RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://amgreatness.com/2024/10/10/try-a-little-honesty-about-israel-2/

Both the Harris-Walz presidential ticket and now lame-duck President Joe Biden keep insisting that they are Israel’s best friend.

A snarly Biden recently bragged at a contentious press conference, “No administration has helped Israel more than I have. None, none, none. And I think [Netanyahu] should remember that.”

Yet the thin-skinned and triggered Biden’s prickliness poorly hid—or perhaps revealed—the truth: this current administration knows that it is responsible for the current explosion of the Middle East and the particular dilemmas of Israel.

Biden further revealed his blame-gaming of the Israeli government when asked another loaded question about purported Netanyahu election interference, saying, “Whether he’s trying to influence the election, I don’t know.”

Election interference?

Biden apparently forgot who just flew Ukrainian President Zelensky into swing state Pennsylvania, just as early and mail-in voting there began, to lobby for more aid even as he trashed candidates Trump and Vance to a left-wing magazine.

Recently, Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris refused to say whether the Netanyahu administration is even an ally of the United States.

Her Democrat running mate, Governor Tim Walz, could not state whether the Democratic ticket would approve of an Israeli response—by either targeting the Iranian nuclear bomb program or its oil fields and exporting facilities—to some 500 Iranian missiles and rockets that hit the Jewish state.

Another Bob Woodward racy and gossipy tell-all book just appeared. It alleges that Biden despised Netanyahu and has reportedly smeared him to aides: “That son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad f**king guy!”

What are we to make of this Biden-Harris-Walz mess?

It is an election year and one of the closest races in modern memory. Biden and his successors, Harris-Walz, know that support for Israel is a bipartisan cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy and critical for Democratic unity.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21005/israel-in-danger

“[Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar wants everyone to be a martyr—except for him.” Now he appears to want to have discussions again on the condition that the Israelis will not try to kill him during the negotiations on a deal. — David Greenfield, CEO and executive director of Met Council, August 28, 2024.

When Israelis clamor for the release of their hostages, they are, unfortunately, just letting Hamas know what a valuable bargaining chip it has – so the price goes up. For Hamas, if the families of the hostages succeed in getting Netanyahu pushed out of office, so much the better: he will likely be replaced by a “peace” coalition who will grant massive concessions to Hamas and allow it to stay in power.

As far as the Biden-Harris administration is concerned, a new Israeli prime minister it hand-picks to replace Netanyahu would presumably agree to US demands to let the Palestinians in Gaza set up a sovereign terrorist state on Israel’s border, from which to continue attacking Israel until it is destroyed. A new prime minister installed by the Biden-Harris administration would also agree to Iran having as many nuclear weapons as it likes. Iran, after finishing off Israel, which Iran’s former President Ali Akhbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called a “one-bomb country,” could then resume trying to take over its oil-rich neighbors, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Biden-Harris administration also appears to want Hamas to stay in power because that is what Hamas’s patrons, Iran and Qatar (America’s supposed ally) want.

Meanwhile, back in Gaza, the Associated Press reports, “Sinwar wants to end the war — but only on his terms.” These terms include a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, including the “Philadelphi Corridor” border between Egypt and Gaza. That is where immense cross-border underground tunnels are located, allowing the resumption of unlimited supplies of new weapons to be smuggled to Hamas in Gaza, as well as the ideal gateway for Hamas leader Sinwar to escape to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula — with the remaining Israeli hostages in tow.

For Hamas and Sinwar, the bottom line for is to stay in power to be able to attack Israel “time and again until it is annihilated,” as one of its officials, Ghazi Hamad, straightforwardly said.

Israel’s opposition political leaders, journalists, trade unionists, and many senior security officials all appear to be walking into a trap that Hamas has laid out for them: having Israeli anti-government demonstrators demand new elections to force Netanyahu out and a US puppet — agreeable to terrorist Palestinian state, Hamas’s continued rule in Gaza, and a nuclear-armed Iran — in.

Hamas, remember, never offered to release all the hostages, only a few, alive or dead. Sinwar will undoubtedly try to string out the negotiations as long as he can – refusing to provide hostage names again, and so on. His job will be to keep as many hostages as long as possible, to buy time for Hamas to resupply and regroup.

