RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Getting-down-to-IDF-brass-tacks-612213

At a conference on Wednesday at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi delivered a comprehensive address on Israel’s current military preparedness and future challenges. It was Kochavi’s first major speech since assuming his role in January as head of the Israeli military.

The novelty of his appearance was not the only reason for its prominence at the much-publicized event, held in honor of the late Amnon Lipkin-Shahak – former IDF chief of staff, Knesset member and government minister – who died in December 2012 after a long battle with cancer.

No, Kochavi’s multi-year plan – based on the motto of “readiness and change” – already was unveiled eight months ago when he hit the 100-day mark on the job. Nor was he an unknown entity beforehand, serving in various capacities and leading many operations, including those that have been carried out against Iranian targets in Syria over the past several months.
 
But his words in Herzliya were particularly significant, given their context and timing: with Israel surrounded by enemies on the one hand, and commemorating Hanukkah – the Jewish people’s historical victory over forced assimilation and physical annihilation – on the other.

https://mosaicmagazine.com/response/israel-zionism/2019/12/israel-is-a-tech-superp

The number of AI and cybersecurity startups in Israel makes up close to 20 percent of the world’s total, likely eclipsing China and second only to the United States.

We find ourselves in strong agreement with the two central contentions of Arthur Herman’s valuable new essay in Mosaic, “The Impasse Obstructing U.S.-Israel Relations, and How to Remedy It.” First, China’s growing penetration of Israel’s economy over the past decade, particularly in the high-tech sector, poses real risks to the U.S.-Israel relationship if left unattended. But second, if addressed in a spirit worthy of the profound alliance that has bound these two great liberal democracies together for decades, the China challenge should serve instead as a major opportunity to propel the strategic partnership to new heights.

Indeed, that’s precisely the case that one of us, John Hannah, made in an article earlier this year:

Working together in close consultation, with the protection and strengthening of the alliance uppermost in their minds, [U.S. and Israeli policymakers] should make sure that China becomes the catalyst for the next major leap forward in the U.S.-Israel relationship rather than a dangerous source of division.

Herman is also spot-on in identifying the struggle for technological primacy as the central arena that will shape the geopolitics of the 21st century, in particular the escalating strategic rivalry between, on the one hand, the United States and other free societies, and, on the other hand, China, Russia, and the camp of anti-American authoritarians.

http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001891.html

Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces his biggest political challenge to the leadership of Israel’s ruling Likud party for over a decade, when he will be challenged in a Likud primary leadership contest by Gideon Sa’ar (a former journalist, lawyer and then a government minister). If Netanyahu loses, Sa’ar will likely become interim prime minister.

I attach two pieces below, by Anshel Pfeffer in today’s leading left-wing Israeli paper Haaretz, and by Isabel Kershner in the New York Times, a paper that continues to obsess about Israel and devote enormous amounts of space to scrutinizing the small Jewish state while all but ignoring much of the rest of the world.

Pfeffer is a very knowledgeable journalist though sometimes he allows his disdain for Netanyahu and the Likud to cloud the impartiality of his reporting.

Gideon Sa’ar is unlikely to win today’s vote. However, if he makes a strong challenge, as expected, he will set himself up as the clear favorite to succeed Netanyahu should Netanyahu fail to win the Israeli election on March 2 (the third general election in Israel in less than a year) and Netanyahu is then forced from power. (Sa’ar would likely then form a unity government with Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz.)

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/12/hanukkah_and_the_occupation_that_isnt.html

It looks like the holidays cannot be complete without warped political messages. Representative Rashida Tlaib, a known anti-Semite, wished the Jews of IfNotNow a happy Hanukkah. In doing so, however, she supported the organization’s 2020 goals of “defunding the occupation in Falestine [sic] and fighting antisemitism and white nationalism.” IfNotNow claims it is “building a movement of Jews to end Israel’s occupation and transform the American Jewish community.” It also has extensive ties to American Muslims for Palestine, an organization in turn founded by groups that the U.S. government has claimed financed Hamas.

Tlaib and IfNotNow are attempting to accomplish what the Greeks tried and ultimately failed to do many years ago — deny the Jews religious and sovereign rights in their ancestral homeland of Judea and Samaria.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/happy-hanukkah-from-trump-and-johnson/

Politicians across the globe have been issuing holiday greetings in public statements and on social media. It’s a standard practice every December, particularly when Hanukkah and Christmas actually coincide, as they do now.

