By Michael Ordman
Two prominent themes in this week’s positive Israel newsletter are sustainable Israeli food technology and more life-changing innovations from the minds of Israelis.
In the 18th Sep 22 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
- Israeli scientists can detect pancreatic cancer with a blood test.
- Israel is top of the global
- Israeli technology streams video simultaneously to millions of viewers.
- An Israeli startup makes vegan meat from “used” vegetable oil seeds.
- New York awarded $1 million to an Israeli energy company.
- The movie Captain America 4 will feature an Israeli superhero.
- A rare Judean “Freedom” coin has returned to the Jewish State
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Oral insulin reduces liver fat. Israel’s Oramed (see here previously) has reported that its ORMD-0801 oral insulin candidate successfully reduced the liver fat in its Phase 2 trial on Type 2 diabetes patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (“NASH”). There were no safety issues in the double-blind, multi-center trial.
https://www.prnewswire.com/
Blood test for colon and pancreatic cancer. (TY Hazel) Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have developed a blood test to detect colorectal cancer, which is normally found through an invasive test, and pancreatic cancer, which has no single diagnostic test. The proof of concept is now to be taken to trials.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
https://www.
Transforming cancer diagnosis. (TY NoCamels) Israel’s Ibex Medical Analytics (see here previously) has launched a new cancer detection platform – Galen 3.0 with improved AI algorithms to detect cancer in prostate, breast and gastric biopsies. It also calculates the aggressiveness of prostate cancer, reducing time and errors.
https://ibex-ai.com/galen-3-0-
83 cancer research grants. The Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) has awarded 83 cancer research grants (28 new and 55 continuing) worth almost $5 million for the 2022-2023 funding year. ICRF’s funding has now
reached 2,730 grants totaling more than $87.5 million.
https://myemail.
Covid-19 variant vaccines arrive. (TY Hazel) Israel has taken delivery of second-generation coronavirus vaccines, updated to better battle new variants. They are expected to be in clinics by the end of September. The international scientific community is again looking to see how well these new vaccines protect Israelis.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Diagnosing Parkinson’s at the cellular level. A Haifa University-led team of international scientists has discovered a method to identify early Parkinson’s Disease cases. Brain cells of PD patients die when they disconnect from the extracellular matrix. Early detection and subsequent treatment could halt this process.
https://www.jpost.com/health-
https://www.nature.com/
Make your time more productive. (TY UWI) Israeli-US startup Hour25.ai has developed an app that learns and monitors a user’s activity patterns and gives an alert whenever it detects inactivity, fatigue or distraction. It then suggests a personalized intervention, e.g., take a walk, or perform an optional exercise.
https://www.israel21c.org/how-
A helping hand. (TY Hazel) Israel’s 6Degrees (see here previously) has made significant progress with its MyMove wristband that allows people who can’t use their hands to operate any phone, laptop, or tablet. It includes having Tel Aviv municipality adopt the wristband to help people with disabilities come back to work.
https://nocamels.com/2022/09/
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Discounted vacations for senior citizens. Israeli citizens over retirement age can now receive 20% discount when booking hotels in Israel. The benefit is a joint initiative of the Minister of Tourism, the Minister of Social Equality, and the Hotel Association. It applies to most Sat night to Weds bookings for the coming year.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-
Environmentally friendly conference. The PLANETech World 2022 Conference in Tel Aviv on 21 Sep will have a much-reduced carbon footprint thanks to Israel’s Palram and UBQ. Palram will incorporate UBQ’s thermoplastic recycled material in the construction of many of the temporary building structures.
https://www.jpost.com/
https://www.planetech.org/
Jerusalem tunnel for cyclists. Following the recent opening of the Highway 16 tunnels (see last week), Jerusalem has now inaugurated an underground road solely for cyclists. The 2.1km Kerem Tunnel is the fifth longest cycle tunnel in the world, taking two years to complete and costing some NIS 25 million.
https://www.
