RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.frontpagemag.com/israel-is-fighting-the-worlds-war/

Editor’s note: The piece below is to mark Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, and Yom Haatzmaut, Independence Day – a somber day followed by a day of great celebration held every year in late April or early May on the day (in the Hebrew calendar) which, in 1948, Israel declared its independence. This year, Yom Hazikaron will be commemorated from the evening of Monday, April 24th, and Yom Haatzmaut will be celebrated from the evening of Tuesday, April 25 to the evening of Wednesday, April 26.]

None of the 18 people murdered in Israel by Islamic terrorists so far this year were soldiers.

The dead included a 6-year-old boy and his 8-year-old brother killed in a car ramming attack in Jerusalem, a British mother and daughters gunned down on the road, a 27-year-old from Connecticut traveling to a wedding, and an Italian tourist run over on the beach.

In some countries, the soldiers fight wars, in Israel, they fight to stop a genocide.

Islamic massacres are often defended with some variation of “the occupied have the right to resist”. The Muslim occupiers keep resisting the indigenous Jewish population by killing women and children, and random foreigners whose only crime is being non-Muslim in a land that the terrorists want to reclaim for Islam.

Ever since the “throw the Jews into the sea” era, the agenda has never changed.

After the shooting of two brothers driving through the occupied village of Huwara, the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted a poll asking the Arab Muslim settlers if they approved of the terrorist attack. 71% of them supported the killings.

When Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, arrives on Monday evening, it finds a nation at war against a genocidal enemy that has half the world under siege.

https://bit.ly/43HJQR1

Saudi-Iranian diplomatic relations*Riyadh does not allow the resumption of the Saudi-Iranian diplomatic ties to befog the reality of the tenuous and shifty Middle East regimes, policies and agreements, and the inherently subversive, terroristic, anti-Sunni and imperialistic track record of Iran’s Ayatollahs.

*Saudi Arabia is cognizant of the 1,400-year-old fanatic, religious vision of the Ayatollahs, including their most critical strategic goal – since their February 1979 violent ascension to power – of exporting the Shiite Revolution and toppling all “apostate” Sunni Arab regimes, especially the House of Saud. They are aware that neither diplomatic, nor financial, short term benefits transcend the deeply-rooted, long term Ayatollahs’ anti-Sunni vision.

*Irrespective of its recent agreement with Iran – and the accompanying moderate diplomatic rhetoric – Saudi Arabia does not subscribe to the “New Middle East” and “end of interstate wars” Pollyannaish state of mind. The Saudis adhere to the 1,400-year-old reality of the unpredictably intolerant and violent inter-Arab/Muslim reality (as well as the Russia-Ukraine reality).

*This is not the first resumption of Saudi-Iranian diplomatic ties, which were previously severed in 1988 and 2016 and followed by the Ayatollahs-induced domestic and regional violence.

*The China-brokered March 2023 resumption of diplomatic ties is a derivative of Saudi Arabia’s national security interests, and its growing frustration with the US’ eroded posture as a reliable diplomatic and military protector against lethal threats.    

*The resumption of Saudi-Iranian diplomatic relations constitute a major geo-strategic gain for China and a major setback for the US in a region which, until recently, was perceived as a US domain.

*The US posture of deterrence has been severely undermined by the 2015 nuclear accord (the JCPOA), the 2021 withdrawal/flight from Afghanistan, the systematic courting of three real, clear and lethal threats to the Saudi regime –  Iran’s Ayatollahs, the “Muslim Brotherhood” and Yemen’s Houthi terrorists –- while exerting diplomatic and military pressure on the pro-US Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt.

*US policy has driven Saudi Arabia (as well as the UAE and Egypt) closer to China and Russia, commercially and militarily, including the potential Chinese construction of civilian nuclear power plants and a hard rock uranium mill in Saudi Arabia, which would advance Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “Vision 2030.”

https://www.jns.org/opinion/tears-of-heartbreak-and-joy/

Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism, begins on Monday evening. When it ends on Tuesday night, cheer will replace mourning as the nation embarks on a 24-hour celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel Independence Day.

The pairing of the two dates was purposeful. The idea behind the juxtaposition of grief and gratitude in such proximity was that Israelis owe the birth and continued existence of the Jewish state to the men and women killed while living in and defending it.