For months, Hamas has rejected any agreement, and blamed Netanyahu. They have, of course, been helped by the Biden-Harris administration, which snubbed Netanyahu at the airport in Washington DC in July as well as at his address to the United States Congress. The snubs evidently only succeeded in giving Hamas the impression that the US was done with Netanyahu, that a Hamas victory was in the bank, and that all Iran and its proxies had to do was sit back and wait.

For months, Hamas has rejected every agreement: its leaders apparently think that the pressure on Netanyahu and his government by the Biden-Harris administration would win their war for them. Hamas has now seen that murdering hostages results in even more pressure for Israel to surrender.

“We’re asked to make concessions? What message does this send Hamas? It says, ‘Kill more hostages, murder more hostages! You’ll get more concessions! The pressure internationally must be directed at these killers, at Hamas, not at Israel.” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to the protestors demonstrating against him, September 2, 2024.

The Biden-Harris administration has, in fact, been funding Israel’s anti-government protests since Netanyahu was elected two years ago, to try to oust him. Shortly after the October 7, 2023 invasion by Hamas, the Biden-Harris administration continually pressured Israel to make concessions and withheld or slow-walked weapons shipments, but never applied even the slightest pressure on Hamas, Iran, or the major funder of all Islamic terrorist groups, Qatar.

In the meantime, Iran appears to be gearing up to take over Sudan. Such an acquisition would complete the regime’s “ring of fire” — a multi-front war encircling Israel.

“Iran is trying to establish an eastern terrorist front against Israel in the West Bank by smuggling weapons from Jordan and financing terrorists.” — Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, August 29, 2024.

Worse, this week the Biden-Harris administration announced that it is sending Lebanon an additional $157 million – for “humanitarian relief.” In Hezbollah-speak, that means funding for more weapons to attack Israel. Does anyone really think that the battered Lebanese people will see a cent? This bounty brings the Biden-Harris administration’s prize money for Hezbollah’s war machine to $385 million — all of which will most certainly be diverted to attacking Israel.

Vice President Kamala Harris has repeatedly called for a rapid ceasefire in Gaza – meaning the survival of Hamas – and said that a “two-state solution is the only path forward” — meaning, undoubtedly, a terrorist Palestinian state.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently announced that it “needed more time” to find human rights violations in Israel’s “most moral army in history.” The ICJ seems to be hoping that if they wait long enough, a few violations might turn up.

As Israel turns to the existential danger presented by Iran, it will need all the support it can get, both from its own people and other nations. If they are smart, they will give it.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/well-whaddya-know-hezbollah-wants-a-cease-fire/

Hezbollah’s No. 2 — who, as I noted earlier, is not exactly tripping over himself to be proclaimed Hezbollah’s new No. 1 — has asserted that the terrorist organization supports the efforts of “Lebanon” to establish a truce with Israel.

Of course, Lebanon’s government is run by Hezbollah, which is run by Iran.

The Jerusalem Post reports that, with Israel having eliminated Hezbollah’s leaders, most of its commanders, and thousands of its beeper-issued jihadists, deputy leader Naim Qassem is now hopeful that “after the issue of a cease-fire takes shape, and once diplomacy can achieve it, all of the other details can be discussed and decisions can be taken.”

It marks the first time Hezbollah has signaled willingness to stop the fighting it started on October 8, 2023, without conditioning a cease-fire on a cessation of the fighting that Hamas started with its atrocities the preceding day. Getting your brains beaten in can be clarifying.

For public consumption, Qassem takes the position that he is supporting a cease-fire initiative being led by Nabih Berri, nominally the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament. And putting on his brave face, he added that “if the enemy [Israel] continues its war, then the battlefield will decide.”

That’s two brave faces in one day. Earlier, Qassem claimed that Hezbollah had “overcome all the blows that have been dealt us,” in conjunction with which the jihadists fired over 100 missiles at Haifa. The attack had no meaningful effect; in the interim, the IDF proceeded with more aerial bombardments of Hezbollah havens south of Beirut.

The battlefield has already decided.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/one-year-later-israel-is-still-in-agony/

One full year after October 7, the nation of Israel is still traumatized and many of its people are still in agony. One full year later, there are still scores of hostages languishing in Gaza, if not dead, and their families remain in daily agony. One full year later, the war with Hamas continues, but now there is also war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as possible war with Iran itself. One full year later, rather than sympathy for Israel growing it is hatred for Israel that is growing.