https://www.jerusalem.muni.il/
Negev Bedouins complete “digital tent”. Over a dozen Bedouin Muslim Arab teens competed a 5-week training camp, dubbed “Digital Tent,” designed to integrate members of the community into Israel’s high-tech sector. The camp was established thanks to MIT, Ben-Gurion University, and the non-profit Siraj.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Utah delegation visits Israel. A delegation of Utah governmental and economic officials made its first stop in Israel, on a trip that will also include the United Arab Emirates. 2021 trade between Utah and Israel exceeded $55 million. Of key interest to the delegation was Israel’s Frontier incubator that specializes in desert ag-tech.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
https://www.frontierng.com/
Strengthening ties with Central America. The second annual Central America-Israel Forum, involving 14 countries, has just concluded in Panama City, Panama. This year’s focus was strengthening ties between Christians and Jews. It featured Government ministers including from Panama, Uruguay, and Guatemala.
https://www.jns.org/second-
The world’s best Digital Quality of Life. Last year, Israel rose from 8th place to 4th in SurfShark’s annual Digital Quality of Life Index. This year, Israel is top of the 117 countries, mainly due to its fast, affordable mobile Internet. As an Israeli, I can confirm that my digital quality of life has certainly improved this past year!
https://www.calcalistech.com/
https://surfshark.com/dql2022 https://surfshark.com/dql2021
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Partnering to advance AI. Celebrating 50 years in Israel, IBM is partnering Israel’s Technion Institute and Hebrew University of Jerusalem to advance artificial intelligence capabilities and applications in Israel. IBM will fund AI research into Natural Language processing, medicine discovery and multi-cloud computing.
https://www.afhu.org/2022/09/
https://www.calcalistech.com/
Streaming to millions. Technology developed by Microsoft’s Israeli R&D team enables video streaming to millions of on-line participants without overloading a company’s network. The secure, easy to install technology was developed by Israel’s Peer5 (see here previously), which Microsoft acquired last year.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
https://www.calcalistech.com/
Two ways to purify the air. (TY Hazel) Israel’s Airovation (see here) has two indoor air purifying devices: The “Air-O”, which treats CO2, volatile organic compounds in harmful gases, airborne viruses, and bacteria; and the “Airosphera”, which uses sensors to measure conditions for infants and treat the air around them.
https://nocamels.com/2022/09/
Water from the air in your car. Mullen Automotive has signed a partnership with Israel’s Watergen (see here previously) to develop and equip Mullen’s portfolio of electric vehicles with the ability to produce fresh drinking water from thin air. The aim is to provide up to 5 liters of hot or cold water daily.
https://www.jpost.com/
Safe infotainment in your vehicle. Israel’s OVO Automotive enables fleet managers to provide drivers with in-vehicle applications independent of automakers and Apple/Google. These applications run in the cloud and stream to the vehicle screen without compromising safety and security of the vehicle, driver, or passengers.
https://www.calcalistech.com/
Dairy-free “milk” chocolate. Israelis Daniel and Elia Barkat are vegans, but they missed delicious creamy milk chocolate, so, they developed their own vegan chocolate. It is sold all over Israel under the brand name “Panda Chocolate”. They have just started selling it in the USA, under the brand name “Seventh Heaven”.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Slaughter-free lamb. (TY UWI) Israel’s Future Meat Technologies (see here previously) has produced its first cultivated lamb, which it says looks, cooks and tastes like conventional ground lamb meat, without harming a single animal. The company isolated fibroblast cells from Awassi sheep in 2019.
https://www.israel21c.org/
Vegan meat from seeds. Israel’s More Foods (see here previously) takes crushed pumpkin and sunflower seeds from oil makers and turns them into clean-label vegan ‘meat’ for restaurants and caterers. The alternative meats, are certified kosher, contain 27% protein, 7% fiber, iron, calcium, potassium and just 1% saturated fat.
https://www.israel21c.org/
https://www.more-foods.co/
Fast-growing, disease-free avocados. Israel’s Bestree, a spinoff from Israel’s MIGAL Galilee Research Institute, has developed avocados from cultivated tissue rather than from seeds. Using sterilized tissue prevents transmission of diseases, improves the quality of the fruit, and speeds up the growth process.
