfizer – its fifth alliance with a major company.
http://nocamels.com/2019/01/drug-discovery-cytoreason-pfizer/
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/216dd2_5d94d4baffe5460d80e3fcbe79c5c1ea.pdf

Partners to prevent dementia. The innovation arm of Israel’s Sheba Medical Center has partnered with Japanese telecom manufacturer OKI Electric Industry to set up a new joint research project that will focus on the prevention of dementia in high-risk middle-aged individuals.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/sheba-medical-center-japans-oki-electric-join-forces-against-dementia/

How to measure pain. Israelis Yariv Adan and Ariel Assaf are the co-founders of Lab 39, developer of the Genie pain tracker. It comprises a wristband with sensors that track sleep patterns, physical activity and heart rate. Its partner is a smartphone app which requests the patient to enter a pain score several times a day.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/to-measure-and-track-pain-israeli-duo-develops-objective-monitor/

Israeli medic saves life in Mecca. Refai Amer, a Muslim Israeli-Arab from Kfar Qassim is a volunteer medic for Israel’s United Hatzalah. He recently went to Mecca for the Haj, taking his medkit with him. In the middle of prayers, surrounded by around 7 million worshippers, he saved the life a man suffering from a hypoglycemia.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-meet-the-israeli-medic-who-saved-a-life-in-mecca/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w15eMWSeYmY

https://worldisraelnews.com/female-terrorist-killed-during-stabbing-attack-near-jerusalem/

Police are investigating where the suspect came from. Security has been beefed up in the area.

An Arab female terrorist attempted to stab Israeli security personnel at the A-Zaim checkpoint in Judea on Wednesday. The checkpoint is located at the southern entrance to Jerusalem.

Security forces responded quickly, shooting and killing the terrorist.

No Israelis were wounded in the attack.Jerusalem’s District Police Commander Yoram Halevi arrived at the scene of the attack and was briefed on the details.

The terrorist has not yet been identified. A police spokesman said they are investigating where the suspect came from and security will remain heightened in the area.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/commanding-scorn/

In a letter to the officers in his command early this week, the head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Judea and Samaria Division declared that “immoral and illegal actions” by IDF soldiers against Palestinians would not be tolerated.

“Those who cannot control themselves and do not undertake to operate professionally during a security mission and in accordance with the spirit of the IDF will have no place with us,” warned Brig. Gen. Eran Niv. “We will stand firm against our subordinates.”

Niv went on to assert that the use of force is legitimate only when required for the execution of a mission, and only against those who pose an immediate threat. So, for example, he explained, it’s OK to break down the door of a suspect, but not to trash his home as a form of punishment.

According to Kan 11 News, which broke the story on Monday evening, Niv was spurred to pen this directive by four investigations underway into the allegedly criminal or unbecoming conduct of IDF soldiers in the field.

Too bad Niv is not among them.

In the first place, such a seasoned, high-ranking officer ought to be aware that his dramatic “new” directive is as old as the 1994 IDF Code of Ethics and Mission. In fact, if it weren’t for that 25-year-old document—concerned with the “purity of arms” of the Israeli military—none of the investigations that supposedly sparked his letter would be taking place.

Nor would so many Israeli boys and girls in uniform be given the sense that they need to sling their rifles over their shoulders to free up their hands for law books and cameras. Fear of not being able to provide evidence at a later date to judges and hostile NGOs that they acted according to the IDF’s often ridiculously stringent rules of engagement will do that.