One year ago, the unthinkable happened on Israeli soil. A mass pogrom took place within the borders of this tiny state, the one place that was supposed to be safe for Jewish people. The nation’s vaunted security systems failed miserably and babies were slaughtered, women were raped, the elderly were executed, and whole families burned alive.

I remember waking up the morning of the 7th to the news that Hamas terrorists had flooded Israel and that as many as 100 Israelis had been killed. Impossible, I thought. Not today, in Israel. This cannot be. Then there were reports that several soldiers had been taken hostage. This, too, was unthinkable, with horrific potential consequences.

After all, IDF soldier Gilad Shalit had languished as a hostage in Gaza for five long years before his release, which required Israeli releasing 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for his life – yes, 1,027 prisoners, including Yahyah Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 massacre. What would Hamas do with several Israeli hostages?

But as that dreadful day unfolded, the news was far more devastating than anything we could have imagined. This is what I wrote one year ago as the news began to unfold: “Heartbreak. Shock. Agony. Devastation. Confusion. Rage. These are just a few of the emotions flooding the hearts of millions of Israelis in the midst of an unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas. This is a time to stop and pray for the merciful intervention of God.

https://mailchi.mp/929a3eddd75d/100-blasts-israels-positive-newsletter-to-29924?e=fb15f100f3

Can one name another country with war on its borders and terrorism within its cities, constantly bombarded with missiles and rockets, that works 24/7 to continue research and development of  state of the art  science, technology, medicine, and defense that benefit civilization itself?  The answer, cleared of bias, libel, defamation and anti-Semitism  is simply no. Only Israel does the foregoing, and Michael Ordman proves it every week.  rsk

POSITIVE NEWS IN A WAR
 
IDF soldier saved by his prayers. An IDF soldier was praying in Gaza, wearing tefillin (phylacteries). When warned about a nearby Hamas terrorist, he removed his tefillin, but had no time to remove the metal night vision support plate on his helmet.  The terrorist shot 3 bullets at his head, which were absorbed by the plate.
https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-idf-soldiers-miraculous-story-shows-the-power-of-tefillin/  
 
Pre-school program to treat PTSD. NGOs SASA Setton (see here previously) and Alumot Or have partnered Israeli bank Hapoalim to set up early-years centers of educational excellence in areas most affected by Oct 7. The program will help hundreds of children aged 3 to 6 who have experienced trauma, along with their parents.
https://nocamels.com/2024/09/innovative-israeli-project-supporting-negev-preschoolers-in-wartime/Jo
https://sasasetton.org.il/en/  https://www.alumotor.org/en
 
Galvanizing Jewish advocates. Eitan Chitayat, creative director and founder of Tel Aviv-based international Natie Branding Agency, has dropped all his commercial work to focus on promoting Israel to the world. He created the slogan “I’m that Jew” and urges his 100,000+ followers, and all of us, to be advocates for Israel.
https://www.israel21c.org/since-7-10-everything-takes-a-backseat-to-my-advocacy-work/
https://www.instagram.com/eitanchitayat_words/?hl=en
 
Quiet heroism is everywhere. Reporter Canaan Lidor lives in the north of Israel. He was looking for ordinary brave people who are inspiring others. He found people eating outside bomb shelters; zoom-learning schools; sharing safe rooms with neighbors; plus ex-pats returning to Israel to defend the country.
https://www.jns.org/in-israels-targeted-north-quiet-heroism-is-everywhere/
 
Starlink for the north. Dozens of satellite internet stations from Elon Musk’s Starlink have arrived in Israel’s north for government offices, hospitals and emergency centers. Israel’s Communications Ministry approved Starlink’s use, enabling Israelis to access broadband services if ground-based communications are disrupted.
https://www.jns.org/starlink-stations-arrive-in-israel-for-embattled-north/
 
Quiet diplomacy at work in Europe. Israel has many supporters in Europe, “but they are in need of relevant information,” says IDSF’s Brig-Gen Amir Avivi. Meetings between IDSF and Italian Chamber of Deputies officials resulted in the Italian Parliament’s lower house passing a multifaceted pro-Israel resolution in July.
https://www.jns.org/italian-pro-israel-resolution-shows-power-of-quiet-diplomacy/
https://idsf.org.il/en/team-members/brigadier-general-res-amir-avivi-2/
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Protein missing in lung cancer patients. Scientists at Israel’s Technion Institute have discovered that the protein RBM10 is absent or has mutated in 40% of lung cancer patients. The protein helps the body to repair damaged DNA. The scientists inhibited the WEE1 gene to eradicate RBM10-deficient lung cancer in mice.
https://nocamels.com/2024/09/missing-protein-could-unlock-treatment-for-aggressive-lung-cancer/
 
