RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.jns.org/opinion/no-the-override-clause-wont-crush-israeli-democracy/

 Israel’s outgoing interim prime minister, Yair Lapid, opened his Yesh Atid Party meeting on Monday by addressing the infamous “override clause.”

“It will crush the court; it will crush Israeli democracy,” he said, referring to one of the main issues dividing Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition-in-formation and the rival “anybody but Bibi” camp that lost the Nov. 1 Knesset election.

Soon-to-be-former Defense Minister Benny Gantz echoed the sentiment on social media. “Those who promote passage of the override clause with a majority of 61 are acting in the name of corruption, not governance,” he tweeted, also on Monday. “Netanyahu wants to carry out a [car]-ramming attack on Israeli democracy and harm national security.”

Exiting Transportation Minister and Labor Party chair Merav Michaeli posted about her faction’s “first conference to save democracy and the justice system,” held to “unite the forces of good…to fight the dangerous override clause that is liable to critically harm the legal system and…the rights of all of us.”

The list of doomsayers about the proposed amendment—aimed at enabling the Knesset to “override” Supreme Court reversals of laws it enacts—goes on. Some detractors have been highlighting the slim majority of MKs (61 out of Israel’s 120-member parliament) that promoters suggest should be sufficient to dismiss judges’ unwanted interference.

Others, who don’t even bother pretending that the size of the majority in question is at the root of their objections, simply decry the very notion of stripping the judiciary of any of its powers.

This isn’t to say that all supporters of the override clause are comfortable with every detail of its incarnation. Take best-selling author and neo-conservative pundit Gadi Taub, for example. In a letter to colleagues over the weekend, the senior lecturer at the Federmann School of Public Policy and Governance at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem responded to a petition against the clause launched by a fellow academic—Dr. Yael Shomer of Tel Aviv University—in tandem with a separate one signed by 130 jurists and counting.

Shomer’s formulation boiled down to what has become a convenient catchphrase—the “tyranny of the majority”—bandied about by all override opponents, among them those lacking even minimal familiarity with the subject.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/

When did it become accepted that a delusional peace between Israel and the predominately Muslim Arabs, those who call themselves Palestinians, requires Israel to give away it’s very own Biblical birthright in the Jewish heartland of Judea and Samaria (the so-called ‘West Bank’)?

When did the Oslo Accords, the Wye Agreement, the Roadmap, ad nauseum, supersede the eternal possession of the Jewish people to their God given heartland? To even ask the question is a monstrous tragedy, so enormous as to spit in the face of G-d.

Who are they who dare to try to divide the land that the Almighty bequeathed to Abraham and to his descendants through Isaac and Jacob?

Who are they who would give any part of tiny Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) to the Arabs, they who already possess vast lands throughout the Middle East and North Africa?

Unlike the deeply appreciated previous incumbent of the White House, President Donald J. Trump, too many U.S. presidents have displayed pro-Muslim Arab policies, which created a clear and present danger to the very existence and survival of the reconstituted Jewish state. And so it is with President Joe Biden.

https://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Peptides with anti-cancer potential. (TY Ron) Scientists from Israel’s Technion Institute and from Japan have discovered peptides (short proteins) with the potential to destroy cancer cells. The scientists made the discovery while researching the cell-recycling protein ubiquitin, that won two Israeli scientists the Nobel Prize in 2004.

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-721804

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-33808-6

Exercise can stop spread of cancer. Tel Aviv University researchers have found that regular aerobic exercise reduces the risk of metastatic cancer by up to 72%. In data studies of 3,000 humans, plus lab tests, they have shown that exercise increases glucose consumption, thereby reducing the availability of energy to the tumor.

https://www.israel21c.org/physical-exercise-lowers-risk-of-cancer-metastasis-by-72/

https://english.tau.ac.il/exercise_defeats_cancer_2022 https://europepmc.org/article/med/36084256

Exercise can cure long COVID. Studies by Israeli researchers on patients suffering from post-COVID ailments show that these can be safely relieved by exercise therapy as it stabilizes the autonomic nervous system. Other treatments include nutraceutical supplements, steroids, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).

https://www.israel21c.org/vaccine-may-prevent-long-covid-oxygen-might-help-cure-it/

Gel to help grow bones. Researchers at Tel Aviv University are developing a water-based gel (hydrogel) that will encourage bones to re-grow. It has extensive dental and orthopedic applications (e.g., for implants and repairing bone defects). Following lab tests, clinical (human) trials are now planned.

https://nocamels.com/2022/11/new-gel-could-transform-dental-implants/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpe.13725

Longevity center. Israel’s Sheba Medical Center plans to open a Longevity Center by Sept 2023. Patients over 40 will be able to register for around $500 per year and receive tests and consultations with experts in internal medicine, endocrinology, psychogeriatric, gynecology for menopause and brain scientists.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/h10l9bnbi

