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NEW GOVERNMENT

 

Israel’s new government is set to be sworn in on Thursday evening, bringing nearly 18 months of political gridlock to an end. Read more here

 

TERRORIST ATTACKS

 

On Tuesday, an IDF soldier Sgt. First Class Amit Ben-Ygal, 21 waskilled by Palestinians who hurled a large rock thrown at his head. His unit had been arresting terrorist suspects.Read more here

 

AN IDF soldier was seriously injured by a terrorist in a car-ramming attack today (Thursday) near Hebron. Read more here

 

A Palestinian was indicted on Monday for the attempted murder of a 62-year-old Israeli woman in Kfar Sava on April 28, Israel’s Memorial Day. The indictment filed stated that he decided in advance that he wanted to murder a Jewish Israeli and left home armed with a knife. Read more here

 

A Palestinian assailant attempted to stab security officers at a checkpoint near Jerusalem on Tuesday.and was shot. Read more here  

 

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) IN ISRAEL

 

At the time of writing (Thursday afternoon) Israel’s coronavirus death toll has sadly risen to 264 (up from 262 on Wednesday). 62 people are in serious condition, of which 52 are on ventilators. 3,939 people are currently ill with the virus (compared with 4,104 on Wednesday) and 12,364 people have recovered (compared with 12,173 on Wednesday). Read more here

 

Israel is easing its requirement for all arrivals from overseas to quarantine for 14 days at state-overseen isolation hotels, and instead will allow them to self-quarantine. An entry ban on nationals from other countries whose homes are not in Israel remains in force. The cabinet also eased some Ramadan lockdown restrictions and reopened parks and nature reserves.. Read more here

 

Ben-Gurion Airport will unveil new safety measures on Thursday, aspiring to create a so-called “corona-free” transportation hub. The measures include permitting only ticket-carrying travellers into the terminal building, a mandatory temperature check, a mask-wearing requirement and regular disinfecting of facilities. Read more here

 

ISRAEL’S HOSPITALS

 

Sheba Medical Centre has inaugurated a new intensive care unit to help provide crisis response in times of national emergencies.The unit was made possible by a significant donation from philanthropist Roman Abramovich. Sheba was the first hospital to take in coronavirus patients and established special maternity, psychiatric, dialysis  and respiratory rehabilitation coronavirus units. Read more here

 

Out of 74 corona-diagnosed patients treated at Emek Medical Centre, including severe and medium cases, not a single patient deteriorated to where they needed artificial respiration… (This was achieved by) A combined therapeutic protocol that included hydroxychloroquine medication together with anticoagulants and high-flow oxygen therapy in the early stages of the disease (which) prevented the deterioration and may explain the remarkable results…Dr. Guy Dori said “…A controlled study is needed that will confirm the therapeutic approach we have taken…”    Received directly by email from Emek Medical Centre, Afula:

 

Israel Aerospace Industries, Microsoft and the Soroka Medical Centre  (Beersheba) have joined forces in the battle against COVID-19 to develop a supervision system that makes it possible to collect real-time data on patients who are on ventilators and concentrate it in a single location to make it easier for medical teams to monitor them from afar. The development makes it possible to supervise a large number of patients simultaneously. Read more here

 

MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tel Aviv-based artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Aidoc for its product which helps doctors in the detection and triage of findings associated with  coronavirus using CT scans. Aidoc’s technology already has four FDA approvals for scans to detect strokes, embolisms, cervical spine fractures and haemorrhaging.Read more here

 

Manshema, a $200-a-piece opensource technology created by an Israeli team, could solve the problem of the shortage of ventilators. The device does not intubate patients, no tube is inserted in their throat to push the air in, they can still breath on their own but the hard work is done by the machine. Read more here

 

Rafael Advanced Defence Systems has devised solutions including a robotic assistance tool, currently roaming hospital corona wards, that comes into close contact with Covid-19 patients in place of nurses. The company has fitted ventilators and nourishment machines with communication cables to transmit medical readings back to a separate room to enable remote monitoring of patients. Read more here

 

TEST

 

An Israeli researcher from Ben-Gurion University has developed and is now testing the validity of a COVID-19 test that identifies carriers in under one minute. The test has shown an accuracy of over 90%.  Ongoing trials aim to discover whether the test can identify the specific stage of COVID-19 infection and its presence. Read more here

 

DISINFECTANT

 

A state-of-the-art  disinfectant developed by the Israel Institute for Biological Research and distributed by Tera Novel, is capable ofkilling 100% of bacteria, viruses, moulds and some fungi, including the novel coronavirus. It is currently being used in mikvehs in Bnei Brak. Read more here

 

POTENTIAL TREATMENT

 