ALS treatment slows progression. A 12-months Phase 2b trial of PrimeC from Israel’s NeuroSense (see here previously) showed a 73% improvement over placebo in slowing ALS progression among patients. It also achieved a 63% increase in survival rates.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/neurosenses-paradigm-als-clinical-trial-132700722.html
 
The remedy is skin deep. Israeli startup Dermab.io is developing personalized biologic therapies for people suffering from chronic and autoimmune diseases. It aims to produce tailored, precision treatments, based purely on individual biomarkers gathered in a simple, non-invasive skin swab.   
https://nocamels.com/2024/08/simple-skin-swab-is-key-to-precision-drugs-for-autoimmune-disease/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dermab-io/
https://finder.startupnationcentral.org/company_page/dermab-io
 
Early warning of Parkinson’s. (TY Ron M) Tel Aviv University researchers have developed a method to detect protein aggregation in cells that are the hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. With super-resolution microscopy, they analyzed skin cells on patients with gene mutations on specific cells .
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular- neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnmol.2024.1431549/full
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-breakthrough-israeli-researchers-detect-parkinsons-markers-15-years-before-symptoms/ 
 
Wolt rider delivers baby. Remember last week when MDA began the medical training of 1,000 Wolt delivery drivers. Well Ilan had already been trained, so when he was called while delivering pizza, he knew what to do.  He didn’t deliver pizza, he delivered a baby instead.  Meanwhile, the ambulance team ate the pizza.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-food-order-worker-delivers-baby-instead-of-pizza/
 
1-2-3. Motti, a United Hatzala volunteer EMT, rushed to an Ashdod apartment to deliver a baby – the second in two days (to different mothers of course!). It is rare for an EMT to deliver one baby at home, and extremely unusual for two on consecutive days.  It was also the third birth that he had helped deliver in the same month!
https://israelrescue.org/stories/united-hatzalah-volunteer-delivers-two-babies-in-two-days/
 
11th down. Einat had already brought 10 children into the world.  But her 11th was the first to be born underground. The maternity ward at Israel’s Rambam Medical Center had been relocated to the level minus 3 car park. Nevertheless, a healthy baby was born and all 10 siblings came to visit mother and newborn.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/defying-hezbollah-missiles-israeli-woman-gives-birth-to-11th-child-in-underground-facility/
 
A better MRI. Researchers at Israel’s Technion Institute have used new materials to enhance Magnetic Resonance Imaging signals by up to 4 times and preserve the signal for 10 mins (previously only 1 min). This gives doctors time to track metabolites in the tissues – important clinical markers for diseases including cancer.
https://nocamels.com/2024/09/technion-team-develops-materials-to-improve-mri-performance/
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ado2483
 
US approval for heart ultrasound system. Israel’s AISAP (see here previously) has received US FDA approval for its CARDIO point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) platform. It allows accurate diagnosis of up to 90% of the most common cardiac parameters within minutes, either in an incident or during treatment.
https://nocamels.com/2024/08/startup-gets-fda-approval-for-cardiac-ultrasound-software/
https://streetlight.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/Review-screen.mp4
 
Why he developed stroke therapy device. Yaron Segal’s son Lear was born with familial dysautonomia (Riley-Day syndrome). Yaron established the startup BrainQ (see here previously) to search for a solution. His brainwave helmet doesn’t help Lear, but its low-intensity electromagnetic field is curing many stroke patients.
https://www.israel21c.org/dads-quest-to-aid-son-leads-to-stroke-recovery-technology/
https://www.brainqtech.com/
 
Treating knee replacement infections. 2% of the millions of knee replacements each year result in untreatable infections due to the bacteria protecting themselves with an impenetrable biofilm. Israel’s Dimoveo Medical has developed a process using nanoparticles to “sandblast” the biofilm and allow antibiotics to kill the bacteria.
https://nocamels.com/2024/09/nanoparticles-sandblast-hard-to-handle-bacteria-from-joint-implants/
https://dimoveomedical.com/   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLHrdDoTZQ8
 