Healthy aging center. Israel’s Technion Institute is establishing the Healthy Aging Center, as part of the Technion Human Health Initiative (THHI). It brings together Technion researchers from medicine, biology, chemistry, biotechnology, food engineering, computer engineering, architecture, and more.

https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2022/11/healthy-aging-center/

https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2022/03/human-health-initiative-thhi/

Connecting patients with the same condition. More details of Israeli-founded Alike.Health (see here previously). The app connects people who are suffering from similar conditions and going through the same experiences. Some 100,000 users in the USA have already uploaded their medical data anonymously to the app.

https://nocamels.com/2022/11/healthcares-answer-to-facebook-waze-and-tinder/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D26OkcWaVs

MDA AI dispatch software for New Jersey. Hatzalah emergency service organizations across the US will use the artificial intelligence-powered dispatch software of Israel’s national emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA). The AI system instantly locates and dispatches the nearest first responders to a medical emergency.

https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/article-721981

https://unitedwithisrael.org/breakthrough-1st-shiite-muslim-majority-country-to-open-embassy-in-israel/?utm_source=newsletters_

My e-pal Nurit Greenger has been writing about this nation for years…..rsk

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited Azerbaijan in October to discuss security and policy and foster defense cooperation.

Azerbaijan’s parliament on Friday initiated the process of opening an embassy in Israel, making it the first Shi’ite Muslim-majority country do so.

“Azerbaijan is an important partner of Israel and home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the Muslim world,” Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement following the development. “The decision to open an embassy reflects the depth of the relationship between our countries. This move is the result of the Israeli government’s efforts to build strong diplomatic bridges with the Muslim world,” he added.

Last April, Azerbaijan opened a tourism office in Israel for the first time and signed a cooperation agreement. The month also marked the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties between the two nations.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz visited Azerbaijan in October to discuss security and policy and foster defense cooperation.

Israel buys 40% of its oil from Azerbaijan, and supplied 27% of Azerbaijan’s major arms imports from 2011 to 2020, including 69% from 2016 to 2020, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Both Israel and Azerbaijan see Iran as a threat.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC24cdDLzkNJf2_CNNzdI-UQ

“Top Story” with Jonathan Tobin and guest Ruthie Blum, Ep. 70.
November 17, 2022 / JNS) Israelis are ready for a new Netanyahu government. But the American midterm election results will mean that Israel’s leader will have a difficult path to navigate as he attempts to stop the Biden administration from appeasing Iran. In the latest episode of “Top Story,” JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin sums up the results of the elections in the two democracies and what they may mean for the Jewish state.

Discussing the prospective new Israeli government with him is JNS columnist Ruthie Blum. According to Blum, the upsurge in Palestinian terrorism and other crime on the watch of interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s coalition has left Israelis seeking a different, more aggressive approach. This, she argues, is why there isn’t much resistance to controversial Religious Zionist Party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir becoming the internal security minister.
Another pressing need is the reforming of Israel’s judiciary, she says, arguing that, contrary to the claims of the left, the new government would be upholding democracy by giving power back to the Knesset, not undermining it.
As for Netanyahu’s prospects as he returns to office, Blum says, “It’s no accident that he’s the longest serving prime minister in Israel’s history. He is also a genius at long-term strategy.”

The columnist believes that Netanyahu will take action against Iran, especially as there seems little chance that the United States will turn away from a policy of appeasement. She believes that there is a good chance that the protest movement in Iran is succeeding. Israel and the United States should help this movement, not the tottering Islamist regime as Biden seems to want to do, she emphasizes.

Turning to U.S. politics, the two discuss former President Donald Trump’s plans to run in 2024.
While Israelis are deeply grateful for Trump’s historic support for the Jewish state, his behavior during the midterms and attacks on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were “childish and foolish,” she says. Gratitude “doesn’t mean that now we should watch him destroy the remnants of the Republican Party” with his “crazy ego.”
“Top Story” also airs on JBS-TV.

https://www.jns.org/a-breakable-alliance-israeli-conference-spotlights-worrying-socio-political-trends-in-us/

“This conference is a warning conference,” said IDF Maj. Gen. (res.) Tamir Hayman, executive director of INSS. “We expect a reality that within five to 10 years the superpower support that Israel enjoys will be at risk.”

It’s referred to as the “unbreakable alliance,” but a conference in Tel Aviv on Monday painted a more disturbing picture, of a U.S.-Israel relationship headed for trouble.

