In the 17th Feb 2013 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
· Israeli scientists have developed a cure for a disease causing millions of genetic deformities.
· Israel’s new parliament will have a larger proportion of women than those of the USA or UK.
· Israeli surfers saved 8 children from drowning in Hawaii.
· Israeli 3D printers can now print your false teeth.
· An Israeli company won the top award at the Munich CleanTech Conference.
· Israel exported 60 million flowers to Europe for Valentine’s Day.
· The UN heard first hand about the fruits of Israeli technology.
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
A cure for genetic deformities. A team including researchers from Israel’s Technion has developed an innovative technique that they believe will cure deformities and blindness caused by ectodermal dysplasia, which affects seven out of every 10,000 babies born in the world. Via in-vitro experiments, damaged cells caused by mutant p63 genes can be greatly improved using a chemical substance called PRIMA-APR246.
Israeli stem cells slow down blood cancer. Israel’s Gamida Cell Ltd. reported success in the Phase III clinical trial of its StemEx treatment for leukemia and lymphoma. Compared to a control group, far more patients receiving StemEx survived 100 days or more following transplantation.
Saving life in Armageddon. Emek Medical Center in Afula, is near Megiddo, the fabled site of Armageddon. The hospital treats 50% Jews and 50% Arabs. In 2012, the head of Emek’s intensive care unit traveled with two nurses, to the Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, to open a new trauma center and train local staff.
Israeli medical devices wow NYC and Boston. The Israeli innovations featured at the US road shows included Archmedical’s tissue sampler, BiFlow’s Nitino stent, Medasense’s pain monitor and Moebius’s injectable solution for osteo-arthritis.
QCore’s pumps go global. (Thanks to Atid-EDI) A new distribution agreement with Hospira of Illinois means that the Sapphire medical infusion pumps developed for ambulances and hospitals by Israel’s QCore Medical will soon be available in more than 60 key markets across Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Patient monitoring across the USA. (Thanks to Atid-EDI) Israel’s EarlySense systems will now be distributed to hospitals across the United States. A deal with Welch Allyn means that the innovative “under the mattress” sensors may soon be monitoring the vital signs of millions of Americans.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
“Too many Israeli goods in Gaza”. The rhetoric has changed. Having found it impossible to pretend that Gaza is under siege, the latest upside-down anti-Israel argument is that Israel supplies too much! This week 42,898 tons of goods and gas entered Gaza from Israel in 1,445 truckloads.
Israel lets Turkey build Gaza hospital. Israel has authorized Turkey to build a Turkish-funded hospital in Gaza. Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that Israel gave permission to transport the construction materials to Gaza as a gesture of goodwill toward Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan will inaugurate the hospital.
More Israeli women lawmakers than in the USA and UK. The 19th Israeli parliament will have a record number of women lawmakers in Israel’s history. Women now comprise 23 per cent of the Knesset – a higher percentage than in the US Congress (18 per cent) and the UK House of Commons (22%).
Venture philanthropy. The Dualis Fund is a venture capital fund with a difference. It provides profit-making opportunities for investors, helps businesses succeed, but also ensures a ‘social return’. Projects include a restaurant employing at-risk youth and a software company for people with disabilities.
Refugee clinic gets Government aid. Until recently, Tel Aviv’s illegal migrants received medical care only from volunteers. Now, Israel’s Ministry of Health has stepped in to provide emergency treatments via a staff of doctors, paid by the Ministry from rented offices at the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station.
Israeli surfers rescue 8 drowning children in Hawaii. Three Israeli surfers went to the aid of eight children aged between 12 and 14 that had been swept out to sea and were being pounded by the huge waves. Tzvika Elias, Yair Naftali and Gabi Liptz were hailed as heroes by the children’s parents.
Israeli satellite broadcasts Africa Cup of Nations. (Thanks to Atid-EDI) Israel’s Spacecom has been broadcasting the 29th Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa using its AMOS-5 satellite and transmitted every single game from all five South African stadiums to Europe and the Middle East.