https://www.israel21c.org/
Growing Brazilian superfruit. (TY UWI) The acai is a palm tree that grows in Brazil’s tropical region of the Amazon basin. Its fruit is of great importance in the Brazilian economy. Israeli agriculture tech, including precise irrigation and sensors, will now allow these trees to be cultivated in drier areas in the heart of Brazil.
https://www.gov.il/en/
Now we’re cooking. Israel’s HomeBiogas (see here previously) is offering household versions of its anaerobic digester, which turns organic waste into gas. Your food waste could produce enough biogas for two hours’ cooking a day, and a rich fertilizer for your garden. Plus, you help the environment. Over 15,000 sold already.
https://nocamels.com/2022/09/
https://www.homebiogas.com/
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
UAE’s largest business delegation to Israel. Delegates at the Tel Aviv conference for UAE-Israel trade expressed their amazement at how far trade relations had come in the two years since the signing of the Abraham Accords. There are now 72 weekly flights between the two countries.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Free trade with Guatemala. (TY Hazel) Israel and Guatemala have signed a free trade deal, which includes industrial, food, and agricultural goods. Bi-lateral trade rose 11% to $40 million in 2021. Guatemala’s foreign minister said his country’s economy only improved after moving its embassy to Jerusalem.
https://www.israelhayom.com/
400 Israeli startups in NYC. As the Covid-19 pandemic crisis recedes, a huge number of Israeli startups have fulfilled their plans to expand to New York City. The interactive platform Israeli Mapped in NY now lists 400 Israeli startups operating in the Big Apple. See also details of the conference Mind the Tech NY (14-15 Sep).
https://www.jns.org/despite-
https://newmedia.calcalist.co.
NY State awards $1 million to Zooz. (TY WIN & Hazel) Israel’s Zooz Power (see here previously) has won the New York-Israel Smart Energy Innovation Challenge. Zooz will use the $1 million prize to help New York integrate fast-charging battery capabilities and eventually phase out gas-powered vehicles.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
https://www.algemeiner.com/
Shop-and-go in Tel Aviv. Israel is finally getting its first grab-and-go, checkout-free grocery store at Israel’s Shufersal on Mendele Street in Tel Aviv, using technology from Israel’s Trigo (see here previously). Trigo’s systems are already powering stores in the UK, US, Germany, and the Netherlands.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Tel Aviv to ban noisy polluting planes. The Israel Airports Authority said it will aim to reduce noise and air pollution at Ben Gurion Airport by banning 4-engine civilian aircraft, including Boeing 747s and other jumbo jets, starting next year. It will only affect cargo planes, as no 4-engine passenger planes fly to Israel.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Another AI virtual sales assistant. Israel’s Winn.AI offers a real-time AI assistant that unobtrusively monitors sales calls and captures key data so salespeople don’t need to take notes or manually update the system. (See also Israel’s Exceed.ai) https://www.calcalistech.com/
Investment in Israeli startups to 18/9/22: Kape Technologies raised $220 million; Zesty raised $75 million; CYREBRO raised $40 million; Dig Security raised $34 million; Joonko raised $25 million; Groundcover raised $20 million; Ownera raised $20 million; Sightfull raised $18 million; Winn.AI raised $17 million; Opus Security raised $10 million; Xtype raised $5.8 million; VineSight raised $4 million;
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT`
Israel Philharmonic plays Carnegie Hall. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) is to make its first post-Covid-19 tour of the USA from 2nd Nov to 14 Nov. It will perform concerts in Costa Mesa, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Stanford, Miami, with its finale at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall.
https://www.jns.org/israel-
https://afipo.org/event/
Vertigo dances round America. Israel’s Vertigo Dance Company toured the United States in July. It received acclaim in Houston Texas, the prestigious American Dance Festival in North Carolina, Reno Nevada (open air), and Chatham New York, before continuing to Montreal Canada.
https://www.jpost.com/365days/
Israel is so small. This Israel21c article features five sites to enjoy miniature versions of Israel and works by Israelis. Meanwhile, please publicize that full-size Israel is no bigger than New Jersey, Lake Michigan, Wales, and Kruger National Park. Check the maps! https://www.israel21c.org/5-
Jerusalem is so busy. (TY Sharon) On Jerusalem’s Streets – AGROMASHOV (Israel’s largest agricultural conference), and CLEANTECH; International Dance Festival; Shlomo Artzi concert; Manofim Contemporary Art Festival; Emunah’s first Ethiopian Israeli Cultural Festival, Woodstock, and Green Inside and Out Festival.
