Good News, Israel

Compliments of Anglo Saxon Ra’anana Real Estate

Quote for the Week

Real peace between nations is accomplished by people in the field like us.

Dr Ahmed Said of the Ramalla Central Hospital on a visit to the Carmel Medical Center in Haifa. (Is everybody listening out there?! [see item below])

As those who read GN regularly will have noticed, we avoid politics of any kind so what follows is merely a report on what happened: Our Prime Minister addressed a joint sitting of Congress and the Senate in Washington D C yesterday. He received twenty-six standing ovations – we counted 27 but what’s one standing ovation between friends – in a 45 minute speech. This morning [Wednesday], his detractors detracted and his admirers admired but our guess is that there were a lot more of the latter and a lot fewer of the former than there were before his appearance. The reason? Simple. Nobody, but nobody does it as well as our PM. And, with the greatest respect, that includes most of the world’s leaders that we’ve heard. So hats off to Mr Netanyahu.

In November last year the OECD [the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, an exclusive club of 34 countries, remember, with Australia right at the top of the list and the US of A at the bottom, but that’s only because they always appear in alphabetical order and Zanzibar isn’t a member – but Israel is] had penciled in growth for Israel of nearly four percent for this year. Along came the Bank of Israel and upped it to 4.5% and then shortly afterwards Meitav Investment House predicted that it will expand by 4.8% this year. The OECD, not to be outdone, revised their estimate and now expects Israel’s economy to grow by 5.4% in 2011. We’re hedging our bets. Is the sky the limit? Not quite, but we’re getting there.

Israel’s is a brain driven economy as we’ve always said, so it’s GN when we hear of young people who are assuming their rightful place at the top of the intellectual elite echelon, and there is no shortage of takers. The Adams Fellowships have been decided and the top ten Israeli doctoral students will be receiving $100 000 each to carry on with their research which includes: the prevention of the herpes virus; the perfection of photovoltaic solar energy – this by an ex-fighter pilot, well not really ex, he still does 70 days of reserve duty a year – and the development of a pulmonary implant that ‘talks’ to the doctor and reports on the condition of patients with heart failure. The $1m dollars comes from Marcel Adams, a holocaust survivor who is doing wondrous things with his money.

Getting younger, but no less brilliant, the winners of the local Intel Science and Engineering Competition Maya Samuels and Erez Orbach, both 18, represented Israel at the International Fair in Los Angeles and both of them were award winners chosen from the 1500 participants from 50 countries present and when there’s $4m prize money at stake, well it’s worth trying that little bit harder to be a part of it all.

And younger still, a group of 11 and 12 year olds competed in a quiz based on the Hebrew language. Now, we at GN pride ourselves on our knowledge of the Holy Tongue but we sat open-mouthed as these erudite youngsters strutted their stuff vociferously supported by a huge hall packed with enthusiastic supporters each and every one of whom can and does walk into a shop and buys a bottle of milk using exactly the same vocabulary and linguistic structures as Moses used in addressing God three thousand years ago. Who says the age of miracles has past?

It might very well be said that the high-tech world runs on chips. Marvell Technology has two research and development centers in Israel that employ more than 1,200 people and the Company is going to invest about $200 million in its Israeli subsidiary that will accelerate research and development of critical system-on-chip technologies. This won’t be the first time they’ve put serious money into the country in fact they’ve already totted up $3.5 billion in investments and acquisitions and may very well buy additional Israeli companies before they’re finished. Why, when there are so many other countries around? To misquote a Clinton campaign slogan, ‘It’s the [brain] economy …” well, you know the missing word.

And while we’re still talking brain power, we at GN predicted that the 21st Century would be the one where the brain would take the center of the research stage and it seems that that is happening. The Hebrew University has signed a document of collaboration with Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne [How do they get all that on a letterhead? By writing EPFL, that’s how] in research into brain function – and malfunction as in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurological diseases -. An initial shared investment of $10m will get the ball rolling. Our ever present President was at the signing and it would seem that he’s adopting it as a pet project. That, if the past is anything to go by, will assure its success.

You’ll have read enough about the ‘situation’; you know, the one between us and our next door neighbors, none of it particularly joy-inducing so here are two stories to cast a little light on the scene: A combined Israel- Palestinian, Jews and Arabs, Australian Football team – Australian Football? It’s something like rugby after you’ve lost the rule book – took on a team of Aussie expats much to the delight of all. Who won? Just about everybody we think.

On a more serious note, Palestinian hospitals have just acquired CT scanners and medical teams from across the divide joined their Israeli colleagues for a study program in their use. Politics were left at the gate of the Carmel Medical Center and from there on it was strictly the art and science of medicine. And learn they did. As the day ended and with the shaking of hands all round, Dr Ahmed Said from Ramallah Central Hospital said, and we quote: ‘Real peace between nations is accomplished by people in the field like us.” No doubt, no doubt. [see Quote for the Week above]

Here’s a brief round up of a few of what our scientists are doing right now:

US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has formally accepted Dune Medical Devices Inc’s. premarket approval (PMA) application for its MarginProbe System that can scan the edges of breast tumors that have been surgically removed, more effectively than existing procedures to ensure that they are cancer free.

New Israeli stents, originally an Israeli invention, feature important technological advances designed to help restore the artery’s natural form, support it to minimize the probability of re-stenosis and ensure easier access to distal lesions.

Pain management has become an important weapon in the medical armory for obvious reasons and BiolineRX Ltd. will begin a Phase I (safety and efficacy) clinical trial of its BL-1021 drug for the treatment of neuropathic pain – chronic pain resulting from injury to the nervous system. The company has nine additional drugs in developmental stages; for the treatment of cancer, central nervous system diseases, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular diseases.

And to end with here’s a story with a happy end. Mr Meir Korner was diagnosed with skin cancer which involved the removal of half of his nose and its reconstruction with a flap of skin from his forehead. He had the procedure done at Rambam hospital with a local anesthetic. The doctors were pleased with his progress and he, in turn was very thankful to the medical staff. It seems that we omitted to inform you that Mr Korner is 109, one hundred and nine years old! He ascribes his longevity to the usual things but adds one that’s new; frequent conversations with God. Interesting. One more thing he can’t wait to get back to the beach and to have his regular dip in the Med but this time with protection against the sun. God bless you Mr Korner and God bless the dedicated and skillful doctors who granted you a new lease on life.