Though this week marks the country’s diamond anniversary—at the young but ripening age of 75—internecine political battles are threatening to take center stage at the somber ceremonies and at the happy ones to follow. Thankfully, there are many Israelis who intend to treat Yom Hazikaron with the respect it deserves and then go on to enjoy Yom Ha’atzmaut festivities.

These citizens understand that Memorial Day isn’t merely for the loved ones of the fallen, who don’t need annual reminders of a loss always lingering. It is held, rather, to highlight the collective nature of a sacrifice made by individuals, each a world onto him/herself, with a name, a face and a grieving family left behind.

The same applies to Independence Day. Its message to all Israelis is that the wonderment around them is both a personal and a shared accomplishment, regardless of the issues that divide them.

It’s a tall order for people about whom it is aptly quipped: “Two Jews, three opinions.” But more than a handful manages to set aside the latter when called upon to do so, which helps to explain why Israel repeatedly ranks high on the happiness scale.

https://www.jns.org/divisive-resolutions-lead-to-political-explosion-at-world-zionist-congress/

Delegates to the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem this week hoped for a forum to discuss the pressing issues facing world Jewry. Those hopes faded as committee meetings swirled around divisive resolutions, finally exploding on Thursday when a right-wing bloc organized a mini-rebellion.

Made up of Mizrachi, Likud, Shas and Eretz Hakodesh, the bloc put together enough signatures to force a vote by name, meaning each of the nearly 700 delegates would be called one by one for all 18 resolutions, a process that would have taken hours. The move was brought about by Mizrachi’s fear that people would cast multiple votes using other people’s clickers.

The move threw a monkey wrench into Thursday’s proceedings and completely changed the plans for Friday; the original schedule was thrown out in order to make way for a discussion of the resolutions. It was also agreed that resolutions would not be voted on during the Congress but next week electronically.

What finally set the right-wing bloc into action were resolutions against judicial reform, Orthodox conversion and changes to the Law of Return, said Rabbi Pesach Lerner, chairman of Eretz Hakadosh, a faction representing Orthodox values within the World Zionist Organization (WZO) that supports strengthening the state’s Jewish identity.

“We had a situation where the World Zionist Organization was voting against positions of the Israeli government,” he told JNS. “I’m proud that Eretz Hakodesh went in to defend the principles of Torah Judaism, of Israel, of family, and we didn’t buckle. The left and the Reform [movement] realize there is a formidable force challenging them.”

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19589/some-americans-support-terrorism

[F]ourteen Democratic members of the US Congress have joined the Jihad (holy war) against Israelis by urging the Biden administration to reconsider US military aid to Israel.

The Congressmen’s letter ignores the dramatic increase in terror attacks against Israelis and makes no reference to the scores of innocent civilians murdered over the past year by Palestinian terrorists. The letter further ignores that Israel’s counterterrorism measures, which aim to save the lives of Israelis and Palestinians alike, are a legitimate act of self-defense.

The Israeli measures, including raids on the homes of terrorists and confiscation of weapons and ammunition, are the direct result of a 300% increase in terror attacks over the past year… When there is no terrorism, there is no need for Israel to launch counterterrorism operations.

By stating that the US should halt military aid to Israel, the signatories of the letter signatories of the letter are in fact saying that Israel has no right to defend itself against those who are openly calling for the elimination of Israel and engaged in daily attempts to murder Jews.

When Israel uses weapons, it is with the purpose of combating terrorism and protecting the lives of its people. When Palestinians use weapons, it is always with the aim of murdering Jews.

As far as the Palestinians are concerned, all Israeli Jews are “settlers” living in one big illegitimate settlement, Israel, which needs to be replaced by a 57th Muslim state…

They outspokenly consider construction everywhere in Israel a “settlement project” and all Israeli Jews “settlers.”

Hamas and its patrons in Iran are openly opposed to Jews building homes not only in the West Bank and Jerusalem, but anywhere in Israel. The reason? The mullahs in Tehran — and their proxies in Hamas, PIJ and Hezbollah — believe that the entire country of Israel has no right to exist and state that Israel should be eradicated, primarily through Jihad (holy war).

The Iranian regime and its friends want to see no country supporting Israel — not politically, not financially, not militarily. They want to see a weak Israel that they can then rip to shreds, as they have done, and are still doing, to Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

“The U.S. State Department reports that Iran provides some $100 million a year to Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” multiple news outlets reported last week.