http://rjstreets.com/2022/09/
Israeli superhero in Captain America 4. (TY UWI) Israel’s Shira Haas will play the role of Jewish Israeli superhero Sabra in the MCU’s “Captain America: New World Order,” set to be released on May 3, 2024. Sabra (alias Ruth Bat–Seraph), first appeared in the 1980s Incredible Hulk comic book series wearing a Star of David.
https://www.jpost.com/omg/
Watch the migration live. Watch the live migration of half a billion birds through Israel’s Agamon-Hula Lake without leaving your home. KKL-JNF has installed a network of 8 HD cameras around the lake. Click on any of the photos in the 2nd link below to see the live feeds. (The Hula is the Biblical Waters of Merom.)
https://www.israel21c.org/now-
https://www.kkl-jnf.org/
https://unitedwithisrael.org/
Brazil 200 in Tel Aviv. Casa Brasil (4-9 Sep) in Tel Aviv celebrated 200 years of Brazilian independence. Centered at Hanger 11 at Tel Aviv Port, it featured lectures, cultural presentations, a fashion show, a food festival and more. Relations between Israel and Brazil has always been good and trade is at record levels.
https://www.
Golden fin tuna swims into Eilat. A golden fin tuna was a rare sight amongst the shallow waters of the Red Sea corals off Eilat. The fish is a native of tropical and sub-tropical oceans and grows up to 2.5 meters long.
https://video.i24news.tv/#/
Maccabi Haifa gives PSG a shock. Maccabi Haifa led Paris Saint-Germain for 13 mins, after Surinamese midfielder Tjaronn Chery scored the first goal in Haifa’s 2nd group match of the UEFA Soccer Champions League. Haifa eventually lost 3-1, with Argentine star Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar among PSG’s scorers.
https://www.jns.org/paris-
THE JEWISH STATE
Come excavate Biblical history. (TY WIN) “Unearth the Land of the Bible,” is a joint partnership between Israel’s Tourism Ministry, the Museum of the Bible, and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Its aim is to take American Christians in mid-April 2023 on a 10-day “hands on” tour of Israeli archeological heritage sites.
https://www.algemeiner.com/
Million-dollar coin returns to Israel. A Judean quarter-shekel silver coin (one of only two in existence) was returned to the State of Israel in ceremony in New York. It was minted in 69 CE by the Jewish leaders of the Great Revolt (66-73 CE) as a declaration of independence by the Kingdom of Judea from the Roman empire.
https://www.jns.org/extremely-
David Ben Gurion’s archives. Israel’s Ben-Gurion University has constructed a new building to house the archives of David Ben Gurion – Israel’s first President. The new site in Sde Boker will become a focus for studying Ben-Gurion, and through his life, learning about Zionism and the establishment of the State.
https://in.bgu.ac.il/en/bgi/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Israel In Our Lives. Don’t miss this Israel21c Zoom event “Israel In Our Lives: Innovation & Impact” on 25 Oct at 12noon Pacific Time. Hear from three Israeli scientists who are pioneering innovations in space and learn about their global impact. https://us02web.zoom.us/
How Israel is attracting young tech talent. Useful summary of four initiatives to help talented individuals make Aliyah and fill the gaps in Israel’s high-tech industry. Israel Innovation Authority grants; MasaTech career relocation program; Government fast-track Law of Return; plus, specific company programs.
https://www.jns.org/opinion/
20 years of Aliyah work. Nefesh b’Nefesh is celebrating 20 years of moving Jews from North America to Israel. NbN’s tremendous efforts have enabled 75,000+ Jews to begin new lives in the Jewish State.
https://www.jns.org/
Wrestling with an Angel. United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Yair had spent Shabbat with a family in Tiberias when he was called to save the life of a 73-year-old family member who suffered cardiac arrest. After 20 mins his pulse returned. Yair said afterwards he felt he had been wrestling with the Angel of Death and prevailing.
https://www.
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