RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/ 

On the evening of February 25th, the festival of Purim begins to celebrate the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, the Persian tyrant who planned a genocide of Jews as recounted in the book of Esther. While joyful and celebrated with costumes and delicious food, there is also a religious obligation to “give gifts to the poor.” The holiday evokes the present Persian (now Iran) designs for Israel, and the immense contributions of Israel to the welfare and life and better expectations for the poor in every corner of the planet. One of the heroes of Purim was the leader of the Jewish people named Mordechai. My father’s name was Mardoqueo the Spanish equivalent. Thank you, Michael Ordman, for this weekly compendium…. rsk

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS

“This can change the fate of humanity”. Israel’s PM heralded the latest Israeli Covid-19 therapy, EXO-CD24, developed at Tel Aviv’s Sourasky (Ichilov) Medical Center. When given to 30 moderate to severe Covid-19 patients, 29 were discharged 3-5 days after having the treatment and one recovered a little later.

https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/rJoYyaYeO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_8x2VOV3hA   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA56LCCeuMc

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/296479

Fall in number of serious Covid-19 patients. The number of patients suffering from serious cases of Covid-19 has dropped below 1000, as more people over the age of 60 received their second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/serious-coronavirus-cases-have-dropped-below-1000-658451

https://www.timesofisrael.com/serious-covid-patients-lowest-in-a-month-as-vaccine-effect-appears-to-show/

Recovered patients volunteer at hospitals. Israel’s Ichilov and Sheba hospitals are employing volunteers who have recovered from the Covid-19 infection to help look after seriously ill coronavirus patients. They are tested for antibodies and then work in shifts on the Covid-19 wards, providing reassurance and practical support.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-01/28/c_139704742.htm

Treatment for deadly bacteria approved. (TY Atid-EDI) Following successful Phase 3 trials, the US FDA has approved Reltecimod from Israel’s Atox Bio (reported here previously) for the treatment of NSTI (Necrotizing  Soft  Tissue Infections), commonly referred to as flesh-eating bacteria. (fast-tracked in 2012!)

https://www.atoxbio.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Atox-Bio-Reltecimod-NDA-Filing-PR-Dec-10-2020-FINAL.pdf

A mission to end food allergies. Israel’s Ukko is working to re-design gluten proteins so that they do not trigger an immune response in people with celiac and other gluten sensitivities. In addition, Ukko is developing an edible medicine that can promote immune tolerance for people with peanut allergy.

https://nocamels.com/2021/01/israeli-biotech-ukko-40m-food-allergies/   https://www.ukko.us/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johncumbers/2021/01/27/synthetic-biology-partners-with-ai-to-delete-food-allergies/

The secret to reversing brain damage. (TY INN) Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers and Seattle scientists have demonstrated the restoration of communication between damaged nerve cells. They implanted artificial connections (synapses) in the nervous systems of tiny translucent C. elegans worms.

https://www.cell.com/cell-systems/fulltext/S2405-4712(20)30504-4

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-02/03/c_139719129.htm

The human touch in healthcare. Patients often lapse their health improvement programs. Israel’s Well-Beat (reported here previously) recently completed a pilot at Sheba’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Center where it proved to triple adherence to recommended care. Well-Beat recently received its 3rd Israel Innovation Authority grant.

https://www.geektime.com/this-israeli-startup-deploys-behavioral-ai-to-add-a-human-touch-to-healthcare/

https://www.well-beat.com/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCFp-j0ZF1M

European prize for pediatric endocrinology. Professor Moshe Phillip of Israel’s Schneider Children’s hospital was awarded the Andrea Prader Lifetime Achievement Prize by the European Society of Pediatric Endocrinology (ESPE) for his outstanding contribution towards pediatric endocrinology.

https://www.schneider.org.il/?CategoryID=1011&ArticleID=4534

Safe testing for healthy babies. Israel’s AIVF has devised a method to test embryos in vitro in a noninvasive manner to detect possible genetic abnormalities. Its scanning device and an AI algorithm avoids the current riskier PGT (Preimplantation Genetic Testing) biopsies which remove cells from the embryo.

https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3892195,00.html   https://aivf.co/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJyRZFjMj18

An end in sight to medical biopsies. Hebrew University scientists have developed a blood test that they say could replace nearly all cancer screenings within a decade. It detects cancer cells and identifies the exact location of the tumor in the body. New Israeli startup Senseera will now perform clinical trials.

https://www.jpost.com/health-science/biopsies-can-be-replaced-with-simple-blood-tests-hebrew-u-research-finds-657971  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-020-00775-6

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/coronavirus-masking-the-message-of-purim-opinion-659433

According to the plan approved by Israel’s coronavirus cabinet on Monday, celebrations during the Purim holiday next weekend will be curtailed. Festive meals will be limited to nuclear family members; synagogues will operate at half capacity for the fully vaccinated, or with a cap of 10 people indoors and 20 outside; and the traditional nationwide Adloyada (“until one no longer knows”) parades and customary costume parties will be banned.