Iran and its proxy terror groups are already encircling Israel. They are sitting on its southern border, in the Gaza Strip, from where Hamas and PIJ continue to fire rockets regularly at Israel. They are sitting on Israel’s northern border, in Lebanon and Syria, from where Hezbollah also has a strong political and military presence.

The Congressmen’s letter, however, does not make any reference to these existential threats that Israel continues to face from Iran and Palestinian and Lebanese terror groups.

https://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

The proponents of thinly disguised anti-Semitism, and the slander and defamation of Israel in the media recently had a hey-day with baleful headlines about anti-government protests in Israel. Never mind that behind the doors in government facilities, foreign visitors of every race, color and religion from every continent convened in safety and peaceful purpose. Never mind that Israeli medicine, agronomics, water technology, conservation, and business start-ups enrich the lives of billions throughout the world. Michael Ordman’s exhaustive catalogs detail the foregoing which eludes the polemicists and bigots. rsk

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

HBOT is effective for fibromyalgia. Tel Aviv University researchers have found that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is more effective than medication in reducing fibromyalgia pain caused by a traumatic head injury. 40% of the HBOT group were cured of fibromyalgia, compared to none receiving standard medication.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0282406

Health monitor is a lifesaver. (TY Hazel) Israel’s BioBeat (see here previously) has just completed a study of its wearable chest monitor in use on 521 patients. It reported a 77% success rate for detecting those at high risk of deterioration. This compared with 20% monitored using current alternative methods.

https://nocamels.com/2023/03/wireless-device-monitors-patients-vital-signs/ 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1138647/full

AI emergency system saves more lives. A unique, artificial intelligence-based system is helping paramedics in Israel save lives by transcribing poor-quality emergency phone calls to save precious time. The technology was developed by Israel’s AudioCodes (see here previously) and is now installed at MDA’s 101 dispatch center.

https://www.mdais.org/en/news/230923   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTi3v_AHfdw

https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/tech-and-start-ups/article-735640

US approval for PTSD brain modulator. Israel’s GrayMatters Health (see here previously) has received US FDA clearance to market its Prism system, for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The patient wears Prism’s cap fitted with special electrodes. Software plus an audio-visual interface then helps calm emotions.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/fda-okays-israel-developed-brain-modulation-device-to-treat-ptsd/

Shortening the healing time for dental implants. (TY Israel21c) The implant activation device, Active+ from Israel’s Nova Plasma gives dental implants a 30-sec deep-cleaning cold plasma bath immediately before they go into the patient’s mouth. Clinical results show a 50% improvement in integration and healing time.

https://novaplasma.com/using-cold-plasma-to-improve-the-outcome-of-dental-implants/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s85eOmG-vKY  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34907458/

mRNA vaccine center for Jerusalem. Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion has announced that the German company BioNTech intends to open a factory in Jerusalem where mRNA vaccines will be developed and produced. BioNTech partnered Pfizer in developing its mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/369031

Grant for autism research. Hebrew University of Jerusalem Professor Haitham Amal has received a $400k grant from the Philadelphia Eagles Autism Foundation to develop treatments based on his nitric oxide research for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Amal is the first researcher outside the US to be awarded the grant.

https://www.jns.org/wire/hebrew-university-autism-researcher-receives-prestigious-grant-from-the-eagles-autism-foundation/

102-year-old receives pacemaker. Doctors at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya implanted a cardiac pacemaker in Rachel Kafri who was born in Tel Aviv under the British Mandate 102 years ago. Rachel said. “I have been through so much in my life, but I am probably not ready to say goodbye to the world yet.”

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-738807

Is there a doctor on the plane? On a flight from Tel Aviv to Chicago? – of course there is! A pediatric doctor from Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital, and a United Hatzalah EMT, treated a 60-year-old man who fainted and fell over. Then they were called to stabilize a woman suffering from dehydration. All in a day’s work!

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/369535

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/369983

A group of 14 Democratic lawmakers on Thursday urged the Biden administration to undertake a foundational shift in its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict.

Spearheaded by Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the letter, quoted in Haaretz, urges US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “undertake a shift in US policy in recognition of the worsening violence, further annexation of land, and denial of Palestinian rights. Only by protecting democracy, human rights, and self-determination for all Palestinians and Israelis can we achieve a lasting peace.”