The conference, titled “Israel-U.S. Relations: Trends and Looking Ahead,” became a call to arms as speakers insisted the matter was now at the level of a national security threat. It was sponsored by The Reut Group, the Israeli Institute for Economic Planning (IEP) and the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), and featured politicians, public figures, former IDF officers, analysts and U.S. Jewish leaders.

“This conference is a warning conference,” said IDF Maj. Gen. (res.) Tamir Hayman, executive director of INSS. “We expect a reality that within five to 10 years the superpower support that Israel enjoys will be at risk.”

Warning of a world where the United States no longer vetoes anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations, or helps replenish Israeli weapons stockpiles, philanthropist and high-tech entrepreneur Yossie Hollander, who helped organize the conference, said, “The present situation between the government and the elite is still good, but the situation we’re moving toward is catastrophic.”

Among the currents within the United States working against Israel highlighted during the day-long conference were American political polarization, a new generation whose values are at odds with the Jewish state, and the rise of a radical, progressive ideology that has swept through America’s institutions.

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The conference’s first speaker, William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, focused on the political polarization, noting that Democrats and Republicans were increasingly partisan in their thinking, leaving less room for agreement on key issues.

“We must do all that we can to ensure that support for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship does not become yet another divisive partisan issue, like reproductive rights and gun control,” he said.

https://www.jns.org/the-fbi-has-been-weaponized-against-israel/

On Monday, Israel’s Channel 14 reported that the FBI had informed Israel’s Justice Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces that it had opened a formal criminal probe into the shooting death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin in May.

Glick and Smith discuss how the administration coerced the outgoing government into accepting responsibility for her death in a firefight between Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists and IDF forces last spring.

Now, two months later, the administration has loosed the FBI on Israel’s soldiers.

Smith says that the Biden administration has weaponized the FBI against its political foes. According to Smith, the move on Israel is in keeping with the administration’s domestic policy.

The author places the administration’s efforts to realign America towards Iran and away from Israel and Saudi Arabia in the context of its treatment of its political foes. He explains the administration’s cognitive continuum between its political enemies and its foreign policy: allied governments that do not share the progressive worldview are lumped in with Biden’s political foes.

https://www.jns.org/writers/benjamin-kerstein/

The words “settlement” and “settler” have decidedly nasty connotations these days. I am not speaking only of the discourse on Israel and Zionism, in which the settlers in Judea and Samaria are routinely portrayed in the most negative possible terms. On a global scale, “settlement” and “settler,” as writer Victor Sharpe has been warning us for years, have become not only pejoratives but synonyms for absolute evil.

It is only fair to say that there are some good reasons for this. The dominant “post-colonialist” paradigm sees settlement as inherently colonialist, imperialist and often genocidal—the brutal oppression of indigenous populations of color by white Western empires. And indeed, this has often been the case.

Thanks to the prodigious efforts of Israel’s enemies, much of the world’s elite has applied this post-colonialist paradigm to the Jewish state. Israel, they claim, is a “settler-colonialist” society created by foreign conquerors who stole and continue to steal the land of “Palestine” from the indigenous population.

A great many people have dealt rather summarily with these charges, and I will not reiterate their arguments here. I will note, however, that once one begins to unpack the post-colonialist paradigm—with its metaphysical dichotomy of “settler” and “indigenous”—it becomes much more problematic than it appears at first glance.

One could argue, for example, that with the exception of a handful of sub-Saharan Africans, no one is indigenous to anywhere. The theory that different species of Homo sapiens rose up more or less out of the ground in various parts of the world—which was the foundation of 19th- and 20th-century racism—has been thoroughly discredited. It is now universally accepted.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/judgment-day-for-israels-legal-system/

 Nationwide outrage over the light sentence meted out by the Beersheva Juvenile Court last Wednesday to a Bedouin who sodomized a little girl two years ago sheds light on why the right garnered a clear victory on Nov. 1.

As the 25th Knesset is sworn in today (Tuesday), with coalition negotiations in full swing, the above heinous crime and measly punishment can help explain the election results. Chattering-class hysteria notwithstanding, the probability that Religious Zionist Party member Itamar Ben-Gvir will be given the public-security portfolio he’s been demanding is actually a relief to much of the public.

Ben-Gvir is by no means the only figure who’s been bemoaning the loss of Israeli governance in the Negev, which, despite being located in the south of the country, is often referred to as the “Wild West.” But his shouts about and proposed remedies for restoring law and order in that and other key areas have resonated far and wide; as has the rape case in question.

The horror story took place on a Friday night, after the child and her family had finished their Shabbat meal and gone to sleep. Three young men—two of them aged 17, and the third, who waited outside in a getaway car, past his 18th birthday—approached the house.

The “teenagers” had already burgled other residences, so they must have been feeling pretty confident when they entered this one. All their scrounging produced, however, was 50 shekels ($14.50) and a few toys.