This year is exceptional, however, with two world leaders conveying much more than conventionally sappy, Hallmark card-like messages to Jews celebrating the Festival of Lights. Yes, U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson each bestowed a gift befitting of the story and celebration of Hanukkah—the defeat of Antiochus and his attempt to Hellenize Jews and wipe out Judaism.

Trump’s present, which he delivered at the annual White House Hanukkah party, was the Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism. Its stated aim is to stamp out the growing Jew-hatred on American college campuses by warning educational institutions that tolerating such behavior would result in the withholding of government funding (i.e., taxpayers’ money) from them.

Though the president’s crucial document is under attack by a number of groups, including Never Trumpers, BDS supporters and left-wing Jews with a convoluted view of the E.O.’s contents, it is about as close to a Hanukkah miracle as one can get these days.

Trump’s move came less than a week after the landslide victory of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose fostering of anti-Semitism in his party was so blatant that even longtime Jewish supporters were unable to deny it.

Many of the latest Israeli innovations and activities are potential “Game changers” that can improve the lives of millions of people. They include treatments for cancer, influenza and breathing problems. They combat terrorism and measles epidemics. They put research satellites into space and power the fastest computers in the world. They re-invent the motor engine, save the bees, water resources and the agriculture of developing countries. They convert enemies into allies and turn darkness into light. Michael Ordman

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Extending lives of pancreatic cancer patients. In the latest Phase 2a trial of the pancreatic cancer treatment from Israel’s BioLineRx (see here) three-quarters of the patients at disease stage 4 were able to get their disease under control. The trial combined BL-8040, KEYTRUDA (Pembrolizumab) and chemotherapy.
https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/New-Israeli-pancreatic-cancer-treatment-could-extend-most-patients-lives-611085https://ir.biolinerx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/biolinerx-announces-preliminary-phase-2a-data-triple-combination
 
Molecular checkups to avoid chemotherapy. A 10-year study of 1,365 Israelis indicates that chemotherapy can be avoided for most women who have early diagnosis and biopsy of the most common types of breast cancer. In 97.4% of those passing a Oncotype DX molecular checkup post-surgery, the cancer never returned.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5625101,00.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41523-019-0137-3
 
Early diagnosis of thyroid cancer. Another molecular diagnostic test has been developed by doctors at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem. It can early-diagnose thyroid cancer accurately from biopsies of small nodules that often develop on the thyroid. Previous alternatives were inaccurate or expensive.
https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-develops-breakthrough-method-to-identify-thyroid-cancer-611102
 
Phase 3 progress for Universal Flu vaccine. Israel’s BiondVax has 12,400 participants from 83 hospitals in the Phase 3 double-blind placebo-controlled trials of its Universal Flu vaccine. If successful, the new vaccine could reach pharmacies in 2023. BiondVax’s new Jerusalem facility can produce 20-40 million doses per year.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3775594,00.html
 
European award for stem cell investigator. Assistant Professor Yaron Fuchs of Israel’s Technion Institute is one of 27 global scientists to receive a “Young Investigators” award from the European Molecular Biology Organization. Yaron harnesses stem cell apoptosis (cell death due to injury) for driving tissue regeneration.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/young-israeli-professor-harnesses-power-of-stem-cells-to-heal-injuries/  

Between its sandy beaches and vast array of culinary delights, Tel Avivians already know that they live in one of the best cities in the world. Now, however, it’s official: Last week Forbes named Israel’s White City the second-hottest world destination.

Tel Aviv, which follows Los Angeles in Forbes’ list of top cities to visit in the coming year, is described as “ancient history” meets “modern living … along Israel’s Mediterranean coast.”

The magazine gave a shout-out to Jaffa’s Setai hotel, a luxury hotel that started out as an Ottoman-era police station, for those really looking for the old-meets-new experience that the city embodies.

The article also cited Tel Aviv’s unique, UNESCO-recognized Bauhaus architecture as a reason to visit.

Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Yuval Rotem welcomed Forbes’ praise of the city, saying: “We invite everyone to visit this incredible city and our beautiful country this coming year!”

This is isn’t the first time Forbes has encouraged readers to visit Tel Aviv. Just last May, it ran an article listing the top five reasons to visit the city.