The letter was signed by Reps. Cori Bush, Andre Carson, Summer Lee, Betty McCollum, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Raul Grijalva, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia and Delia Ramirez.

The lawmakers are further urging the Biden administration to ensure US taxpayer funds are not supporting “Israeli settlements projects”, and to determine whether US military aid is in violation of the Arms Export Control Act or the so-called “Leahy Law.” The Arms Export and Controls Act stipulates that US weapons are sold only for legitimate self-defense, while the Leahy Law prohibits US funding from being used to equip or train foreign military forces suspected of human rights abuses or war crimes.

“Furthermore, we call on your administration to ensure that all future foreign assistance to Israel, including weapons and equipment, is not used in support of gross violations of human rights, including by strengthening end-use monitoring and financial tracking. We ask that you respond with a detailed plan as to how the administration plans to achieve that goal,” the letter says.

The lawmakers wrote that they are “deeply concerned by Israeli government moves that demonstrate that illegal de facto and de jure annexation of the occupied West Bank is well underway,” stressing that “this Israeli government’s anti-democratic mission to dismantle the rule of law is a threat to Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

“We know your administration has met repeatedly with Israeli officials to reiterate US support for ‘equal measures of freedom, dignity, security and prosperity’ for both Israelis and Palestinians. Unfortunately, these good faith entreaties have had no effect,” they note.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-occupation-myth-is-the-engine-of-antisemitic-terror/?utm_source=sendinblue&utm_campaign=Daily%20Syndicate%2004-14-2023&utm_medium=email

Anger at the U.N.’s “Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories” Francesca Albanese for her outrageous slanders of Israel is more than justified. So is frustration and outrage about biased coverage of the Middle East in leading corporate media outlets like CNN and The New York Times of a string of deadly Palestinian terror attacks as well as recent events on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

The never-ending series of egregious comments from Albanese provides plenty of fodder for critics of the United Nations and the international “human rights” community. Similarly, news reports that treat terrorist attacks on Jews with indifference while hyping the shootings of Palestinian terror suspects by the Israel Defense Forces or even attempts to restore order on the Temple Mount after the mosques there were commandeered by rioters into grave violations of human rights are flagged by the vital groups that monitor anti-Israel media bias.

These awful examples of how both international groups and the media misreport and falsely characterize events in Israel are, by themselves, important and deserve vigorous pushback. But such statements and media coverage that might well be termed more a form of disinformation or propaganda than journalism are just the tip of the iceberg that those who care about the campaign against Israel must confront. And, as important, even essential, as it is to call out each and every such instance of lies and prejudice may be, the confluence of so many egregious incidents should serve as a reminder that the problem goes much deeper.

The bile and lies tweeted by Albanese as well as most of the media coverage of what’s been happening on the Temple Mount as well as in attacks, such as the tragic slaying of 48-year-old Lucy Dee and her daughters Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, when Palestinian terrorist fired on their car, is infuriating. But it’s not merely the product of indifference to Jewish suffering and rights or even antisemitism, though all of it can be easily observed in such cases.

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-739190

In a 2004 Israel TV interview on their newly published book about the Second Intifada, co-authors Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel recounted the purpose of the joint endeavor and what their research uncovered. Expressing amazement at their findings, show host Meni Pe’er (who died a decade later) pointed in particular to their research on suicide bombings.

“Yes,” said Issacharoff. “In The Seventh War: How We Won and Why We Lost the War with the Palestinians, we tried to examine the thinking of Hamas, not merely that of the Palestinian mainstream.”

To do this, the two Israeli correspondents and commentators on Arab and Middle East affairs spoke to senior Hamas officials. Among these was Sheikh Hassan Yousef.

Yousef, a co-founder and spiritual leader of the terrorist organization, spent several stints in Israeli prisons. Today, he is in charge of the group’s West Bank (Judea and Samaria) operations.

According to Issacharoff, Yousef explained that one of Hamas’s goals in its overall pursuit of the Jewish state’s ultimate destruction had been to foment and enhance internecine Israeli strife. Evidence of a schism on which the organization could build, Yousef told the authors, lay in calls on the part of the Israeli Left for a complete withdrawal from Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, and for IDF soldiers and reservists to refuse to serve in those territories. 

It was the latter, above all, he said, that buoyed Hamas to keep up its suicide attacks on Israelis.