Israel Update 18.3.21

CORONAVIRUS IN ISRAEL

 

(Last week’s figures in brackets for comparison)

 

1,496 (2,802) new cases of coronavirus were registered in Israel on Wednesday. The number of patients in serious condition dropped to 579 (645). The death toll is 6,062 (5,955). Read more here

 

VACCINATION PROGRAMME

 

After representatives from Iran, Qatar, and the P.A. condemned Israel for its vaccination policy at the UN Human Rights Council, Yoseph Haddad, an Arab Israeli social activist said (also at the UNHRC) “Accusations have been made against Israel that its vaccination programme is racist and that is not true. Like me, my family, friends and hundreds of thousands of other Arab Israelis have been vaccinated. The State of Israel is campaigning in Arabic to encourage us Arab Israelis to get vaccinated and Israel’s Magen David Adom National Rescue Organization, which consists of Jews and Arabs, works directly with Arab communities to vaccinate its residents.” Haddad concluded that he is “proud to be an Arab and I am proud to be an Israeli because Israel cares for all its citizens and for others.”   Read more here

 

Israel has been including its international students in its inoculation efforts against Covid-19, with one university administering vaccines on campus to more than 500 international students and researchers from across the world.   Read more here

 

 

More than 50,000 Palestinians with Israeli work permits have received their first coronavirus shot from medics from the Israeli police and emergency services.Over 115,000 Palestinians are eligible to receive the vaccine from Israeli authorities at checkpoints in the West Bank. Read more here

 

30,000 Filipino caregivers, 400 agriculture students, and the staff of the Philippine Embassy in Israel have received free Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. Read more here

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

 

THE UK: Recently the UK’s NHS announced the use of  new diagnostic equipment including tiny pill cameras to replace standard invasive endoscopy. Israel’s Given Imaging developed PillCam 
Short video: View here

 

 

NEPAL:The Embassy of Israel on Monday donated medical equipment to three hospitals in Nepal to help fight Covid-19 and other ailments.Read more here

 

VIETNAM: Four young Vietnamese men have started an organic farm in Khanh Hoa province after training in Israel. The Moshav Farm grows coconuts, pomelos, guavas, grapes, jackfruits, mangos and plants for herbal medicine, as well as raising chickens and sheep. Read more here

 

COLOMBIA: Israel donated two Watergen devices to bring clean, safe, drinking water to the desert peninsula of La Guajira state in Colombia, home of the Wayuu people.Short video:  View here

 

EMBASSY NEWS

 

Muslim-majority Kosovo on Sunday announced the opening of an embassy in Jerusalem. Ines Demiri, Kosovo’s Charge d’Affaires to Israel, called it a “truly proud and historic moment.” Read more here

 

The Czech Republic has opened the Jerusalem office of its embassy at a ceremony attended by the Czech Prime Minister who said: “The Czech Republic will have a full-fledged diplomatic mission here in Jerusalem.” The Czech Republic is the second EU member, after Hungary, to open a diplomatic mission in the city.            Read more here

 

JOINT NAVAL EXERCISE

 

The navies of Greece, Israel, Cyprus and, for the first time France, took part in joint military exercises involving both naval vessels and helicopters.Read more here

 

DEFENCE

 

After significant upgrades, Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system successfully and simultaneously intercepted a barrage of rockets and drones in a recent round of trials. The Iron Dome was tested in a range of complex scenarios and successfully intercepted and destroyed targets simulating existing and emerging threats, including the simultaneous interception of multiple drones as well as a salvo of rockets and missiles.Read more here

 

The new upgrades to Iron Dome will be rapidly installed on the two batteries sold to the U.S. Army. Read more here

 

Israel’s Ministry of Defence and Elbit Systems revealed Sunday the new Iron Sting, a 120 mm mortar that employs laser and GPS to engage targets accurately and prevent collateral damage. Read more here

 

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

 

Israel and the UAE have announced the establishment of a $10 billion fund aimed at boosting strategic sectors in Israel investing in energy, manufacturing, water, space, health care and agri-tech. Read more here

 

Eilat port is one of the principle projects to receive investment from the new $10 billion UAE strategic investment fund. Read more here

 

Doctors from Israel’s Sheba Medical Centre will fly to Dubai for face-to-face diagnostic consultations with an initial 350 diabetes patients in the UAE army, police and firefighting services.  Sheba will also be sending physicians to train personnel at Medcare Women & Children Hospital in Dubai, in areas including foetal medicine. Read more here

 

ARCHAEOLOGY

 

In is the first such discovery since the Dead Sea Scrolls  were found in 1947 and the early Fifties, over 80 biblical scroll fragments, have been discovered by Israeli archaeologists in the Judean desert, as well as dozens of artifacts dating back10,000 years. These include a prehistoric basket woven some 10,500 years ago, believed to be the earliest intact basket ever discovered.  Read more here

 

OIL SPILL

 

A British expert in marine oil spills representing the London-based International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund visited Israel last week to collect samples of crude oil leaked into the Mediterranean Sea by the Syrian-owned ship Emerald at the beginning of last month, leading to massive contamination of beaches along the country’s coastline. Read more here

THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY.

 

The P.A. used International Women’s Day to glorify convicted female terrorists as role models, including Dalal Mughrabi, who took part in the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre,  when she and other Fatah terrorists hijacked a bus and killed 38 civilians, 13 of them children, and wounded over 70 others. Read more here

 

On March 11, 2011, two terrorists brutally murdered 5 members of the Fogel family. The P.A. has been paying the murderers a monthly salary since they were arrested with each having received, to date, $101,847.According to PA law, after 10 years, their salary will rise by 50%, from $1,203 per month to $1,806. Read more here

 

SCIENCE

 

Israeli scientists have grown 250-cell embryos into mouse foetuses with fully formed organs using artificial wombs, in a development they say could pave the way for gestating humans outside the womb. Read more here

 

SPORT

 

The French Champions Trophy soccer match between the Ligue 1 champion and the French Cup holder will be played in Tel Aviv on August 1 at Bloomfield Stadium. Read more here

 

Israelis won gold and silver medals in the mixed-gender category at the 470 World  Sailing Championship in Portugal. Read more here