Purim, the annual commemoration of the Jewish people’s rescue from Persian empire vizier Haman, as told in the biblical Book of Esther, has been of particular concern to Israel’s health authorities of late. Last February, as the COVID-19 pandemic was just beginning to rear its head, a toy-store owner in Or Yehuda – who returned from a trip to Italy where he contracted the virus – spent three days interacting with customers bustling to buy Purim garb. By the time that the proprietor of the “Red Pirate” was diagnosed, he had infected several people.
Less than two weeks later, synagogues were packed with worshipers reading the Scroll of Esther while unwittingly catching and spreading the coronavirus. Ditto for the other mass gatherings of kids and young adults in wacky getups drinking and dancing. It was during Purim last March, as well, that many Jewish communities in the Diaspora were hit hard by COVID.

On the one hand, it’s hard to believe that a full year has passed since then. On the other, last Purim seems like a lifetime ago. One might assume, then, that Israel’s swift and successful vaccination campaign would be cause for the kind of optimism that enables a degree of patience. Within a mere few weeks, after all, a majority of the country’s nine million citizens 16 and older will have been fully inoculated. 

https://bit.ly/3u6QpL8

Conventional wisdom assumes that the Palestinian Authority is amenable to peaceful-coexistence with Israel; that peaceful-coexistence is advanced by financial support of the Palestinian Authority; that a core concern for the Palestinian Authority is the land acquired by Israel in the 1967 War; and that land-for-peace (Israel’s retreat to the pre-1967 lines) is a prerequisite for Israel-Palestinian peaceful-coexistence.

Are these assumptions consistent with the Palestinian reality?

While the Palestinian ethos features religious, political, ideological, demographic and legal components, its core ingredient is a specific parcel of land, which pulls the rug out from under the “land-for-peace” assumption.

The centrality of the “1948 land” in the Palestinian ethos is underscored by the late Dr. Yuval Arnon-Ohanna, who was the head of the Mossad’s Palestinian research division and a ground-breaking researcher of the Palestinian issue (Line of Furrow and Fire). This is documented by pivotal Palestinian books, such as the six-volume Al Nakbah (“The 1948 Catastrophe”), as well as the 1959 and 1964 Fatah and PLO covenants – which are the ideological and strategic core of the Palestinian Authority – and the Palestinian educational curriculum.

These foundational documents have served as a most effective generator of Palestinian terrorism since 1948, and especially since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords.  They focus on the outcome of the failed 1948 Arab military invasion – by five Arab countries and the local Arabs – of the Jewish State. 

https://www.jns.org/opinion/when-abundance-breeds-contempt/

 In a recent phone call, a friend complained about the pressure that the Israeli government, media and much of the public have been applying to citizens who refuse to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
As someone who felt that she had been virtually “bullied” into getting inoculated, she was protesting in particular the latest carrot-and-stick element of the campaign to rid the country of coronavirus: a proposal to grant certain privileges to those possessing the Health Ministry double-dose certificate.

Among the epidemiological benefits being discussed—aside from the existing exemption from quarantine after exposure to infection—are unhindered entrance into malls, theaters, stadiums and other venues when they reopen.

“Why does it matter whether everyone complies?” she asked, pointing to the warning by officialdom that even after full vaccination, the virus can still strike and be spread. As a result, we’ve been told, mask-wearing and social distancing will continue to be required for a long time.

She clearly hadn’t heard the more encouraging research revealing a serious drop in viral load after a single shot—indicating not only a less severe reaction to infection, but a lower chance of transmitting the virus to others. Nevertheless, she is not alone in her resentment on behalf of the anti-coronavirus-vaxxers.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/02/israeli-elections-2021-joseph-puder/

Although Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu is facing a long-delayed trial, his party – the Likud – is rising in the polls. Six weeks to Election Day, on March 23, 2021, is a long time in Israeli politics, and it has the potential for many surprises. The discernible trend has been an upward climb for the Likud, which remains the largest party with a wide margin between it and the next party. Netanyahu, moreover, has been polled consistently as the most qualified to serve as prime minister.

The Irony about the upcoming election is that it is more than likely to end up in another draw, and possibly a fifth election in two years. The last two years have been essentially a story of two blocs: the anti-Bibi camp, which includes all the center-left parties, of Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid,  Merav Michaeli’s Labor party, Nitzan Horowitz’s Meretz, and Benny Gantz, the current Defense Minister and leader of the Blue and White party.  They are joined by Gideon Saar’s New Hope party and Avigdor Lieberman’s Israel Beitenu.  Naftali Bennett’s center right Yamina  (rightward), is potentially in this camp, too.

In this election cycle, Naftali Bennett (48, pictured above) is the clear kingmaker. While ideologically Bennett is much closer to the pro-Bibi bloc, which includes the Orthodox parties of Shas (Sephardic), Torah Judaism (Ashkenazi), and Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism.  (Netanyahu pushed Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir of Jewish Strength or Otzma Yehudit, to merge, since separately neither would cross the electoral threshold of 3.25% of the vote, and thus, right wing votes would go to waste.) Bennett has however, declared his ambition to replace Netanyahu as prime minister.  He believes that he is qualified for the job.