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December 2017

Critical lessons of the 1947 Partition Plan Ambassador (Ret.) Yoram Ettinger

Past experience tends to repeat itself, creating the most glittering writing on the wall. However, too often it is overlooked by Western policy-makers, who frequently sacrifice long-term interests, strategic complexity and reality-based hope on the altar of short-term convenience, oversimplification and wishful-thinking.

The November 29, 1947 Partition Plan produced a series of long-term geo-strategic lessons – relevant to the 2017 national security of Israel and the US – which have been largely ignored, although they have recurred and have been reaffirmed, systematically, throughout the last 70 years.

Lesson #1. The foundations of the special ties between the US and Israel were not laid down by policy-makers, but – since the 1620 “Mayflower – by the American people. In 1947, the State Department opposed, aggressively, the establishment of the Jewish State, but the US public overwhelmingly supported the Partition Plan, equally among Democrats and Republicans, college-educated and non-college-educated. According to the October, 1947 Gallup poll, support of the Partition Plan was 65%:10% with 25% “no opinion.” Lowell Thomas, a US radio icon, told his listeners on May 14, 1948: “Today, as the Jewish State is established, Americans read through the Bible as a historical reference book.”

Lesson #2. The pugnacious rejection of the 1947 Partition Plan by the Arabs – including the Arabs west of the Jordan River – reflects the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which has never been the Palestinian issue, Jewish settlements, the reunification of Jerusalem, or the size of the Jewish State. It has always been the existence of the “infidel” Jewish State in the Abode of Islam, a land which is, ostensibly, divinely-ordained only to “believers.”

According to the October 11, 1947 issue of the Egyptian daily, Akhbar al-Yom, the Arab League Secretary General, Azzam Pasha warned of “a war of extermination and momentous massacre, which will be spoken of like the Tartar Massacre, or the Crusader wars… to win the honor of martyrdom for the sake of Palestine… the shortest road to paradise….” In 2017, hate-education dominates the Palestinian curriculum, Friday sermons and public discourse.

Lesson #3. The secondary-to-marginal role played by the Palestinian issue in shaping Arab policy has been demonstrated, repeatedly, since 1947. While Arab leaders have talked passionately about their support of an Arab state west of the Jordan River, they have never walked the walk.

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL: MICHAEL ORDMAN

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Protein switch helps immune system fight cancer. Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a protein “switch” that activates the immune system to attack cancer cells. They were able to distinguish cancer cells from healthy tissue by their DNA sequences.
http://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Joint-Israeli-US-research-distinguishes-cancerous-cells-from-healthy-ones-508738 https://www.youtube.com/embed/vbWDuAev7Oo?rel=0

Injection melts fat. Israeli startup Raziel Therapeutics has developed an injectable molecule that apparently melts away fat cells. The new synthetic small molecule was discovered by Professor Shmuel Ben-Sasson of Hebrew University almost by accident. Raziel is conducting phase 2a clinical testing on 32 US patients.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-fat-busting-shot-seeks-to-help-battle-obesity/

GE imaging to use Israeli technology. I reported previously (twice) on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform of Israel’s MedyMatch for diagnosing head trauma and strokes from CT-scans. MedyMatch is now partnering with GE Healthcare to integrate its products with the US giant’s imaging solutions.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ge-healthcare-to-use-israeli-tech-to-help-doctors-assess-stroke-embargo/

Prostate device gets European approval. Israeli biotech Butterfly Medical has received the CE Mark for its novel medical device for non-surgical treatment of Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) or enlarged prostate that affects 105 million men globally. The device is inserted in a 10-minute procedure under local anesthetic.
https://www.globes.co.il/en/article-butterfly-medical-awarded-ce-mark-for-prostate-device-1001213492

Autism and the smell of fear. Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute have discovered that people with Autism react differently to certain odors produced by the human body. Experiments using sweat collected from people taking skydiving classes and from those undertaking normal exercise had remarkably different results.
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/autism-and-smell-fear
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-017-0024-x

Cancer patients win golf tournament. I reported previously (twice) on the annual fund-raising “Hole in One” golf tournament of Israeli cancer charity Ezer Mizion. For the first time, a team of cancer patients also competed. The team not only won one of the top awards, but the patients benefited from a wonderful day out.
http://www.ezermizion.org/blog/why-is-this-tournament-different-from-all-other-tournaments/

United Hatzalah founder saves a life. Eli Beer, founder and President of United Hatzalah was flying El Al from New York to Israel when he rushed to save the life of a passenger who was having a hypoglycemia attack. Using a borrowed glucometer, honey and jam he stabilized the patient so the flight could continue to Tel Aviv.
https://israelrescue.org/blog/dramatic-rescue-eli-beer-saved-a-mans-life-mid-flight-this-morning/
http://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Mans-life-saved-on-El-Al-flight-by-United-Hatzlah-president-Eli-Beer-514962