Better services for UK Police families. (Thanks to EDI) Israel’s BluePhoenix has completed a project to replace old computer systems for the UK’s Police Mutual Assurance Society (PMAS). Now 200,000 UK police officers and their families will receive savings, investments and insurance services much quicker.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Samsung to open Israeli innovation and strategy center. Samsung’s new center in Ramat Gan will focus on Israeli startup companies, Israeli research academia and venture capital funds investing in start-ups. The new center will be part of Global Samsung, through which the company will expand its activity in Israel.
Printing your dentures? Compass3D, a leading provider of 3D Digital Solutions has begun offering Stratasys 3D Printing Solutions in Brazil. The Objet Eden 3D Printers from Stratasys can be used in conjunction with dental, orthodontics and guided implant products.
Saving power in Central America. (Thanks to EDI) Digicel Group, the leading mobile telecom operator in the Caribbean, Central American and Pacific regions, has deployed Smart Energy Solution (SES) from Israel’s eVolution Networks. SES reduces energy consumption and CO2 emissions of cellular base stations.
Amiad filters for new desalination plant. My cousin’s company is in the news again. The water filters from Kibbutz Amiad have been selected for the protection of ultra-filtration membranes at the Mekorot Group’s new Ashdod Desalination Plant which, from early 2013, will be one of the largest such facilities in Israel.
Projecting a good image. Israel’s Valens makes the chips for HDBaseT technology, which projects High Definition multimedia over a single cable, and has now enabled the popular display port. More companies are adopting this technology, which means the future prospects for Valens look very exciting.
You’ve got to Moovit. Israel’s Moovit application for public transport information is now available in beta in the UK. Already operating in the US, Canada, and Western Europe, Moovit is the first public transport application to harness the power of the crowd, using real-time user-generated information to improve public transport trip planning and navigation.
The best Clean Technology in Munich. The 2012 Munich Cleantech Conference awarded their very first MCC Venture Award to Israel’s TIGI. TIGI’s Honeycomb solar thermal collectors generate heat for space heating, domestic or industrial uses at extremely high efficiency.
Sending Benelux packing. (Thanks to Atid-EDI) Israel’s Scodix SENSE digital printing presses are to be sold in Belgium and Luxembourg. Using CCD cameras and 3D polymers, the system produces unique products, printed materials and packaging to the service provider and the consumer.
A quality camera for your smartphone. (Thanks to Atid-EDI) Israel’s Corephotonics develops computational cameras and tiny electro-mechanical engines to improve focusing capabilities. Corephotonics have raised $5.2 million to put the power of still cameras into smartphones.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Apple opens Ra’anana development center. The new Apple development center in the Ra’anana Industrial Zone will be the company’s third in Israel after it opened a development center in Haifa last year and acquired flash memory developer Anobit in Herzliya. Most new staff were previously laid off in TI’s global closures.
Magal-S3 swallows WebSilicon. (Thanks to EDI) Readers often ask why there are few big Israeli companies. Well here is one that is definitely growing. Magal, which develops cutting-edge perimeter security systems, has just bought another Israeli IT company – WebSilicon, which builds network management devices and systems.
The worldwide leader in speech analytics. For the fourth year in a row, Israeli hi-tech company NICE has been ranked as the global market leader in Speech Analytics by DMG Consulting. NICE holds a 28.3 percent market share and has the largest number of customers. It was also topped the product satisfaction scores.
Building a virtual cable TV service for Singapore. (Thanks to EDI) Singapore-based MediaCorp has hired Israeli video startup Tvinci to build a new streaming video service called Toggle that will provide live and on-demand access to streaming video content. Toggle will have Video On Demand (VOD) content, plus a dozen channels of live TV available for streaming to customers’ connected devices instead of their TVs.
Israel-Cyprus Sign Gas and Oil Explorations Deal. Israeli firms Delek and Anver signed an agreement to acquire a 30 percent stake in exploration rights for gas and oil off Cyprus’s southern shore. Commerce Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis told reporters that the signing provided a “new era of Cyprus-Israeli strategic cooperation which includes economic and political dimensions,”
Israeli microalgae company sold for $50 million. UK’s Grovepoint Capital has bought Israeli start-up Algatechnologies – manufacturer of AstaPure (astaxanthin) – a powerful antioxidant from the microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis. Asta Pure is used as a nutritional supplement and component in cosmetics.