Bonus BioGroup has completed a preliminary study of a new drug  it has developed to treat acute and life-threatening respiratory distress in COVID-19 patients. Mesencure was found to reduce inflammation, promote the regeneration of  diseased lung tissue and alleviate respiratory and other symptoms in laboratory and animal models.Read more here

 

UPDATE ON PLURISTEM TREATMENT

 

Israel’s Pluristem Therapeutics’ PLX cells therapy has been cleared by the US FDA for a Phase II study in the treatment of severe COVID-19 cases complicated by Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Until now, Pluristem has been treating patients suffering from severe complications caused by COVID-19 in the US and Israel through compassionate use programmes. https://www.jpost.com/health-science/israels-pluristem-fda-approved-for-study-in-treatment-of-severe-covid-19-627386

 

CO-OPERATION

 

Three Gulf states have reached out to Israel in recent weeks to receive information and assistance in the fight against the novel coronavirus.Bahrain and another Gulf state contacted Sheba Medical Centre expressing interest in the hospital’s response to the pandemic, and the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the United Nations said publicly that her government would be willing to work with Israel on a vaccine.  Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

Italy has acquired Israeli technology to conduct testing for the COVID-19 novel coronavirus using mobile booths. Interest has also been expressed by the United States and several Latin American nations. Read more here

 

Israeli law enforcement officials are assisting the New York Police Department strategize ways to contain the coronavirus outbreak and address its fallout. View video (2 min 49’) here: video link

 

THE IDF

 

Only a few years ago, Fares and Firas Muhammad, Muslim Arab twins from East Jerusalem, had juvenile criminals and seemed destined for a life of petty crime and delinquency. Today both are star members of the IDF’s  Golani Brigade, and Fares is now training to become a squad commander.   Read more here

 

MEDICAL MIRACLE

 

Four weeks ago, Kamel Abdel Rahman, 46, went to visit the apartment he is building for his family. He turned the wrong way and fell from the second floor onto an iron rod that penetrated right through his head. Neurosurgeons at Hadassah Medical Centre performed complex surgeries to successfully remove the rod and repair the damage caused by the injury. The patient has made a miraculous recovery. Read more here

 

DESTRUCTION OF ANCIENT JEWISH SITE BY THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

 

The PA, taking advantage of the absence of Civil Administration inspectors during the coronavirus shutdown, is reportedly consolidating its takeover of Tel Aroma, a  (Jewish) Hasmonean fortress in Samaria.Senior PA officials recently held a ceremony to declare the fortress a “Palestinian Heritage Site,” though their installations at the site have caused the destruction of the fortress wall and reservoirs. Read more here

 

DEFENCE

 

Elbit’s Hermes 900 maritime patrol drone has been equipped with inflatable life-rafts to improve its search and rescue capabilities. The drone, capable of more than 24 hours of continuous flight in adverse weather conditions, can carry up to four, six-person life-rafts integrated on its wings and dispatch them from a low altitude of 600 feet.  Read more here

 

IRANIAN THREAT

 

Iran was responsible for a widespread cyber attack on Israeli water and sewage facilities last month, Fox News reported on Thursday. According to the report, Iran used American servers to hack into the facilities. The attack took place at the end of April and affected several Israeli Water Authority facilities.Read more here

 

An Israeli cybersecurity firm last week uncovered an attempt by Iran-linked hackers to breach US drug company Gilead Sciences, which is racing to roll out a treatment for COVID-19. The hackers are trying to hurt other research bodies that are dealing with coronavirus.  Israel  is one of their main targets. Read more here

 

THE EUROPEAN UNION

 

Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned the EU’s ambassador to Israel for an unusually harsh rebuke last week, after a senior EU official assured the Palestinians that membership in or affinity to a terrorist organization does not automatically prevent a person from being eligible to participate in EU-funded programmes. Read more here

 

Money donated by European governments and private individuals to Palestinian “civil society” organizations is making its way into the coffers of terrorist organizations, a new report warns. Read more here

 

COMMENT & OPINION

 

Mitchell Bard:A year ago, World Health Organization (WHO) member countries voted 96 to 11 for an annual resolution blaming Israel for “health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syria Golan.” Out of 21 items on the WHO agenda, the only one focused on a specific country applied to Israel. This targeting of Israel has been going on since at least 2000. As UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer has noted, “Anyone who has ever walked into an Israeli hospital or clinic knows that they are providing world-class health care to thousands of Palestinian Arabs.” During five years of the Syrian civil war until 2018, the Israel Defence Forces brought more than 4,900 Syrians – including 1,300 children – to Israeli hospitals for medical assistance. Even Palestinian leaders send their family members to Israeli hospitals. Moreover, Israel is doing a great deal to help the Palestinians contain the coronavirus outbreak.   Read more here