Keeping mosquitoes away. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a cellulose-based gel that dries on the skin and blocks mosquitoes from detecting human scents. Even those mosquitoes that get through are unable to lay eggs due to the effects of the gel.
https://nocamels.com/2024/09/gel-that-stops-mosquitoes-biting-and-reproducing-is-creating-a-buzz/
https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/4/pgad069/7103447
 

https://www.city-journal.org/article/365-days-of-october-7

How do you commemorate something still unfolding? That question looms large, on the 365th day since October 7, as we grapple with the brutal reality of a world irrevocably changed. How do we honor the lives lost on that terrible day and in the ensuing war for Israel’s survival, while also committing to build a future defined not by tragedy but by strength and resilience? We might never find a satisfactory answer. But to begin our search for one, we must recognize that the struggle spans both physical and ideological battlefields.

First is the literal battlefield. The horrific attack by Hamas on October 7 was not just a terrorist assault; it was an attempt to break the spirit of a nation, to humiliate and destroy it. That day will be forever etched into our collective memory, a deep national wound. But out of that darkness, and perhaps because of it, Israel has risen with a fierce resolve, fighting an existential war that has now spread far beyond its original borders, as the Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxies besiege the Jewish state from all sides.

And yet, the tragedy of October 7 has been followed by victories that nobody could have imagined. Hamas, whose brutality knows no bounds, is now on its knees. Hezbollah, until last week viewed as an existential threat to Israel, has been defeated in what will inevitably be viewed as the most jaw-dropping counterterrorism campaign in history. The targeted killings of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran serve as a stark warning to the Grand Ayatollah that nowhere, not even within the heart of Iran, is safe.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20998/palestinians-celebrate-death-of-jews

Palestinians have a custom of celebrating in the streets every time Israel is attacked or a Jew is murdered by terrorists.

It is hard, if not impossible, to find one senior Palestinian official who is willing to criticize his own people for celebrating terrorist attacks. It is also hard, if not impossible, to find one senior Palestinian official who is willing to condemn the October 7 atrocities and massacres against Israelis. Palestinian leaders have good reason not to speak out: they are afraid of being killed by their own people.

Last month, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, ignored the Hamas attack and instead accused Israel of committing “massacres,” “crimes,” and “genocide” against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Needless to say, Abbas also ignored the fact that a large number of Palestinians expressed support for the Hamas-led October 7 attack and took to the streets to celebrate the brutal mass-murder of Israeli women, children and the elderly.

Palestinian leaders who do not have the courage, or are unwilling, to denounce terrorism will never be able to call on their people to recognize Israel’s right to exist, let alone make peace with it. Palestinians who celebrate the murder of their neighbors are not ready for a state, which will undoubtedly be used as a springboard to slaughter more Jews and to try to destroy Israel.

There is no excuse for celebrating murder. A society that celebrates murder will never be a partner for peace. True peace will only come when Palestinian leaders values their people’s lives more than celebrating the murder of Jews.

Palestinians have a custom of celebrating in the streets every time Israel is attacked or a Jew is murdered by terrorists.

The latest Palestinian celebrations took place on October 1, 2024, when Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel. The celebrations occurred even though some of the missiles fell in Palestinian areas in the West Bank and the only person killed was, ironically, a Palestinian man in the city of Jericho.

In one West Bank village, Palestinians erected a monument from the tail of an Iranian missile to celebrate Iran’s attack on Israel.

Similar celebrations took place in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and in many countries when Iran launched its first direct missile and drone attack against Israel in April. According to a report by Iran’s Tehran Times:

“It was also a sleepless night in Ramallah and other cities in the occupied West Bank, that saw excited crowds of Palestinians gathering in the streets and pointing to the skies amid the visible trails of Iranian missiles flying, with a celebratory mood until the early hours of Sunday morning.”

The largest celebrations occurred a year ago, on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Iran-backed Hamas terrorists and “ordinary” Palestinians invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip and murdered 1,200 Israelis. During the attack, thousands of Israelis were raped, tortured, and burned alive, while more than 240 others were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip. A year later, 101 Israeli hostages are still being held by Hamas terrorists.