Israeli agriculture biotech sold for $35 million. The US giant Monsanto has bought the activity of Israeli crop bioengineering company Rosetta Green Ltd – developer of improved genetic strains of wheat, vegetables and other plants such as cotton, biofuels and algae with medical properties.
Israel exports 60 million flowers to Europe for Valentine’s Day. It may be a day of love and romance for those celebrating Valentine’s Day around the world, but it’s a day of hard work for Israeli farmers. Israel exported some 60 million roses, orchids, Bonsai trees and other flowers to Europe this Valentine’s Day.
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT
From Essex to Israel. Israel’s bars, beaches, music scene, nightlife, restaurants and tourist spots are just right for this trendy young visitor from England’s South-Eastern county.
Chinese dance around Israel. The Spring Chinese Dance Festival is a joint effort of the Suzanne Dellal Center and the Chinese Government. Performances will be held around the country, such as Ashdod, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Karmiel and Haifa.
A sea of birds. Some two dozen international bird experts enjoyed a day exploring Israel’s winter home to the birds of the Kinneret basin, the Hula Valley and the Gamla Nature Reserve, prior to beginning a week-long seminar on GPS tracking of osprey migration paths.
THE JEWISH STATE
“You shall eat the fruit of your own work and you shall be happy”. Israel’s Noa Furman quoted the Torah in her statement to the UN Commission for Social Development. “We have moved from cultivating apples to designing Apple Computers and harvesting oranges to building Orange mobile phones.”
The magic of Jerusalem. Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon highlights Jerusalem’s harmony where (for the first time in history, under Israeli sovereignty) Jews, Christians, Muslims, secular, religious, young and old live side by side. He also shows the unbreakable bond between the Jewish people and Jerusalem.
Final section of Eilat railway link approved. The Southern District Committee for Planning and Building has approved the final leg of the future Eilat railway. The rail link will connect the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and provide a swifter passage of goods to both Europe and Asia, strengthening international relations, improving tourism to Eilat and significantly reducing air pollution levels.
@ Canadian Otter:Your last statement, for the most part, sad but true.
Mr. Belman; Your reference to just a few great things from Israel in past issues, annoyed me when there are so very many areas of great accomplishment.. NOW YOU GOT IT RIGHT.
Thanks for the wonderful list, that is growing, to illustrate the significance and importance of how Israel is pushing the envelope and in many cases ahead of the US as well as other countries.
Thanks for the comprehensive list.
Jerry
INDISPUTABLE GOOD WILL TOWARDS ISRAEL among the American people. This is good news too.
On another thread – https://www.israpundit.org/archives/52864 – I mentioned out how the Supreme Court had suspended upcoming settler’s expulsions, and the reason could be no other than increased international US media coverage due to Obama’s visit. The Israeli govt does not want the American people to know how Zionist Jews are treated by their own govt in their own country.
The 2016 US presidential campaign has already started, and Sen. Rand Paul – who has ambitions to run for president – found it a must to visit Israel. Now Sen. Marco Rubio, another potential presidential candidate, is also visiting Israel. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/165315
All that is further evidence that being pro-Israel is an asset for any politician. The latest Congressional hearings on Obama’s appointees to important government positions have shown how detrimental it is to have a record that is not clearly pro-Israel. Even if they get the necessary votes in the end, the fact that their attitudes about Israel were at the center of those hearings means something.
The real pro-Israel lobby these days is the non-Jewish American voter.
US Jewish politicians, activists and voters are nothing less than a shameful disgrace, in their efforts to distance themselves from Israel’s fate.
I will pay significantly more attention to these periodic Good News From Israel hasbarot when they issue the following announcement::
Jewish Nationalist Coalition Wins Knesset Elections and Forms New Government
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI